Why are routines and schedules important for children ?

Familiar activities can provide comfort for adults and kids. When infants and toddlers are part of familiar activities and routines, they develop relationships with the people they interact with and gain a sense of belonging and self-confidence. As older toddlers and young children grow, they can follow routines, demonstrate emerging independence, and adjust to change more easily.

A consistent daily schedule and step-by-step routines give children a predictable day and help children:

Feel in control of their environment
Feel safe, secure, and comfortable
Know what is happening now and what comes next
Know how to do an activity or task
Engage in learning

Become more engaged and attentive
Emotional, cognitive, and social development.
Reduce behavior problems.

Reading/ Freedom AND Structure 2:00 min

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What are the important elements of a succesful scheduling in preschools?

The schedule should be simple and easily explained to children . An effective schedule have a balanced amount of activities that permit free, open-ended learning approach and stimulates creativity. The good schedule provide adequate time for each structured activity and include transition time as well. It should be inclusive for children with special needs. The schedule should be flexible, allowing time for special events or for activities to continue if children are interested and not ready to move on to the next activity.

Free-Choice Time

According to research that has looked at preschool children’s behavior in different settings and activities throughout the school day, children are more involved in activities that allow them independence and the opportunity to make choices. . Children learn best during free-choice time when teachers actively scaffold their learning (Chien et al., 2010). This can likely be explained by the fact that children are more likely to remain interested and to keep working at an activity when they chose the activity in the first place, rather than the teacher choosing the activity for them.

Free-choice time is time during the school day in which children make their own choices about what activities they engage in. The teacher’s role during free-choice time is to make sure each child has the opportunity to pursue their interests and to make the most of these learning opportunities.

In free-choice time, preschoolers were also more engaged with their peers (Vitiello et al., 2012). Research tells us children who are more engaged in activities with their peers early on do better in school when they are older. According to studies In most programs that operate eight hours or more should have at least 60 minutes of free choice play. (Cryer, Harms, & Riley, 20012) .

Outdoor free play

Outdoor time allows children to direct their own play and learning and to follow their interests. In addition, preschool children are highly engaged with activities and in play with other children during outdoor time (Vitiello et al., 2012). Outdoor time is critical for the physical development and interactions with the natural world is critical for senses and offers tremendous learning opportunities and plays a role in the well being of the child as the research shows children who spend more time outdoors are more physically active and, therefore, less likely to suffer from health problems in the future (Hinkley, Crawford, Salmon, Okely, & Hesketh, 2008).

Same as free play at least 60 minutes per day should be spent outdoors, weather permitting, for programs that operate eight hours or more (Cryer, Harms, & Riley, 20012).

Large-Group Activities

This time provides an opportunity to read stories to the group, sing songs, discuss the daily schedule or calendar, encourage children to share special events or items, welcome a guest visitor or new child, and build classroom community.

Taking part in group activities help children:

Learn how to fit in a team and work with peers towards a common goal.
Teamwork teaches kids to co-operate with other, respect their abilities and opinions, and accept the deficiencies of others.
Communicate effectively in order to facilitate working together.
Move from the intrapersonal to the interpersonal in terms of personality development, social skills, emotional development and communication skills.
Develop their physical activities in the form of a fun social activity.
Express themselves.

Reading/ examples on large group activities

Small-Group Activities

Small-group activities like reading a story , offering a science experiment, work on an art project, play a board game with children offer a chance to focus on important learning goals in a personal setting, it helps children by:

Giving more time to work with the material that is offered to them during this activity.
Allowing children to interact with their peers combined with one-on-one attention from the teacher.
Providing opportunities for teachers to observe closely and document the child development in different domains.

Transitions

Transitions like cleaning up interest areas and lining up to go outside are unavoidable in preschool classrooms and can increase unwanted or challenging behaviour such as non-compliance, aggression, biting, and so on that make educators feel like police officers than nurturing educators because:

Daily routine has a high number of scheduled transitions.
Transitions usually are rushed.
Children don’t know what is coming next.
Children are extremely engaged in what is on hand and not ready to stop doing what they are doing

To minimize transitions, consider all of the activities in your day that require all children to do the same thing at the same time. First, ask yourself: Are all of these transition times necessary? Next, ask yourself: Do all of the children need to do the same thing at the same time during transitions? For example do all the children to wash their hands at the same time!

To support transitions and make them easy:

Communicate ahead of time when a change is coming.
Before the end of an activity, it may be helpful to give children a “5-minute warning” when there are 5 minutes left before it is time to clean up.
You can use child-friendly tools like a timer to help children know when the transition will occur.
Singing songs with accompanying movements (e.g., hand clapping) during transitions such as clean up or hand washing may help keep children focused on what they are doing and prevent long waiting times in which children have nothing to do.
Have materials such as books, puzzles, and puppets available for children who are waiting to begin the next activity.
Regularly review the effectiveness of transition plans and make changes when needed.

Routines

Routines such as arrival time, bathroom time, clean-up time, naptime... etc, are an important part of the to building a consistent classroom community. Planning is the key to successful routines and the routines should match the children’s stage of development. To help children commit to the routine you need to think carefully about what is required from children to achieve or do. What do you want children to do when they enter the room? You need to be specific and consider using a predictable sequence instead: Sign in, put coat in cubby, wash hands, and find a quiet activity in an open interest area. See how these details could help all children be more successful? It is often helpful to plan your routines as if you need to explain them to a new teacher or child. What details would that individual need to know? If children are struggling with a particular routine, it can be helpful to observe where the routine breaks down.

If you watch the children and notice that they often stop to look at toys or greet friends before they put their coats away, this gives you important information. This probably means your room is set up in a way that creates distraction in the morning routine. Perhaps cubbies are too far away from the door. Perhaps the walkway to the cubbies goes straight through interest areas where children congregate. Think about designing your room in such a way that it guides children into successful routines. There is a clear path from the door to the sign-in sheet, then to the cubbies, then to the sinks, and finally the room opens up.

Think the same way about other routines.

Are snack spaces situated near the sinks and kitchen supplies?
Are extra clothes near the restroom?
Are garbage cans located conveniently around the room?

All of these factors can help ease transitions and minimize distractions.

The best routines have a clear beginning and end. For example, for a mealtime routine, children will know “I wash my hands, sit at the table, sing a rhyme with the class, eat my food, clean up, and brush my teeth.” Do not forget that adults need to teach children these routines directly. Also, remember you can use songs or visual supports to help routines. Examples include color-coded feet on the floor so children know where to stand when lining up to go outside or a series of pictures and words to remind children the proper steps in handwashing.

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Video/ Transitions tip nd tricks / 20 min

What is your role in supportig children durn transitions betweens rooms and activities?

Establish a predictable routine. A consistent routine or schedule lets children know what will happen next. It also helps new children learn what to expect. It is important to keep in mind that children are not motivated by time limits so a predictable routine doesn’t have to be driven by the minute they only need to have a sense of what’s coming next. Try to be flexible about the time scheduled especially when their interest is high.
Model what you are teaching children. Keep a calm voice and manner. Speak softly and move in an unhurried way to communicate that this is an orderly process. If you run around, raise your voice and look stressed, often children will act in the same way as this is the behaviour that you model to them.
Support children with visual routine. You might use actual photographs of your outdoor area, lunch table, and play centres in sequential order or draw pictures to represent different parts of your day. For children with limited communication and younger children, it is better to use photographs of the actual service to build their understanding.
Be aware of child development. Understanding child development helps you know the general skills children have and are developing. Knowing these milestones and skills allows you to provide children with what they need to transition. It is particularly important to have an understanding of emotional development for the age group of children you work with.
Know each child well. Knowing the child well provides the best information about what they can do and how they learn and their interests, likes, dislikes, fears, comforts, temperament, family, culture, abilities.
Know yourself well. Think about what you need for your day to go well and know what helps you in stressful situations. Discuss this with your staff team so you can work to each others strength’s, and understand and support each other during transition times for children.
Prepare the children for a transition. Walk quietly through the room softly telling children what to expect. You might do this by telling them “when we finish playing, we will clean up so we can have snack.” Your comments should let children know what is happening now and what will happen next. For children who have difficulty understanding verbal cues you could show them pictures from the visual routine.
Provide extra support for children who may require it. Watch for children who seem uneasy or anxious during transitions. Involve them early in a task, ask them to be your assistant, giving direct instructions.
Be responsive, attentive, and nurturing. Transitions are most effective when children feel safe, secure and nurtured. Children are less anxious.
Reduce waiting time. In situations that typically require waiting (toileting, washing hands), group children in easy- to-manage numbers. Begin with a small group of two or three, and send them to the bathroom while others are still playing. Other children can then follow as the first group returns to the room.
Make transitions meaningful and fun. By singing a song during clean up, or hopping on one foot to come in from outside, you can make transitions entertaining and educational. You could make a list of songs / rhymes and pictures of animals to imitate (“let’s move slowly like a tortoise” “walk like a wombat”). For even experienced educators, it can be hard to come up with an idea during a busy transition so plan ahead and have some ideas up your sleeve!
Promote self-direction and self-control.Create a climate for children that values responsibility for your room and the environment. Use intentional teaching strategies throughout the curriculum to build children’s understanding. For example, teach, role model and demonstrate how to look after their room and clean up after a busy day.

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