5 After School Routine Tips

By: Dr. Erica Wollerman 

One of the most common questions parents have at my office is how to manage their afternoons once their kids are out of school. This is super understandable as parents want their kids to enjoy their time out of school but also typically have a lot to accomplish in an evening! Here are some strategies and tips that can help your afternoons go a bit smoother.
 

1. Create a schedule at the beginning of the school year – even better if you can create a visual schedule somewhere in your home. This way your kids know what to expect after school.
2. Have realistic expectations. Try not to pack too much into those precious hours after school so that your child is then feeling rushed and stressed, which will impact their behavior, mood, and sleep!  Limiting your schedule to only one additional activity each day can help, or even no activities is okay!
3. Schedule in a break that meets your particular child’s needs. Each child needs something slightly different after school. Some kids do great with jumping right into homework while they eat a snack, others may need a bit more time to decompress before starting their homework, while still others need to do their homework in small doses throughout the afternoon. Keep in mind how your child does with transitions when deciding how many and how long of a break to give.
4. Limit “screen time” until after homework or other essential tasks are done. One of my favorite principles is the Premack Principle, which suggests that we first should do things we don’t really want to do and then the things we enjoy doing. This is basically the rule behind dessert coming after dinner or parents saying, eat your vegetables first. So, if your child struggles to either end their screen time or to transition away from it, definitely have that be one of the last activities they engage in!  
5. Involve your child in the discussion about their schedule. It usually helps if your child has some perceived control over their schedule. For example, you can sit down and ask for their thoughts… It would look like this, “so, after school we need to accomplish this, this, and this, what do you think would be best to do first?” This does not mean that you will always do things the way they ask for it to be done, just asking for their input goes a long way! It will help if you have an idea of all the tasks to do ahead of time and even have them written down on slips of paper you can organize in a list. Then, you just have to assign a time frame to each one.

 
Please feel free to check out some of my favorite after school routine resources on my pinterest page here! 
 
You can also contact our office to talk and consult about what might suit your particular child best in your after school routines (or morning/evening routines too!).
 
If you would like to talk with a Thrive Therapist about yourself, your child, or teen attending Teen counseling in San Diego with one of us, please reach out to us by phone at 858-342-1304.  We are a San Diego Counseling practice.  
 
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