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What to Schedule?

Especially during a school strike (as is currently happening in BC), it’s important to create a schedule in order that the transition back-to-school will not be too shocking!

• Morning and evening schedules should be replicating what the schedule would look like, if school had started.  Whatever your normal back-to-school bed and wake-up times are, need to be implemented now
• Kids need to be engaged in some focussed learning each school day (Monday-Friday), I recommend at least two hours/day
• Schedule some time for physical activity/outdoor time
• Time to get engrossed in a great book – for elementary students 15-30 minutes of reading/day and more for the book lovers

How to Schedule?

• make the schedule visual and concrete
• create a checklist on a white board (these can be bought at office supply stores such as Staples)
• use one of the many great apps for creating a “to-do” list

Wunderlist – a great family “to-do” list app for an iPad or smart phone

(I am not an affiliate for this app, I just happen to think it’s a particularly useful one!)

• Wunderlist allows you to create lists for different areas of your life: grocery store, travel, favourite books and a “to-do” list for the day!
• Wunderlist allows you to share your list with family members whom you’ve chosen to add
• People who have access to the same list can make comments to each other… “Hi Honey, here’s the shopping list!” or “How’s the math?”
• Wunderlist allows you to check off when a task is complete (great for internal satisfaction)
• You can set reminders and due dates (however, your device needs to be on, to receive these)
• See example in the photo at the top of this post

How to Motivate?

• Include child/teen in planning out the day
• Set parameters but include choices within parameters Ie. Parameters that are non-negotiable are  2 hours of focussed school work/day – 2 hours is non-negotiable but you can choose to work with a tutor or a high-school/older elementary student or a parent
• Perspective:  If you were in school, you would be there for 6 hours, tutoring for 2 hours is much shorter
• Add in breaks
• Create fun stuff to do after the work is done
• Hire a fun student or tutor vs. getting into power struggles with your child (my 11 year old daughter is currently tutoring my friend’s 7 year old)
• Read with your child during reading time
• Plan some fun family educational events – going to an Imax film is often entertaining for all ages (in Vancouver, up until Oct. 11th, there are 3 choices: 12pm and 2pm Journey to the South Pacific (see whale sharks, sea turtles, manta rays etc.), 1pm Rescue (see the global effort of bringing aid to Haiti after the earthquake), 3pm Rocky Mountain Express (travel by steam train through the Rockies and learn the story of the building of the Transcontinental railway)
  – Britannia Mining Museum, Aquarium, Grouse Mountain, Burnaby Village Museum, UBC Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver Art Gallery Family Programs (Sun 12-4pm), Weekend Classical music concerts for children at the VSO, Lynn Canyon Ecology Centre, Capilano Salmon Hatchery, Burnaby Central Railway Miniature Trains (and you can ride on them! ) Seasonal –  only open for a few more weeks!

Have fun scheduling and exploring!

Warmly,

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