If your child’s morning routine includes tears, tantrums, or general inertia, read on – we can help. Establishing a morning routine is the only way to get kids to start their day off right. All it takes is a little organization. Check out these tips:
Ensure smooth sailing in the morning by planning ahead at night. Backpacks should be packed and by the door before bedtime. Not every kid wants to lay out their clothes for the next day, but that doesn’t mean you can’t subtly encourage them to think about what they’re going to wear. Let them know what the weather’s supposed to be like so they can make an informed decision. And if they have a tough time matching, check out some of these matching outfits.
Hopefully you already know what time your child needs to be out the door to make it to school on time. Once you lock down that time, you can do a little more research to figure out the perfect wake-up time. Try to figure out how long it takes your child to do things like get dressed, brush their teeth, and eat breakfast. You can either get out the stopwatch – which might actually be kind of fun – or just pay close attention over the course of a few days.
Once you know approximately how long your child’s routine takes, you can figure out when your child should be waking up. But you shouldn’t necessarily be the one to wake them up each day. Kids, especially older kids, feel more autonomous and empowered when they’ve gotten up by themselves. Invest in an alarm clock of their choosing – one that plays music or a tone that’s totally up to them.
An undernourished kid is more likely to misbehave and less likely to be on-task at school, so make sure you always make time for breakfast in your child’s morning routine. If your child is having a tough time making good eating choices, start at the grocery. Try to find some breakfast foods that are healthy and easy to prepare. Fruit is an ideal choice for both these reasons.
It’s a good idea to add an extra 20 minutes to your child’s morning routine, not just as a buffer in case something unexpected happens, but as a little extra time for your child to do something fun if they get through everything they need to do. It will teach them the value of good time management.
http://family.go.com/parenting/pkg-back-to-school/article-747228-school-morning-routines-t/
http://parenting.org/article/making-your-morning-routines-manageable
