A few months ago, I was terribly frustrated with the lack of order in my son's day. He was floating around from one toy to another after a few short minutes and complaining of boredom. I was overwhelmed by trying to care for his infant brother and keeping him occupied. We were not using the plethora of craft materials we had. We just didn't have any kind of solid routine. I realized one day that we can crossed the line from flexibility to disorder. I was not planning our days, and it was keeping us from doing the things we enjoyed. When he asked to go to the park, my son didn't understand that there were many things that would have to happen first--take a bath, get dressed get shoes on, put his infant brother in the car seat, get in the car. Nor was I always able to think through everything that had to be done when I would say "yes" to his request. And usually, by the time we got to the park, his desire had passed and oh--it was now time for lunch. We needed a change.
So I started considering getting my three-year-old "on a schedule." I knew that some mom's thrive by placing their children on a strict schedule, but I knew I was not one of those moms. Especially with an infant in the house, I needed the ability to have some kind of a routine with lots of flexibility according to how baby was sleeping and eating. How could I find a happy medium? And how could I institute it? I was trying to make a change myself--how could I provide the consistency my child needed while retraining my own mind?
Finally, I remembered I learned back in my teaching days: making cards with the names of different activities and posting them on a wall chart with clear pockets. Many teachers use a system like this to help their students understand the day's schedule. However, my child can't read and we didn't have a wall pocket chart. So, I modified it to a picture schedule. Since I don't have a clear pocket wall chart, I decided the system should be magnetic. So I cute some index cards in half, stuck some magnetic tape on each one, and after about a half an hour of coloring, I had some schedule cards. They worked just fine.
Each morning I placed the cards on our magnetic chalkboard kitchen door and referred to them through the day. When we finished an activity, I urged Adam to go "check the schedule." He would scamper to the door and announce the next activity. Suddenly we were using all of those craft supplies regularly! Naps, which I had been afraid he was outgrowing, ceased to be an argument because "the schedule says it is naptime." Soon he began to suggest new cards for me to make so we could insert them into our picture schedule.
Gradually, we had fallen into a comfortable, regular routine, that can be quickly adjusted when needed. Sometimes the cards stayed in the same place for days on end, and sometimes I quickly changed them around according to how the day was going. I loved that I could think through our days and communicate them to my son in a way he can understand and refer to. He was thankful that he can look over our day, notice an activity that he would like to do, and ask that I make time for it in the day.
It was worked so well that the cards were getting worn and deteriorated. A few unlucky ones were victims of a crawling baby who chewed on their edges. So, I decided to make a newer, streamlined, laminated version. First, I gathered an assortment of cardstock from my craft stash. Then I grabbed my fiskars paper cutter and my son's Crayola markers.
I used the paper cutter's ruler to measure two inch intervals on each side of the paper so I could draw the activity pictures in even sizes. I didn't bother to draw lines between each picture since I would be using the paper cutter to cut later. It was pretty easy to stay within my imaginary lines. After I filled each sheet, I ran it through my brand new laminator. From start to ready to handle in about 20 seconds.
When all of the sheets were laminated, I used the paper cutter to cut the cards apart. Then I cut 1 1/2" strips of magnetic tape and placed them on the back. I made about thirty cards in two hours, while at a crafting night chatting with some friends.
Shareing this this post at
0 comments:
Post a Comment