Even though this system has been working fine for us with no visual needed beyond the kids' five fingers to count down on, we now have charts for it.
One with pictures and descriptions hung right next to Daddy's Free-Christmas Family Gift Exchange prayer near Luke's pillows.
And one without extra words, hung by Nina’s bed.
Why do we have these charts if we don't need them?
Well, primarily, because our visually-motivated Luke, who has been enjoying his Morning Lotto Chart since last week, woke up yesterday asking to make a new and different chart. So, following his interests, we did. (He "reminded me" what each of our 5 T's were and then picked out all the clip art.)
Secondarily, because I am all for adding more literacy into daily life. Luke is beginning to puzzle out words and by having descriptions on his chart, along with the pictures, he may acquire some further reading skills. Meanwhile, Nina is still working on letters and sounds, so having big, bold "T" words will highlight the "T" makes a /t/ sound for her as well as give her some other letters to identify and sound out. Also, having pictures to the right of the words on Nina's chart might encourage her left-to-right pre-reading awareness further. (Forever the cerebral, planning-teacher mom, I am, even if inconsistent with formal lessons right now.)
How about you? As a fellow literacy-loving parent, could you use a bedtime chart? Or, as a parent seeking an aid to structure your own family's bedtime routine, would one help? If so, and if you like ours, I thought I would share printable versions below.
Simply click on the graphics and they should pop up full-size, ready for printing. If they don’t, feel free to leave a comment with your email address in it, and I will send them to you that way.
And, of course, if you want to share charts, printables or strategies you find helpful for peaceful bedtimes, please do! I welcome such comments since I know that with parenting, as with life itself, the only thing you can count on is change. While our 5 T’s for Bedtime are working well for us now, undoubtedly, we know we will eventually need to tweak our bedtime routine a bit. Your ideas might help us.
Since getting enough sleep is vital to any child's successful learning experience and since literacy is such a large part of education, this post is being shared at Helpful Homeschool Hints, please visit the links there to learn what has been successful for other homeschool families. It is also being shared at Grace Alone's Thankful Thursday since I am so grateful that the kids are getting to bed more peacefully, even if not staying there all the time! Enjoy counting blessings with others by clicking the links there.
Since getting enough sleep is vital to any child's successful learning experience and since literacy is such a large part of education, this post is being shared at Helpful Homeschool Hints, please visit the links there to learn what has been successful for other homeschool families. It is also being shared at Grace Alone's Thankful Thursday since I am so grateful that the kids are getting to bed more peacefully, even if not staying there all the time! Enjoy counting blessings with others by clicking the links there.
10 comments:
Thanks for sharing this, visuals are great to help children in the routine. I'm going to look at what else you have.
I will be posting it on the wall of their room... this way they can take part in what is next as well...
.~*~._.~*~._BEVERLY_.~*~._.~*~.
Martianne,
This is great! I'm going to try it. I have a five year old that does not like bedtime. Thank you!!
In Christ,
Cindy
This is awesome! I was wanting to make visual routine charts for my kids, esp my special needs angel. You saved me part of the process!!!
Thanks so much for sharing!
Kerri
Martianne,
I already got print-outs, am sure this will work:)
We made a Parrot out of a Toilet Paper roll, check it out - http://blog.memetales.com/2011/03/parrot-kids-craft/
What a great idea. I think I might make something like that to help my toddler with his sleep routine. It would also help on nights dh puts him to bed, he'd know our routine. Thanks for sharing.
LOVE this! Thanks for sharing! My kids are always asking "what's next?", even though we do the SAME thing every night, lol!!
I want to thank you for this. I was trying to come up with an evening routine and I found this via google image search. I am going to try to adapt it for our family. LOVE the "T" idea! I am going to try... Table (eat supper), Tidy Mess, Toys (play if time, clean them up afterwards), Toilet, Teeth, Tales (read devotions), Talk (to God and each other), and Time for Sleep. I have never had the kids listen to music before at nighttime. Do you have any recommendations? If so, I may have to add "Tunes". Thank you again! Blessings, Becky
So glad that this idea can be helpful to you and others, Becky. Your T's sound good. If you find they aren't working though, I encourage you to try again, cutting back to no more than 3-5 at a time - perhaps Table, Tidy and Toys for evening and the rest for bedtime. I only suggest this b/c I have discovered that limiting the amount of tasks at particular parts of days has been helping my son manage his time better - and all of us. It's a tip I found in some ADHD reading I was doing... As far as tunes go, we listen to classical, lullabies, sometimes stories. And, to be honest, we now listen to nothing most nights as the children prefer to talk quietly to each other and were starting to fight over which tunes to listen to. The CD I refer to in http://traininghappyhearts.blogspot.com/2011/07/sleep-interview-with-5-year-old-luke.html is one I find effective, however. Good luck!
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