5 year old routine

[Anonymous]

What should I expect from my nanny? I would like her to write out sort of a schedule so I know that she is planning activites/exercises with my just turned 5 year old b/g twins.

For the record, she is live in and has them Monday, Thursday and Fridays from 7-7 each day. The other two days they are at pre-k full day.
I want them to have fun but I also want her to spend some one on one time with them educational wise.

Is this a fair schedule?

7 am-8 am- breakfast/ quiet activity such as coloring or playing with toys
8-9:30- clean up, indoor activity such as creative play, arts and crafts, reading stories, playing games, etc. TV turned OFF!!!
9:30-10 get ready for morning activity
10-12: morning outdoor activity such as park, swimming, or just playing out in the backyard
12-12:30: lunch time
12:30-2: "Rest time" such as reading books or coloring. Don't mind a 30 minute TV time while nanny cleans up lunch, and does a small chore such as folding childrens laundry and putting away.
2-4: educational activity such as counting, working on letters, shapes, numbers, etc. science projects or sensory play
4 pm-5 pm play outside in backyard or go for a short walk with scooters and get energy out before night routine
5 pm: baths, jammies, start dinner or re heat leftovers, tv is fine to be on...
6 pm: get in bed, get books, read a book to each child and then let them read independently in bed before we get home and clean up dinner and from the day(clean up as you go during the day)

If you have any ideas on what would work better please i'd love to hear any ideas!!! I just dont want a nanny sitting in front of the tv while my kids color all day or whatever .i want them to learn something but have fun too!!!

Is this a reasonable expectation?

[Anonymous]

Honestly, I don't think I would have such a structured day like this with 5 yr olds. I think asking that they do many of the activities you are asking for, and asking for lunch to be around a certain time and with a "quiet time" afterwards sounds normal, but saying that they have to do an educational activity at A time, and arts and crafts at B time etc is just too much.

I also have never understood doing bath and pj's before dinner. I think having dinner and then going and doing the whole bath and bedtime routine makes more sense. Even kids that don't make much of a mess eating can still get food on them which would end up being pj's instead of their daytime clothes, and bath is better to wash away everything from the day (I also wouldn't do a bath and then have the kids be playing a game where there might get sweaty afterwards). The whole bath/bedtime routine is good to calm kids down, the transition from the activities of the day to getting their body ready for sleep. It should come after stuff like eating.

There should also always be at LEAST 2 hours after eating dinner before the kids go to sleep. That means, if they finish eating at 5:30pm, then reading around 7pm and them going to sleep by 7:30pm.

I don't understand why you have them going to bed quite so early either (unless the reading is for at least a full hour). 7pm really is the absolute earliest I would do for their age. I know other families that have a 7pm bedtime for their kids this age and a couple years older but that is because they go to a school that starts very early in the morning, so they have to get up REALLY early for it. If the kids are not having to get up super early (like 6:00-6:20am) then I would probably have them go to sleep closer to 7:30pm unless they are the type that really need a full 12 hours of sleep.

I highly doubt that any nanny who actually considers themselves a nanny and not just a sitter would have the tv on all day long and just be letting them do whatever, but I think trying to structure things too much at this point is not necessary. They are getting structure from their Pre-K classes, and will slowly gain more structure in regards to play and educational stuff as they go through school. I think as long as the different educational and creative elements are in each day, as well as physical/outdoor play, that is the most important thing. The biggest structure that they really should have is with meal times, quiet time, and bath/bedtime routine.

I don't think you need to be picky about whether they go out for their morning activity at 9am and come back for arts and crafts before lunch at 11am if that is how they all decide they would like to spend the day. I also think that breaking up "educational activities" with outdoor play or independent play can be a good idea. Most kids start to tire from practicing their letters and numbers etc after a short period of time. I have always found it is better to let them do a bit, then play independently, then come back and do a different sort of "educational" thing, then go play outside and so on. If you try and clump it all together during a 2 hour time period in the middle of the afternoon, they will start to get bored and will fight an activity that they might otherwise enjoy if spaced out appropriately.

Anyways, those are just some of my personal opinions and things I have seen from experience. Nobody says you have to do things like anyone else does, but letting a nanny come up with a schedule (with the kids) is usually better than just writing something down and telling her to follow it.

[Anonymous]

Your schedule looks good. The only thing is I would be more flexible with the afternoon educational and outdoor blocks. Allow the nanny and kids to decide on what they feel like doing that day. The outdoor activity might take up the entire afternoon for instance.

[Anonymous]

F/T Nanny here: I would also consider relaxing this schedule a little bit. It's not that it's unreasonable, but as a Nanny I have worked for families with a schedule similar to this and worked with families that just gave me their expectations for the day and then let me figure out what worked best (for toddlers, obviously infants need more of a schedule). I much prefer it being up to me as I think we are able to have more fun that way. I can push nap time up or down an hour so that we can go peach picking, or combine quiet time and outdoor time on a nice day by taking a blanket and books outside for a nice reading session. Also, obviously nannies are there to meet your expectations and make you and your family happy however, (for me at least) it can rub a nanny the wrong way to be told what to do every minute of the day. It sort of makes me feel like you don't trust my judgement and ability to plan a fulfilled and fun day.

I much prefer what the first PP said, "I like them to spend at couple hours outdoors, a few hours reading and some educational activities and lunch time / rest time is normally around 12PM".

Again, I don't think your being unreasonable, just giving you my opinion.

[Anonymous]

MB here. I think this is WAY too much helicoptering. What if the kids want to learn in the morning instead of the afternoon? And how the hell is the nanny supposed to cook a dinner and feed children AND clean up from it also while giving the kids baths and having them change into PJs all in sixty minutes?

[Anonymous]

Agreed that this is too specific, if a potential MB gave me a schedule like this I'd almost certainly walk away from the position.

I've never had an MB tell me how to schedule the day beyond any activities the child has been signed up for or mentioning that event X sounded like it would be fun.

Tell your nanny the types of things you'd like accomplished in a typical day, but leave it up to her to figure out the hows and whens. If you're worried about accountability, build some time into the schedule at the end of the day for her to give you a run down of the day's events, or ask her to keep a log of what they did that day.

[Anonymous]

Like others said, it's a little strict and limiting. What if they want to go outside in the morning? I much prefer to get outside early in the morning -- I'm out of the house within half an hour of the start of my day! If we wait until afternoon, it might be too hot or rainy.

Also, if the nanny follows your schedule, the kids might miss out on a very fun opportunity. They want to go outside in the snow right after breakfast? Nope, sorry. The schedule says we have to read stories.

It would be better to discuss with the nanny things she needs to do each day (take the kids outside, work on something educational, read stories), things to accomplish each week (laundry, keeping areas tidy. If you're concerned she won't be able to think of educational activities, you can get books for ideas or steer her to some websites.

[Anonymous]

OP here- okay schedule is too rigid. I agree.
But she doesn't have a schedule at all and doesn't tell me what she does with the kids all day? its so rough getting anything out of her!! I try to not be overbearing but my kids just tell me they played all day. She doesn't tell me. I ask everyday and she's so vague.

[Anonymous]

Create a little spreadsheet with spaces to write in activities accomplished and ask her to fill out out each day. When you work a long day it's very easy to forget to mention what fun things happened at 9am when it's now 7pm and Mom is home.

[Anonymous]

Ask her to fill out a nanny diary. I have looked after a whole range of ages and so have had to fit in educational learning etc in the day. I know what needs to be done each day and it gets done but it wont be at the same time each day.

[Anonymous]

Agree, a log or diary of some sort can help you to learn what has been done during the day. I know that when I am talking to the parents at the end of the day (and just a short afternoon most of the time), we might forget to mention something. Writing it down as you go along is best for her so she doesn't forget (the kids will most likely not remember everything they did that day).