“Mom, when is my friend’s party?”
“Is today swim lessons day?”
“What are we eating for supper tonight?”
“How many more days until we get to go to grandma’s house?”
If you have children in your house, most likely you’ve heard these or similar-type questions from your kids. Children are inquisitive. They like to know things. And they like things that are concrete. Abstract facts are often confusing and stressful for them. This why children usually work best under some type of schedule. It helps them to organize abstract facts into concrete information.
Kids like concrete info. Make the abstract concrete with a weekly schedule for meals and activities.Click To TweetThe Background Story
Recently, I read Carolyn Dalgliesh’s book, The Sensory Child Gets Organized. (which is an excellent read by the way for parents of ALL types of kids, not just sensory). In the book, Carolyn shares several ways to help children feel more in control of their environment and calm feelings of distraction and anxiety. One of these ways is the creation of a command center.
If you are on Pinterest, you’ve probably seen several amazing command centers. You know the kind–they have a space to put your mail, your keys, a calendar, and so on. However, sometimes simple is best, and when it come to kids, all they really need is a weekly schedule. Thus, we decided to create a one page weekly schedule to help us with all those daily questions–when…what…and where. Already, we have seen great results. The girls LOVE knowing what is for supper and now, instead of asking me WHAT day is it (meaning what are we doing today), my youngest is now TELLING ME what we are doing each day. She loves feeling “in the know.”
Get This Weekly Schedule Printable
Want to help your kids feel in control of their environment too? Feel free to download our weekly schedule template below. Place the weekly schedule in a plastic sleeve or laminate it for regular use with a dry erase marker. Then, have fun watching those morning conversations change!
