I’m showing you how we use a schedule, why it’s important, and what our summer schedule for preschoolers (+ one baby) looks like in our home! Some affiliate links are included – full disclosure here.
Happy summer friends! It’s only May 22nd here and my kids are out of school for the summer already!
I asked you guys if you were interested in hearing how we structure our “home days” on my Instagram and the answer was a resounding YES. I am by no means an expert or professional with this stuff…we’ve just kind of evolved into this routine over the past (almost) 6 years.
Just a few things to keep in mind with this schedule:
- Our kids will be 1, 4, and 6 this summer.
- My husband is gone before the kids wake up and gets home around 5:30 every day – so it’s just me here.
- I work from home, so that quiet time in the afternoon is super important to our family
This schedule does NOT happen every day. Often, we have playdates, go to grandparent’s houses, or have people come over to our house. I’d say that this schedule happens maybe 2-3 times a week.
Also, even on those days when we are home all day and work to follow this schedule…LIFE happens. We don’t always stick to that schedule. Sometimes Heidi takes an earlier nap, it could be raining, kids don’t get along with each other, etc. This is definitely not a rigid schedule, but just a way that our day flows better together.
One more note – screen time. If I give my kids handheld devices or too much screen time, my sweet kids turn into little monsters quickly! We have found (after lots of trial and error) that the pre-dinner time is PERFECT for our kids to watch two shows. Again – try what’s best for YOUR family…everyone’s so different!
I feel like the chore part in the morning is key for my kids too – if we do them much later in the day, I get much more whining. The cleanup before screen time can be torturrrrrre but it’s so important too! In the morning their energy levels are higher after a good breakfast, and they’re more willing to help out. I currently have them putting away their laundry, helping me unload the dishwasher, putting their dishes into the dishwasher, and helping to wipe down surfaces.
I did get a new vacuum recently that they can actually use so I’m going to have them doing that more regularly over the summer too! You can read more about our vacuum here (I paid for it myself and gave a really honest review)
If one or more of your kids is anything like my son, they they will get VERY excited to have a little schedule of their own. We made a very simple chart in a Google Doc and then had my son draw little illustrations next to each part of his schedule. Then we laminated it and he can check off the boxes throughout his day with a dry erase marker. Honestly, he probably will only do this for the first week or so, and then he’ll be used to the routine and not need to use it any more.
Shop our very simple little household laminator here – it brings us so much joy! haha!
I’ll be going into more depth on how this schedule actually looks on my Instagram stories – so make sure you’re following along there!
Hope you have a healthy & happy summer that brings your family closer together!
If you’re looking for a glimpse into how we’re trying to raise our kids – people have been loving this post lately:
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