How to Set a Routine for Early Years Children

Routines: A Form of Behaviour-Management Strategy

Routines function as a behaviour-management strategy for several reasons.

To begin, routines help in making children cooperate. This is precisely because family routines make it crystal clear as to who in the family should do what, how often, when, and in what order. For instance, the likelihood of a child washing up after dinner is greater if it is their job as an integral part of their routine. The best Cambridge schools in Mumbai give unrivalled importance when it comes to creating a routine for children.

An effective routine can help you in planning for times as well as activities when children tend to misbehave. This is because a routine phenomenally helps children to know what to expect as well as your expectations from them. For instance, a simple routine for driving may be singing aloud together, playing ‘I Spy’ or even Alphabet Search, much before a child looks at books of his or her own free will.

Routines can also be developed for young children around meals, play , and sleep. When a child experiences excellent-quality sleep, obtains wholesome and nutritious food and has enormous amounts of playtime, the chances of their behaving appropriately drastically increase.

Routines are excellent for children as well as families in diverse ways. They help in the smooth functioning of family life. They ensure that children feel safe, develop key skills, and successfully build healthy habits. Moreover, they help parents feel more organised, efficiently manage stress and find vital time for enjoyable activities. Aditya Birla World Academy, being one of the best Cambridge schools in Mumbai, makes it a point to help set effective routines for all its students, especially during the early years.

Creating Successful Routines to Help with a Child’s Behaviour

Mentioned below are some effective and useful tips to help you get started with family routines as a form of behaviour-management strategy. The best Cambridge schools in Mumbai emphasise the importance of creating routines for its students like none other.

• Plan effective routines for testing times in your family day; for instance, prior to and post work and school. Things are more likely to run smoothly when you set a routine that enables everyone in the family to have something to do, while simultaneously keeping children busy as you get things done.

• Add extra downtime into the routine for children. This gives a child sufficient time for rest or sleep, which can eventually help good behaviour. This additionally offers children the time to play as well as entertain themselves.

• Link activities together. Some of the best Cambridge schools in Mumbai give a greater emphasis on this aspect. It can eventually help your child get through boring or challenging activities at a faster pace. For instance, children could cultivate the habit of putting the laundry into the basket before entering the bathroom to brush their teeth.

• An efficient routine must have ‘limits;’ for instance, limits on unhealthy activities such as excessive screentime . Therefore, an efficient routine while you are preparing dinner may be a child completing his or her homework and only then be given permission to watch a television program.

• Successfully explain routines to children. Toddlers, too, can comprehend simple and consistent explanations. For instance, you can emphasise “First brush teeth. Then story and playtime with Dad.”

• Converse with children about the importance of routines . For instance, you may say, “We need to have dinner early on certain days so that you can reach your gymnastics classes on time.”

• Use ideas or language that your child can successfully understand when it comes to talking about your routine. If your child is too young to comprehend time, you may simply say, “We only watch Play School” rather than “We only watch an hour of TV.” When it comes to routines for children, some of the best Cambridge schools in Mumbai have no two ways about it.

The Bottomline

An excellent routine for early years children needs to be well-planned, consistent, and predictable. Developing a routine is beneficial for not only the child but also the parent. Routines give enhanced control to parents when it comes to reducing the stress that may exist in the entire family. A well-grounded routine makes sufficient time for fun activities as well as that much-needed family time, which eventually benefits all.

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