Daily Routines and Structure for Children

My suggestion is to arrange to observe a daycare center for a day. Spring for a babysitter and write down everything these teachers do. It will give you great insight into how wonderful a routine schedule for EVERY day is for children. And you'll see how well children behave when they have it.

Excellent daycare providers are the best at it, in my opinion.

Dawn

our schedule during those years looked like this:

6-7am wake up, bfast, clean up (by 3 my son liked to help make bfast or set the table)
7-8 housework (my son helped too with little jobs like putting the clothes in the dryer, helping me fold, he had a pretend vaccum while I ran the big one, he followed me around with his little duster while I swiffered, he helped pull weeds or played with his shovel and little wheelbarrow while I worked in the garden)
8-9 go for a walk or go to the park (we got out early to avoid the heat)
9-10 run errands
10-11 schoolwork, we worked on age appropriate workbooks, language skills (sign language, chinese, spanish and french), geography (we looked up different countries on a map or globe), science experiments (this usually consisted of adding water to things like a bowl of beans, or mixing cheese with rice, or adding food coloring to milk or pudding), writing (dot to dot and mazes to strengthen his grip) and reading.
12 lunch
1-3 or 4 we usually had playdates here or somewhere else; if we didn't have a playdate or go anywhere our afternoon was 1 boardgame, 1:30 arts and crafts, 2-3 my son played by himself while I tidied up or worked from home, 3 arts and crafts (we did alot of texture play - painting with pudding, glueing things together, taping things, filling cans and bottles with rice, corn kernels, beans, sandpapering), 3:30 playdoh (my son LOVED playdoh)
4 reading
4:30-5:30ish TV or videos while I made dinner (my husband got home around this time)
5:30 dinner
6 - bath and reading books
7p lights out

My husband and I felt it was a good routine for our son. It was a good balance of alot of structure but alot of playtime with friends. It does require an effort in planning but once you get the hang of planning out your days for a few weeks, it won't be so hard. I tried to be as resourceful as I could, using rainy day books, checking for ideas on the internet. We went to the library, did something downtown (museums, NASA, ballgame, church outings) and went to Bible study once a week. We invited alot of friends to join us on our outings, so that was our way of keeping in touch with our friends...and making new friends too!

When things start getting hectic it's time to go do something. Get out of the house even if it's just to drive around the neighborhood a few times. Going to the park, to the indoor playground at McDonald's, walking through a mall, it's something to occupy the mind and get it on to another topic.

Kids don't need a lot of structure. In child care a typical day for a 3 or a 5 year old goes something like this:

7am-8:30am arrive and eat breakfast,

After eating to to classroom play

9am Circle time, days of the weeke, the outside weather, music, story time, monthly theme, weekly goals, letters, colors, etc....

9:45 bathroom time

10am play time

10:45 clean up and wash up for lunch

11am lunch

noon clean up from lunch and transitional activities such as reading a story or other quiet, sit down and relax type of things.

12:30 all kids asleep

2:30 start getting kids up and to the bathroom

3pm, after noon snacks.

3:30pm playtime until parents come or do some arts and crafts then play time.

So, as you see, a 3 year old needs to have play time most of the day. That's how they learn at this age. They don't need structure and a tight schedule. They learn by playing until they are a good 4 years old. That's why developmental research says kids are ready for the structure of an actual classroom at age 5. That's why kindergarten is for kids a full 5 years old turning 6 that year.

I suggest your child needs to learn to play on their own and not be using you as their playmate if that's what is happening.

Please google children learn while they play so you can see why child care centers have changed so much over the past 20 years. Kids learn all sorts of needed things by simply playing.

We don't do much structure in this house. My kids are 3 and 5, btw. We have activities about 3 days a week (we use to have activities 5 days a week, but I'm super pregnant and just can't keep up with that schedule right now). But this is what our day generally looks like:

kids get up, they free play or play on the computer while eating cheerios until breakfast time(8:30). They then get dressed and ready for the day, and then free play till lunch, or we head out to an activity. After lunch we generally read a book or two, and then they get about 2 hours of video time. After videos, they have a snack, and then we do something together. At 5, they watch Wild Kratts while I prep dinner, and then they free play for 30 more minutes before dinner. After dinner, they get in their PJs and get washed up, and then we read books and have stories. My daughter then is allowed to read in bed for 15-30 more minutes.

It's strange how much video time they get since I didn't even turn on a TV until my oldest was 2.5, but my youngest really needs his down time on the couch since he doesn't nap, and I'm always amazed by how much they learn watching videos. They do not watch regular TV, however, because I believe in a commercial free childhood (or keeping them away from commercials until they are old enough to understand what they are-- roughly 7 or 8). We do Netflix and then PBS for the occasional program (my son loves Super Why).

Here's what we did at that age:

8:00am- get up. Eat and get the kids dressed. Kids had a little free play/tv time while I showered and dressed.

10:00am- go out. Usually to a play group, zoo museum, YMCA etc.

Noon- come home for lunch (unless I brought a picnic lunch).

1:00pm- go out. Usually to the playground, grocery shopping, playgroup, YMCA etc.

3:00pm- come home for nap time/quiet time. My kids had stopped napping by now, so they usually just had quiet time with a movie. While they had their down time I did my housework and cooked dinner.

5:00pm-dinner.

6:00pm- go out. To the playground, swim lessons, soccer, the YMCA or just to play in the back yard.

8:00pm- home time. A little bit of time to relax, baths, bedtime routine.

10:00pm- bedtime.

This worked well for us.