As I said previously, for children a clear and strict routine works very well, making them feel safe and loved. Structure is vital for everyone, and keeps everyone healthy, balanced and, well, sane!
Rhythm is a natural thing, like the days and the nights, the weeks, the seasons, the daily routines, meal times, school, and for the younger ones, playtime, fun time, quiet time, story time, bath time, bed time...and each of these come with mini routines, such as always light a candle at meal times or say a special something or a prayer before kissing goodnight...
There are so many ways of making a child feel safe and secure and rhythm really helps, trust me!
Breathing in and out is what we do, our bodies contracting and expanding, our lungs and heart working rhythmically...when we get distressed, upset, angry, anxious...our heart beat gets faster and the breathing follows...
Also during a holiday, at home or flying away, our bodies change as our timetable changes and the routine as we usually say, goes out of the window! Then we are tired and cranky,with late mornings, late nights,we get out of synch, suffer digestive problems, sleeping problems, and so forth; the children feel it 10 times more than us!
A nice place to be!Home sweet home!
Children need home time and quality time, resting time, quiet time, homely time...which could be also domestic activities such as cleaning, washing up, dusting, sweeping, hoovering,scrubbing, ironing, sewing,and many more.DIY is good too: these activities reflect the meaning behind which is the taking care of our surroundings, our home. The more we involve the children or simply do it with or in front of the children, the more they get to learn the respect of their environment, which, incidentally could be home, or any other house/building, church, etc...
Part of my everyday routine is the care of my environment, which shows care and respect to the children. I feel more relaxed and breathe better when the space I use for me and the children is tidy and clean. Is like having a canvas to work on...
So here some inspiring photos of my home and other places I use for the sessions I run whcih I make homely:
The 'Big House' Unstone Grange
( Vegiventures holidays)
My home
Some images of my home and the previous homes
So now I will share the highlights of my weekly routine:
On Mondays I take the children in my care to a lovely session run by a lovely lady, who is also a parent at Acorns Playgroup - Greenwich Steiner School: these sessions are in Blackheath at the Conservatoire;
It is an interactive storytelling session, or in short, early years drama!I find this enjoyable and although stimulating and creative, relaxing and fun!
I go to the morning sessions but the teacher is opening an exciting new session in the afternoon for families who want to take part as a group with children of different ages, so perfect for either after school activity or home educators!
Come along and join us on adventures of the imagination, inventing new stories and exploring old stories.
This class is based on interactive story telling and
ensemble theatre techniques which will encourage and
nurture creative play.
For more information call
Blackheath Conservatoire Reception on 020 8852 0234.
On Tuesdays, I take the children in my care to a lovely Colourstrings session; I find this a wonderful and clever introduction to music for the little ones.
More about Colourstrings here:
http://www.colourstrings.co.uk/
Tuesday morning is 10.30-11.15 for all children aged to 3 years old with a carer attending.
Thursday age 3-4 years 1.45-2.30
and age 4-6 years 2.30-3.15
Jo Barwick
Colourstrings
A Day of Sky Childcare
07791 863 618
On Thursdays,I run my own Parent and Child group session for Acorns at the Church of Ascension
On Fridays, I run the outdoor session in Oxleas Woods
- more info about Acorns sessions on:
On Fridays, I run the outdoor session in Oxleas Woods
- more info about Acorns sessions on:
http://www.greenwichacorns.org.uk/index.html
I go to Yoga twice a week and regular walks, although I walk daily, also I go to aqua gym once a week, I had a break from it but will resume this shortly.
My daughter does once weekly, art lessons at The Conservatoire and music lessons at school, drama, as an after school club, athletics and Circus skills!
I go to Yoga twice a week and regular walks, although I walk daily, also I go to aqua gym once a week, I had a break from it but will resume this shortly.
My daughter does once weekly, art lessons at The Conservatoire and music lessons at school, drama, as an after school club, athletics and Circus skills!
Susannah Andrews
My daily routine could be:
breakfast-quite time
cleaning and tyding
walking to school/work
home time- domestic work
cleaning
cooking
indoor playtime for children
tidy up time
snack time
craft time- creative craft
walk- outdoor time
park- woods - farm
outdoor playtime for children
throughout the day I sing for myself or the children
unless I run a session, I don't really do a 'ring-time', rather, I sing as I do things and children join in spontaneously ...
lunch time
rest time - some toddlers sleep - nap time
library or back home
back indoor for a repeat of the above morning routine
Most days are similar,some days I take the children to other sessions but some days I run my own sessions.
Most days I pick up the older children from school.
More about rhythm and routine
This is copied and pasted from Waldorf in the Home:
Thoughts on Rhythms and Routines
from Jaimmie Marx
Caregiver at the Milwaukee LifeWays Early Childhood Center
Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to participate in my first parent evening at LifeWays. The evening was a great success and I learned a lot from my research, my peers and the parents in attendance. I spoke about the importance of strong daily rhythms in the life of a young child and would like to share some of these ideas with you.
How do children benefit from rhythms and routines?
One of the tasks of the growing child and one of the functions of parenting is to bring the child into rhythm. Consider the erratic breathing of a newborn baby. It seems as though the life of a new baby is without any rhythm. Feeding and sleeping occur on demand at irregular intervals. This lack of rhythm can be quite exhausting for a new mom or dad, but gradually a rhythm begins to develop and everyone seems happier. As your baby grows, you can help him strengthen his sense of rhythm and reduce the stress in his life (and yours, too!). Your child will be secure and happy because he knows what to expect and what is expected of him.
Discipline issues are greatly reduced when there are strong rhythms. Activities are taken as a matter of fact and become habits. Observe how a child can go into fits when he is occasionally made to clean his room. Or, what becomes of a child who has spent the entire evening shopping, out to dinner and at meetings or social engagements. Often, this child will appear perfectly content through the hubbub, but melts down at the end of it all. Learning that there is a time for all things is a life lesson. Of course, there is a time for play dates and excursions. But, the pace of the modern child's life is often more than he can handle. While adults occasionally feel burnt out, imagine how it must feel to be a burnt out 3-year-old! Rhythm gives children a sense of security and a sense that life has real form. Knowing what's next enables the child to go with the flow with greater ease. While you can tell your child whom you are meeting for dinner and which stores you will be running to, it does not provide the same sense of security as an inner knowledge based on day to day experience. I witness this inner, bodily “knowing” a thousand times a day as kids automatically move from dishwashing to getting on their snow pants for outdoors.
Regularity is the key to establishing good habits. If a child has washed his own dish after eating each day since he could reach the sink, what aggravation we are saving him and his wife or roommates as a man. He shall be liberated from woeful glances at a sink overflowing with rusty dishes. In my own experience, working at LifeWays has improved my own homemaking habits and I am relieved of the stress of a to-do list filled with mundane tasks that would have been a thousand times easier to do in the moment. As your children get older, they will transform the outer structure that you have helped establish into inner self-discipline.
Daily rhythms should be formed around food and sleep. Regular bedtime and meals can reduce tension and confrontations at what can be the most challenging times of the day. These rhythms can be held by ritual, such as a blessing before meals, or a lullaby at bedtime.
Young children need at least 10 hours of sleep at night. And, pediatricians recommend a total of 12-15 hours of sleep each day. So, if your child is having a hard time waking in the morning, consider the amount of sleep he is getting. Bedtime routines can revolve around hygiene and bonding. The more repetitive these tasks, the better. Their bodies will know to brush teeth after putting on PJ's if that is how it is done every night. You can help your child relax at bedtime by doing the same preparations in the same way at the same time every night. One simple story shared from a book, or better yet, an oral tale, can be told again and again for weeks. This allows the child's mind to calm and relax into sleep. When we read 36 books before bed, it is no wonder that he lies there with his mind filled with images, unable to relax in much the same way as adults lay in bed contemplating their to do list or the plans for the next day.
Regular mealtimes, naps and bedtimes help to introduce the child to the concept of the passing of time. If children have regular external rhythms, internal rhythms will develop. When dinnertime and bedtime are consistent, your child becomes hungry at dinnertime and sleepy at bedtime. Rhythm is a blessing for both the parent and the child. It requires much less energy, prevents struggle and supports the activities of the family. It requires inner discipline, and yes, even sacrifice, for we adults are easily bored with the normalcy of life. --Jaimmie Marx
One of the tasks of the growing child and one of the functions of parenting is to bring the child into rhythm. Consider the erratic breathing of a newborn baby. It seems as though the life of a new baby is without any rhythm. Feeding and sleeping occur on demand at irregular intervals. This lack of rhythm can be quite exhausting for a new mom or dad, but gradually a rhythm begins to develop and everyone seems happier. As your baby grows, you can help him strengthen his sense of rhythm and reduce the stress in his life (and yours, too!). Your child will be secure and happy because he knows what to expect and what is expected of him.
Discipline issues are greatly reduced when there are strong rhythms. Activities are taken as a matter of fact and become habits. Observe how a child can go into fits when he is occasionally made to clean his room. Or, what becomes of a child who has spent the entire evening shopping, out to dinner and at meetings or social engagements. Often, this child will appear perfectly content through the hubbub, but melts down at the end of it all. Learning that there is a time for all things is a life lesson. Of course, there is a time for play dates and excursions. But, the pace of the modern child's life is often more than he can handle. While adults occasionally feel burnt out, imagine how it must feel to be a burnt out 3-year-old! Rhythm gives children a sense of security and a sense that life has real form. Knowing what's next enables the child to go with the flow with greater ease. While you can tell your child whom you are meeting for dinner and which stores you will be running to, it does not provide the same sense of security as an inner knowledge based on day to day experience. I witness this inner, bodily “knowing” a thousand times a day as kids automatically move from dishwashing to getting on their snow pants for outdoors.
Regularity is the key to establishing good habits. If a child has washed his own dish after eating each day since he could reach the sink, what aggravation we are saving him and his wife or roommates as a man. He shall be liberated from woeful glances at a sink overflowing with rusty dishes. In my own experience, working at LifeWays has improved my own homemaking habits and I am relieved of the stress of a to-do list filled with mundane tasks that would have been a thousand times easier to do in the moment. As your children get older, they will transform the outer structure that you have helped establish into inner self-discipline.
Daily rhythms should be formed around food and sleep. Regular bedtime and meals can reduce tension and confrontations at what can be the most challenging times of the day. These rhythms can be held by ritual, such as a blessing before meals, or a lullaby at bedtime.
Young children need at least 10 hours of sleep at night. And, pediatricians recommend a total of 12-15 hours of sleep each day. So, if your child is having a hard time waking in the morning, consider the amount of sleep he is getting. Bedtime routines can revolve around hygiene and bonding. The more repetitive these tasks, the better. Their bodies will know to brush teeth after putting on PJ's if that is how it is done every night. You can help your child relax at bedtime by doing the same preparations in the same way at the same time every night. One simple story shared from a book, or better yet, an oral tale, can be told again and again for weeks. This allows the child's mind to calm and relax into sleep. When we read 36 books before bed, it is no wonder that he lies there with his mind filled with images, unable to relax in much the same way as adults lay in bed contemplating their to do list or the plans for the next day.
Regular mealtimes, naps and bedtimes help to introduce the child to the concept of the passing of time. If children have regular external rhythms, internal rhythms will develop. When dinnertime and bedtime are consistent, your child becomes hungry at dinnertime and sleepy at bedtime. Rhythm is a blessing for both the parent and the child. It requires much less energy, prevents struggle and supports the activities of the family. It requires inner discipline, and yes, even sacrifice, for we adults are easily bored with the normalcy of life. --Jaimmie Marx
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