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Schedules and Routines

Responsive schedules and routines help all children feel safe and secure and shows them that caregivers support their individual needs. At the same time, when caring for groups of children, it is important to provide a predictable daily schedule. This lesson will focus on providing a schedule that is flexible but meets children’s need for routine and play.

Objectives
  • Identify why predictable schedules and routines are important for children.
  • Define responsive schedules and routines.
  • Recognize the ways consistent but flexible schedules and routines support learning and development.

Learn

Know

Predictable Schedules and Routines

Schedules and routines are important for children and adults. We all like to know what our day will be like—when to do laundry, when to pick up a child at play practice, etc. Routines help us feel in control of our schedules. They also keep us from having to rethink everything every day, which can be very tiring. 

Think about a time when you were traveling and a friend or a tour guide was in charge of your day. Did you feel like you gave up control over your schedule? Were you anxious about when meals would occur or when you would be arriving at your hotel? As an adult, you have a concept of time, can ask questions, and can try to gain some understanding of what your day will entail. Even when someone else is organizing your day, you can exert some control over what happens to you. 

 Young children (infants, toddlers, and preschoolers) do not have a clear understanding of time. They organize themselves by the people they are with and the events that occur. School-age children typically know how to tell time and can estimate how long an activity will last. They like to feel more in control of their own time, activity choices, and schedule.

A Responsive Schedule for Infants and Toddlers

Infants and toddlers should be viewed as capable and competent. Each child is unique in personality, needs, and responsiveness. If you are caring for infants and toddlers, you will need to be flexible. For example, some infants take shorter naps throughout the day and others may take one or two longer naps. As a caregiver, you will observe the infants and toddlers in your care and respond to their needs. As you communicate with the families of infants and toddlers in your care, you will learn more about their schedules and routines and about the families’ preferences. 

An infant or toddler’s schedule is guided and supported by a responsive primary caregiver based on what is learned through observations and connections with the family. The primary caregiver strives to understand the child’s needs and helps each individual transition from one experience to another. You can support autonomy by providing “wait time” for each infant or toddler so that they can process information and make connections (Wurm, 2005). When caring for infants and toddlers, adults should focus on the sequence of their care and how things happen rather than keeping to a strict time schedule. Daily schedules for infants and toddlers include: 

  • Experiences: Caregivers should remain close by to offer support to infants and toddlers as they play and explore the environment at their own pace.
  • Caregiving routines: Arrival, feeding or eating, diapering or toileting, sleeping, departure, etc.
  • Transitions: Times of change that occur in a child’s day, such as snack or outdoor play.

Flexibility is key to caring for infants and toddlers. As a family child care provider, you will need to adapt and change as you learn about each child. Schedule changes, travel, and other events of daily life may affect a child’s day in your home. As a responsive caregiver, you will need to remain flexible and put the child’s needs first.

A visual schedule with pictures and cutouts next to each scheduled section: Crafts, Story-time, Walk-in-line, Music, Bathroom, Playground, etc.Schedule for a Family Child Care Setting

The authors of the Creative Curriculum for Family Child Care (2009), provide an example of a daily schedule for a family child care setting. This example is provided in the Learn section handout, Family Child Care Schedule.

It is important to display a word and picture schedule at the children’s level, so they know what activity time comes next in their day. It is also important to plan ahead and use information about the children’s interests in order to plan activities for your week. Provide parents with the weekly plan ahead of time. If you have a website, you may want to post it there and have a paper copy posted on a bulletin board in the arrival area of your home.

Children should know the schedule, what is expected of them, and what is coming up next. There are many methods of creating and maintaining schedules. Though routines are essential within your family child care setting, they should be flexible and remain open to the needs of the children.

See

Consistent but Flexible

Caring for children is challenging, and the best-formed schedule, plans, and ideas may have to change at a moment’s notice. Keeping a consistent schedule is important for children’s growth and development. Routines not only help children feel secure and safe, they also help families know what their child is doing at your home during the day. However, it is important to maintain a balance between consistency and flexibility. Sometimes, children find it more fun to be outdoors, and you can certainly bring many indoor activities outdoors. When caring for infants and toddlers, there is the need to respond to their very individualized schedules. Taking time to talk to an infant during diaper changes and feedings is important and should not be hurried to meet a scheduled activity. You support children’s growth and development by listening and not rushing a child who is talking to you about a new discovery they have made during play. The adult-child relationship is at the heart of quality care and should come before all else.

Your Daily Schedule

Learn about different ways to develop a successful daily schedule.

Do

Summary

In this lesson, you learned about responsive caregiving and its importance to the growth and development of infants and toddlers. You examined a sample family child care schedule and learned about strategies for transitions across daily routines. Having weekly plans and a daily schedule will keep you organized and provide children with a stable, secure, caring environment. There will always be changes and unexpected events, so remaining flexible about your program’s schedule will go a long way toward comfortably handling the main day-to-day decisions you make as a family child care provider.

Explore

Reflect on your daily schedule (or one you want to create). Many child care providers indicate that transitions between scheduled activities can be difficult for children. What transitions might be difficult for some of the children in your care? Read the information in, Helping Young Children Transition Between Activities and decide if any of the strategies may be helpful as you implement the daily schedule in your family child care home.

Apply

In addition to planning a daily schedule, it is important to make a weekly plan and share it with the families of the children in your program. The Weekly Planning Form attachment is one example of a schedule format you may use. Review and ask for feedback about your Weekly Planning Form with your trainer, coach, or family child care administrator.

Glossary

Routines:
Consistent, predictable daily events a child experiences during a day, such as diapering, feeding, and sleeping

Demonstrate

True or false? Being responsive to children’s needs and interests will not enhance their development.
Which of the following is not an example of a responsive routine?
A new parent asks to learn more about your daily schedule and routines. What do you say?
References & Resources

Armstrong, L. J. (2012). Family child care homes: Creative spaces for children to learn. Redleaf Press.

Broderick, J. T, & Hong, S. B. (2020) From children’s interests to children’s thinking: Using a cycle of inquiry to plan curriculum. National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Dodge, D. T., Rudick, S., & Colker, L. J. (2009). The creative curriculum for family child care (2nd ed.). Teaching Strategies, Inc.

Greenman, J., Stonehouse, A., & Schweikert, G. (2007). Prime times: A handbook for excellence in infant and toddler programs (2nd ed.). Redleaf Press.

Ostrosky, M. M., Jung, E. Y., & Hemmeter, M. L. (2004). Helping children make transitions between activities; What works briefs 4. Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning. http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/briefs/wwb4.pdf

Wurm, J. (2005). Working in the Reggio way: A beginner’s guide for American teachers. Redleaf Press.