Staying Home? Manage Your Routine

In light of our school closures until April 13th, you can find some great ideas and insights, a schedule suggestion (below), links to other resources and what to do to continue learning during the closure.

With the schools closed, many parents are left wondering what to do with the time. The NESCA (Neuropsychology & Education Services for Children & Adolescents) has some great resources to help us all navigate this time while considering the differences in circumstances we may have. There you can find many different ways to make the most of the school closures due to COVID-19. The main focus is that you can create a productive and positive environment at home despite the measures of social distancing.

Kids Need Routine

A very important aspect of a child’s life is their feelings of stability. While this time is certainly creating feelings of instability for us all, there are many ways in which families can create solid routines for their children each day. If you consider how their day is normally segmented when they are in school, it helps you to create a model for your own days at home. Keeping up with normal mealtimes, bedtimes, and maintaining a daily schedule can do a lot of good for your kids. This resource is a great example of how you might designate and segment the day:

Many aspects of this schedule fall in line with therapist recommendations for maintaining your schedule.

Another fun way to make a schedule for the next month is to designate a focus for each day. This calendar helps illustrate the ways you can develop a monthly schedule and provide something to look forward to each day.

Limit Screen Time

Some adults are even prone to too much time on a phone, laptop, TV, gaming system, or their choice of screen. To make it easier for kids to maintain normalcy and feel productive, make sure they are not allowed to play on screens whenever they like throughout the day. Designated screen time could involve more educational tools available through resources like the Smithsonian, PBS Kids, or National Geographic.

Get Active

Normally at school, kids have the opportunity to run and play outside at recess. Think of the ways you might keep your kids active and getting their normal exercise so they can feel their best. You can play in the backyard or take a walk around the neighborhood each day - and write that down as a part of your schedule that you stick with. Other options that don’t include going outside might include some family yoga time, or inventing your own activities like dancing or building a fun obstacle course in the house.

Engage Activities Together

You likely have a list of chores or activities that you’ll need to keep up with, like doing laundry, dishes, cooking meals, and more. Consider the things you might be able to do with your children and help them learn more about how to do those tasks for themselves later in life. Aside from the normal chores you might do each day, you can find plenty of fun and developmental activities offered by our team at Tilton’s Therapy. You can find instructions and more information about what each activity will contribute to along with a printable version. This month, we have four new activities that you can do easily at home!

Check out all of our activities

Continuing to Learn

Most likely, your child’s teachers have provided work for kids to do at home during this time. Remember you can always reach out to them and ask if you need additional resources, books, or worksheets. Even if your children do not have work provided by their school, there are a lot of great resources available online that teachers are sharing! Edhelper.com lists many different types of downloadable workbooks based on your child’s level or subject of study. They even provide options for fun like puzzles and reading options. While it can sometimes feel overwhelming for parents who are not used to providing education for their kids, these tools can help guide you through this difficult time. You can even find resources based on week so you can start to understand how you might structure your own educational plan.

Find more examples of a daily schedule through Edhelper.com

Most importantly, keeping focused on the positive can go a long way to help your family maintain some sense of normalcy. Remember that you can use this time to share and learn from one another while being productive with the time! Visit our resources page for more learning and fun.