THEME: Routines
The Big Green Pocket book is probably my least favourite book from the BFIAR curriculum, and nothing in it sparked any major learning ideas. With that in mind, this weeks theme is only very loosely (if indeed at all) tied in with the book. I had pondered my need to work with A4 to help her enjoy a routine based school, so she knew what to expect next year. Seeing as summer is just round the corner, I thought this would be an ideal time to start the training and I knew if I could link it in to one of her BFIAR books she would just love it! In the Big Green Pocket book, the little girl goes shopping with her mummy and collects little bits from her day and pops them in her pocket-book. The mother and daughter knew where they were going and what they were doing, thus the birth of a ‘routine theme’ . It’s a bit of a stretch but fits my purposes so I’m rolling with it! My apologies to anyone expecting lovely crafts making green hand bags and visiting shops for ice-creams!
Non Fiction Read Alouds
For more book related activities see:
Teaching Their Morning Routine
I used various images from google to make a set of routine cards and a routine board for the little ones to have in their room. The routine cards are an exact replica of the routine board but are obviously more transportable as they can be attached to a child’s clothes. I happened to have a frame, whose glass had been shattered, so I framed a set of the cards to make their routine board and popped it up onto the girl’s bedroom wall. Gary added a screw to the frame for the girls to hang their routine cards:
This is very similar to the schedule she has been on for a little while but without any times attached. Because of B2’s inconsistent moods (!), time allotments were not working for the younger ones, so we are trying routine rather than schedule. My goal here is to train her to independently follow her routine rather than relying on me or one of her siblings to remind or help her. This week all her tray activities have been linked to learning these skills. She has been really enthusiastic and it shows me how neglected she has been these past couple of years with regards to teaching her useful skills. Sorry, sweetie-pie! Here she is wearing her routine prompt cards:
Trays
- Learning how to put out her and her little sister’s breakfast. Usually T11 gives them their breakfasts, simply because he is the first to finish bedroom chores and they are too starving to wait for me. This skill will remove their need to wait on T11 and will increase their independence. A4 and I will make up the tray each night, whilst her bath is running in. The tray, which will contain the bowls, spoons and Weetabix in a pot, will be kept in a low cupboard to enable A4 to reach it. The milk will be kept in two bottles in the lower shelf of the fridge door. In the morning she will place a biscuit in each bowl and add the milk:
- Brushing teeth tray. She has always had a go at brushing her own teeth, but I have never taught her and always brush them for her afterwards. The goal here is to teach and then observe, until she does it correctly:
- Face and hand wash tray/ jug of warm water
- Chore basket with apron, wipes and duster. This will be used to wipe down the cabinets in the kitchen each morning. I also included a home-made air freshener to spray around the house, which she LOVED!
- ‘Making a snack’ tray. During the morning meeting, before school starts we have a snack of fruit and oat biscuits. I thought this was a simple enough meal for A4 to prepare as part of her chores and as a way to serve her siblings:
Training
- Bedroom chores: A4 already tidies and makes her bed beautifully, and she gets dressed by herself each morning, but B2 does none of these things. So this will be a good opportunity to teach her. In fact A4, without me asking, makes both their beds and she dresses B2 (not always in the most attractive combination of clothes, but I never say anything!). I have made up a sticker chart which they will both use to remind them what they need to do. Each day they got a sticker in every box they popped a marble in their reward jar, to be exchanged for M’n’Ms at the end of the day:
- Behaviour during the morning meeting. Before B2 was born we had a morning meeting before school everyday. It was a time to gather together to read the Bible, pray and talk about the day ahead. B2 was such a restless, unsettled baby I was unable to continue with them. She is, as you all know, very much happier now she can speak and is surprisingly very easy to train. So this week I have attempted to give it another go. I used a rewards jar to which the girls added a marble each time they managed to sit through the morning meeting quietly without disrupting procedures. The marbles were exchanged at the end of the week for M’n’Ms. B2 sits on her blanket or on my lap whilst A4 must remain on her rocking chair. A4 is used to sitting in church so I didn’t anticipate this being a challenge for her. B2 however….
- Quiet time expectations. B2 still naps for 2-3 hours each day, during which time A4 spends an hour in quiet time. All five children have done this since birth and they all appreciate the time alone. A4 had started to journey out of her room to tell me things or give me little gifts. So I have been helping her work on following the quiet time expectations. If she is successful she is given a marble for each 20 mins she stays in quiet time without disturbing the rest of us. The marbles go into her reward jar and were exchanged for M’n’Ms at the end of the week.
Next week I will be rowing Prayer for a Child and the theme, of course, will be prayer!
For more (and probably more relevant!) BFIAR posts see:
