After school/camp schedule

newmommy1

Mon, Jun 11 2018, 8:27 pm

Please help me come up with an afternoon and evening schedule for my family. I'm curious what other people do. I have a few school age children. We're not heavy into the homework yet. They get home around 4 and I like them to be in bed by 8. Do you serve supper as soon as they come home and a snack before bed or vice versa? Thank you

Teomima

Mon, Jun 11 2018, 8:40 pm

I tried giving my kids a snack after school then a proper supper later on, but they're usually so hungry when they get home, they end up eating more then. So now they do tend to have more of an early supper then something more like a snack later on.

When they don't have much homework, my kids often tend to entertain themselves (read, play with Legos, etc.), but other favorites are playing outside (especially now that it's summer, playing with water is popular), going to the library, having me read out loud to them, painting/crafts, playdough, baking, or even just running errands together.

amother

Aubergine

Mon, Jun 11 2018, 8:44 pm

I've gone through different phases. What I do now. Note that dh comes home 9 pm or later.

4:15 come home with kids. Kids eat fruit/veggie/rice cakes for snack. I don't mind if they fill up on cucumbers or apples
4:30-5:15 kids play, sometimes do screen time. I nurse, prepare supper.
5:15ish supper
Clean up from supper, homework if there is.
6:00 start baths (usually every other night). Whoever is not in the bath is usually doing crafts/coloring
6:30 I try to read the younger two a book while the older ones are in the bath
7:00 negel vasser, snack if they're hungry
7:30 bed
7:30-8:00 every night, a different child stays up and spends time with me. Great incentive to get everyone into bed on time.

This is on paper. I try to follow it. Some days are better than others.

sirel

Tue, Jun 12 2018, 2:14 am

Ruchel wrote:

I don't schedule. They have enough at school. I certainly don't give dinner then a snack. I give the 4/5 pm meal "goûter" and then dinner at 8/9. It's like this. For us, here.

This is so interesting to me. I have my young children sleeping before 8.
You have young children too, IIRC.

So your little children eat dinner at 8-9 pm?
what time do they go to sleep and when do they wake up?
Do they nap?

amother

Seafoam

Tue, Jun 12 2018, 2:15 am

Ruchel wrote:

I don't schedule. They have enough at school. I certainly don't give dinner then a snack. I give the 4/5 pm meal "goûter" and then dinner at 8/9. It's like this. For us, here.

How old are ur kids that they wait till 9 for dinner? What is the 4 pm meal/ dinner food wise?
So cool to hear about diff cultures!

amother

Seafoam

Tue, Jun 12 2018, 2:16 am

Ruchel wrote:

I don't schedule. They have enough at school. I certainly don't give dinner then a snack. I give the 4/5 pm meal "goûter" and then dinner at 8/9. It's like this. For us, here.

How old are ur kids that they wait till 9 for dinner? What is the 4 pm meal/ dinner food wise?
So cool to hear about diff cultures!

Ruchel

Tue, Jun 12 2018, 2:22 am

All, when they're in age to have dinner and not a bottle etc. We enjoy late, it gives us time to "be" after a day not together. I personally find it depressing to hurry for dinner and then bedtime, I like TIME.
4 pm meal is sugary geenrally. more like a snack or something sweet.

myname1

Tue, Jun 12 2018, 3:21 am

Ruchel wrote:

I agree, the early supper/bed schedule is kind of a shame, but it is so necessary for my kids. I know from Shabbos- my 4 year old goes to bed at about 9/10, and if it happens more than 2 days, he's a wreck! And can't wake up before 8/9 the next day. How old are your youngest and what is their schedule like?

As to the OP, I'm in Israel with little ones, so we get home around 2 and have lunch, and then supper at about 6. But they often aren't really hungry then and don't eat much. I aim to feed them more real food for "lunch".

keym

Tue, Jun 12 2018, 6:40 am

I have kids coming home between 3 &5 all different times. So we do cut up fruit and vegies as they walk in with supper ready to be served at 5/5:15. (Younger kids who come home earlier get crackers and cheese with their fruit.)
Supper at 5.
Cleanup from supper 5:30.
Homework.
Between 6 &7 playing and homework.
By 7, everyone under 6- inside. 7-9 is limited to driveway. And over 10 yr olds limited to my block.
I do baths and bed youngest first.
At 8, everyone is inside and quiet time- reading board games until bed.
I have young teens. So by 9:30/10, they need to be showered and in their rooms quietly.

GetReal

Tue, Jun 12 2018, 7:03 am

I find they eat less supper if they snack before supper. So I do supper at 4/4:30 when they get home from school, and they snack later on. Bedtime is 8:30 for the older ones and 7:45 for the littlest. At 7/7:15 we start wining down, pjs and teeth, bedtime story. In between is honework and playtime.

amother

Sapphire

Thu, Jun 14 2018, 12:59 pm

My youngest is now 9 (and my oldest no longer living at home) and I've gotten a little more relaxed about the afternoon/evening schedule over the years, but in general elementary school age kids have to finish their homework before dinner. They come home from school around 4, eat a snack and tell me about their day, and then start homework right away. If done with homework before dinner, they can have free play time, either outside if the weather is nice or inside. Depending on the ages/genders they get home at different times, so I try to maximize my time with the younger ones before the older ones get home and they do homework at the kitchen table while I cook dinner, so I am available to help. I find that they are much more focused earlier in the afternoon than after dinner, when everything takes twice as long because they are tired.

We all eat together when my husband gets home from work, sometime between 6-6:30. Afterwards, they can keep playing until it's time to get ready for bed, which depends on the age of the kid. If they kvetch that they are bored it's pajama time earlier, which is a great incentive for them to figure out how to entertain themselves and not kvetch. Very Happy

In the summer when they don't have homework to keep them busy, they usually go bike riding or play outside with the neighbors. Some of the younger kids have summer homework packets, which we do the same way as regular homework (a page or two every day right after snack time when home from camp).