Routines for the School Year- The Best Tips for a Peaceful, Productive Family

Establishing routines is one of the very best ways to get your family accomplishing all they need to do with as little hassle as possible. Implement these ten routines for a more calm, purposeful school week.

Why You Should Have Routines for the School Year

A routine is anything that is repeated consistently, becoming the norm or habit. Routines make life feel easier. “That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do-not that the nature of the thing is changed, but that our power to do is increased.” Life is hard enough for us and our kids. Let’s make as much as possible as easy as possible!

During the school year, families have a lot to take care of including homework, extracurricular activities, and the normal needs of running a household. The time to do all of that is severely shortened by the school day. I am not suggesting we pack our days as full as we can to be more productive, but it’s nice to be able to be productive we want to be. Routines help required tasks take less time and energy, leaving more time for fun and flexibility.

Choosing and implementing routines for your family is helpful for everyone. After routines are established kids know what is expected of them and have the practice to succeed at it. Parents have to nag less often.

All of this results in a more productive and peaceful home.

After School Routines and Tips

During the school year, we have to fit so much into that small window between release from school and bedtime. Routine is our best friend here.

1. Backpacks and Papers

I always tell my kids there is absolutely no reason to throw a backpack on the floor. It takes approximately .2 seconds longer to throw it where it actually belongs. Don’t clean-up after your kids, but instead, consistently invite them to clean as they go.

Have a set system for where papers from school should go. For us, the kids all put their papers in ONE place for me to check sometime throughout the night. This way they don’t hand me a permission slip when I am helping another child and I set it down to be misplaced forever!

Having a routine for these two simple things sets the tone for the rest of the house…we clean as we go. This cuts down on a lot of clutter and work.

More Help: Organize Your Paperwork

2. Unwind without Screens

Most days after school, kids need to unwind without structure. Avoid screens during this time as they have a way of sucking time like none other. We try to stay at the school playground a couple times a week. Other days the kids read for fun or play in the basement or yard.

Tell kids a set time when they should start working on their responsibilities for the day. This time can vary on days with extracurricular activities, but generally for us it’s about 30-60 minutes after school ends.

Somedays the kids don’t need this time and get right to their work so they can play more later.

3. Low Maintenance Snack

Hungry kids are often grumpy kids, but our kitchen is definitely not open all day. Snack time has a tendency to morph right into dinner and wander all over the house, so we keep it short. Nine days out of ten our kids can choose a fruit, a veggie, or a cheese stick for afterschool snack. These choices are healthy, quick, and don’t make a lot of dishes. Oh yeah!

4. Responsibilities

This is the part of the day where families can really struggle. Battles may rage over chores or homework. Chaos can ensue when several children need mom at the same time. (Did I mention we have five kids?) Routine really is the key here.

Be consistent with your expectations. Everyday we fulfill certain responsibilities. No matter how much we may want to whine or complain, it doesn’t change those responsibilities.

For us, the kids are responsible for their homework, helper job (aka chores), and piano practicing everyday.

Be clear and consistent about what that list is at your house.

Encourage independence with your routine. Ask kids to put effort into homework first, and you’ll check it afterward. Teach your children how to do their chores so that they can be successful. A checklist can be helpful for many kids to keep them on task.

A Little Tip: Use a timer for encouragement. On a day when your child is in a good mood, time how long it takes to accomplish each responsibility. On a tougher day, you can remind them, “It only takes you ten minutes to do this when you focus! Let’s set the timer and hurry and get it done so we can move on with the fun.”

After responsibilities are fulfilled, really do let there be fun. Play a game together, read stories, or go for a walk or bike ride.

You may have noticed that we don’t have multiple extracurricular activities scheduled everyday. We have conscientiously chosen to not overschedule our family, and I am so grateful.

More Help: The 5 E’s of Teaching Kids to Work OR Our Simple Chore Chart

Routines for School Nights

I have found that a great day often starts with a great morning, which often actually starts the night before.

1. Early Family Dinner

The easiest way for me to get my kids in bed on time is to have an early dinner. If it’s too early, they’re all hungry again at bedtime, and I avoid bedtime snacks like the plague. I usually aim for dinner at 5:30 or 6:00. Find what time works for your family.

On busy school nights, it is super helpful for me to have my dinner plan early. If it’s a particularly busy time of life, I prefer to have a monthly meal plan. That means I set the meals for a month and don’t think about it again. If life isn’t too hectic, sometimes I opt for the weekly meal plan.

Over dinner, put screens and all else away and take time to connect. Laugh about the day. Ask each other questions or tell stories. Sit together as often as possible. If the whole family can’t be together because of activities, eat in shifts. As much as possible, avoid having an individual eat alone.

More Help: Meal Planning OR Mealtime Expectations and Raising Healthy Eaters

2. Prepare for the Next Day

My mornings are always much more peaceful and timely when we prepare the night before. Oh, how we all despise the last minute search for the desired item for Show and Tell!

Plan and/or prepare lunches the day before. Pack backpacks with homework, instruments, permission slips, and everything else. Set out clothes and decide what’s for breakfast.

More Help: Organize Your Clothes for a More Peaceful Morning

3. Consistent, Early Bedtime

I know that early is a relative word, but from the ages of 3-12, most kids need between 10-12 hours of sleep a night. Figure out what time your kids need to wake up to be on time to school and work back from that. We aim for 8:00pm. If you have a range of ages, you can have your older kids read in bed if you want them to go to bed at the same time as your younger kids. And remember, sleep begets sleep. Overtired kids often have a harder time falling and staying asleep. Start putting your kids to bed earlier and bedtime itself may get easier.

Everyone benefits from quiet hours at night. Parents can use the time for personal needs and recharging sanity. Well rested kids have an easier time doing well in school, regulating emotions, and maintaining health.

We have found that a family prayer and reading stories either together or individually makes for the perfect end to every school day.

More Help: 7 Minutes to a Better Sleeper

Routines for School Mornings

Honestly, if you’re consistent about your nighttime routines, you’re already almost done with your morning! There are only a few more things to consider.

1. Use the Alarm

Set your alarm and wake up to it. Put it across the room if you are too prone to hit the snooze button. (All of the rest of you can probably ignore that. It’s mostly for me.)

2. Get Dressed and Ready Before Breakfast

In a pinch, breakfast can be eaten in the car. However, it’s a lot harder to find missing shoes in the car, unless of course that’s where they have gone missing. But really, kids can be unpredictable. Somedays they dress and get ready in two minutes and other days the hair or the bowels just won’t cooperate. Have your kids get ready first so that you know exactly how much time you have to spend on either a leisurely breakfast or a throw it down and run breakfast.

3. Send Kids Out the Door on an Uplifting Note

Our kiddos face a lot in the school day. Not every assignment will come easily, not every teacher will always be patient, and not every peer will be nice to them. When we start the day on an uplifting note, we help prepare our kids for these challenges.

While the kids eat breakfast, we usually read, discuss, and work on memorizing some scripture verses. Either at home or in the car we usually sing an uplifting song and say a morning prayer.

Whether or not you choose to make your mornings spiritual, we can all work to be patient and kind. Some mornings can be absolute mayhem. When kids don’t move as fast as we would like, argue with each other, and seem to ignore all of our good advice, we can still show love.

Every morning take advantage of the opportunity to hug your children, give them a kiss (at home if they don’t like PDA), and tell them how much you love them.

It’s Never Too Late

Maybe you think your kids are too old to learn new habits, or that it’s too late in the school year to start these routines. However, as our family grows and changes, I have found that our routines do the same. Often we have to add something new to the routine or change something old. It’s never too late to change.

Explain your new routine to your kids and why you want to do it this way. Then stick with it. Routines may be hard to implement at first, but the work will totally pay off.

I hope these tips about our school week routines are helpful for your family!

Let me know in the comments, what did I miss? What struggles do you have during the school year? What routines work best for your family? Please share with us!

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