Morning help

[lulalu]

I need some ideas and revamp to our morning routine before we start up school. Looking specifically for what families do before starting lessons.

 

Right now our days seem to not have any sameness from day to day.

 

These are the things we try to do before school:

Breakfast

Family devotions

Shower

Make beds

A chore

A walk or yoga

 

 

What do some of you try to accomplish before school? And do you stick to the same routine each day?

 

Also- wondering what age do you wake your kids up in the morning or just let them sleep until they wake up on their own?

 

We try to get morning stuff done and do a half hour of school. Then as a family we have language lessons at our home. Then I try a half hour of school again after that before lunch and rest time. I just feel like we don't have a good routine down and aren't getting done what we should. Or maybe my expectations are off....

[MotherGoose]

How old? Mine are 7, 10, and infant. You have the one it seems so you can be more flexible. I do wake mine, and if I only had the one I'd wake her too if she slept late--mine have never slept very late so it wouldn't be an issue. Sleeping till 7 is really sleeping in in my house. I plan to get mine up and going by 6:30. I have a dawdler, so i have a chore necklace where they have everything on there with get dressed, make bed, eat breakfast, etc. morning chores are load/empty /load dishwasher, vacuum, and empty trash depending on day. My biggest issue is keeping everyone, including me, going without getting distracted. I find that if we can stay on task and start school by 8 (we don't do any devotions or whatever until school actually starts) the day goes much better.

[lulalu]

Yes- I have one five year old. Starting k this fall.

[lulalu]

Thanks for the run down. I have been feeli g maybe I should be waking my son up at a regular time to help mornings flow better.

[LindaOz]

I wake my kids (all but the 6 and 4 year olds). I think that getting up and going in the morning is a life skill.

 

I find having a set breakfast time important to our mornings. So breakfast is at 7:30, then we have Bible reading, prayer, memory, and a read-aloud around the table. Next we do clean-up/chores and move into own schoolwork time until lunch.

 

At lunch we have another family time (minus dd17 at this point because she starts cafe job at 12:00).

 

For us, a set starting time is crucial otherwise major dawdling occurs and the day waffles along, jobs don't happen in a timely way, people don't get things done and guess who gets frustrated....???? ;)

Edited July 11, 2016 by LindaOz

[MotherGoose]

Thanks for the run down. I have been feeli g maybe I should be waking my son up at a regular time to help mornings flow better.

At 5, I personally wouldn't unless he's in the habit of sleeping half the morning. My five year olds were cranky if I woke them. :) School doesn't take long at 5, so you can be done well before lunch. Now when he has lots more things to do you might have to wake him.

[73349]

DS is always awake early--if he slept until 7:30 I'd suppose he was sick--but we don't start school early.

 

He showers at night. Once we're up in the morning, I make sure he has breakfast & go take my shower. Usually he reads while I start laundry and eat breakfast; when he was younger, he'd play instead. This fall, I'll be adding a morning chore to his schedule.

 

We go outside for a little while most mornings. I do yard work; he might or might not help.

 

Inside, he has a snack if needed. It's often 10 AM by this point. Then we go sit at a table and do all the subjects that require writing or anything else best done there.

 

Next, he practices piano (kind of as a break) and we go to the couch for the rest of the subjects. We stop for lunch if we need to, but it never took that long in kindergarten.

 

I avoid scheduling anything outside the house before 1 PM. It is so hard to get started with school again once we've done something else!

[lovinmyboys]

I would only wake a 5yr old if he was staying up too late and then sleeping half of the morning. If he is going to bed at your preferred time, I would think he is just getting the sleep he needs.

 

For us, I let the kids play until breakfast. After breakfast we do table time since we are there anyway. Then we break for chores and recess. Then back to school work.

[fdrinca]

We jump right into our morning basket activities after breakfast, almost always in pajamas, sometimes while kids are still eating. I've found that we get great momentum if we start right before anyone can get interested in anything else, when the kids are too sleepy to resist (ha!). From there, we break for snack, getting dressed, and then school work. I hope to be finished by noon.

 

I admire people who do movement or chores before school work. I know that if we took a walk, that would be IT for the day. Everyone would come back overstimulated (me included), we'd all retreat to books or other alone time, and then pulling us back together for school would be a chore. 

[Ausmumof3]

Mine is spasmodic so take it with a pinch of salt but it's working at the moment.

 

If I'm up early enough I do yoga then shower. We all breakfast together and one kid helps with the breakfast clean up. The kids have a bath or shower, and each feed their pets while I do my pet chores. We do a quick bedroom straighten up and make the beds and I put on a load of laundry. Like I said, this is my ideal routine it's not perfect every day, but it is what it takes to make things run smoothly.

[lulalu]

Thanks. It really helps to hear other families mornings.

[Soror]

I never wake kids up unless I have to, my (nearly) 12 has just started to sleep later, the rest are up by 8 at the latest, often somewhere around 7 unless we are up late. Official breakfast time is at 8, walk time 8:30, starting lessons at 9. We may or may not follow that exactly. Sometimes some chores will be done in the morning before breakfast depending on how everyone is doing. I get up well before the kids and have time to myself then, doing various things- reading, computer time, paperwork, exercise etc. We don't generally break until lunch although the the 1st and 4th are done before then and depending on when he starts ds 6/7 will likely be. After lunch we might do some kind of extra- nature study, science, poetry etc. Pick up time is generally before lunch and around 3, quiet time(if we manage it is in the afternoon.