Daily routine with young kids at rigorous private
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Anonymous
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We’re in our first choice next year and are so excited! This will be my oldest in K and the first time one of my kids is in school 5x per week. I’ve been a pretty type B mom up until now and don’t follow a strict schedule with my kids, and don’t do many consistant activities besides church and Sunday school and kiddie ballet. My kids are pretty calm and easygoing as am I, but right now our days consist of a lot of unstructured play, play dates with other SAHMs and their kids, and slow mornings.
As my girls get older I know we are going to have HW, sports, ect. Is there anything you’d implement to get our family prepared this summer? |
Anonymous
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I have a 3rd grader at a strong private school. She is also involved in theater at a pretty serious level, so she has rehearsals, dance class, and voice lessons.
Consistent bedtime is critical. Nothing can happen without adequate sleep. Also, a consistent morning routine. |
Anonymous
| If you're not naturally morning people/not used to having to get out of the house by a certain time I would make sure to take the school drop off time, work out commute time with traffic, and figure out what time you need to leave your house and then make your walk out the door time 5 min earlier than that. Then back up from that time to work out what time to wake up leaving time to get dressed, brush teeth and hair, eat breakfast and put on shoes. I'd practice the whole morning routine the last couple weeks before school starts so it doesn't come as a shock. Leave the house and go to a park or starbucks or wherever but make sure you leave the house. |
Anonymous
| Consistent bedtime, and a set morning routine. My brother (dad of two) recently said "I severely underestimated how much work prepping two kids' lunches would be," which I find hilarious. |
Anonymous
| Thanks everyone. In private school do people usually pack their young kids lunches if the food is decent? The school we’re going to has a nice cafeteria with healthy food |
Anonymous
Even with an amazing cafeteria, you will find parents who pack lunches for their kids. It won’t make sense, and that is just how it is. |
Anonymous
+1 on the consistent bed time and morning routine. K won't be a big deal in terms of HW, but getting into a routine during the school year helps as they get older. |
Anonymous
Nothing, except adequate sleep and healthy nutrition, as others have pointed out. But that's easy at your kids' ages. When they're in high school, it gets really challenging with the packed schedules teen have and their natural propensity of their bodies to be night owls, which conflicts with schools mornings... but you're not there yet 
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Anonymous
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Please don't imagine that your "rigorous private" will be difficult in the primary years. It's all going to be fine. No stress, OP.
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Anonymous
I have an extremely picky eater with food sensory issues, so DC (now in HS) always gets a packed lunch. If the cafeteria food works, great, the lunchbox goes in the fridge for tomorrow. If not, my kid has food they can eat and not go hungry. Sorry if that doesn’t make sense to you. |
Anonymous
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Plan your morning routine carefully, and streamline the physical space in which it happens. Spend time this summer purging stuff so that your home entry and exit is free of distractions.
If you expect homework in K, think about where it will be done and prepare the space. |
Anonymous
| I think no more slow mornings will be a shock to the system. Your system. If you're going to have to adjust the whole family's circadian rhythm in August, think about how you want to do it. If you're Type B because you're not that organized or punctual, that may need to change. |
Anonymous
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K was a big leap for my son- it seemed to be more tiring than PK, even for a kid who has been in FT care since 3.
For us, we were able to swing not using aftercare as much because he’s just wiped after 6 hours of go-go-go at school. Our son is definitely an introvert, and his unwinding happens by coming home and crafting or something. As an also TypeB mom, we did zero reading work or any academic work before the year started, and I kinda wish we had done at least something structured in the weeks ahead of the school year. 100% agree with posters about establishing sleep routine. We live a short walk from school, but somehow getting out the door can take up so much time. My son needs more sleep now than he did in PK, so we keep adjusting bedtime til he wakes up on his own at an appropriate time. Re lunches, despite the lovely options my son was eating white rice or jelly on white bread everyday, so we pack him a “supplement” with fruits, veg, dip etc and encourage him to eat the hot meal. But he was coming home ravenous before we sent in extras. It’s annoying and I hope he eats more there next year. |
Anonymous
| Think about your kids' naps. How does the little one's nap work with the school pickup time? |
Anonymous
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Is your kid not used to being out of the house all day? Maybe put her in some summer camps with similar hours so she can work on the stamina? Does she still nap?
Getting used to being up early if you're not is a good idea. Most privates start at 8 I think. If you don't already have one, find a good babysitter for your younger kids because there will probably be a lot of welcome, integration, and other social events to build community and it's nice if both parents can attend. |