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The past six months or so have been really strange
for us all. When lockdown restrictions came into force, we went from going to
school and work to being taught at home and being put on furlough. I basically
became a home educator overnight!
If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know that I
posted about our daily homeschooling through Instagram stories. I knew right
from the beginning that I wanted to stick to a routine because when things got
back to normal, or as normal as they can be now, it would be hard to get back
into the swing of things again.
I drew up and printed a timetable for the living
room wall for both children so that they knew what to expect from the day. It
really helped that the school teachers communicated with us each morning with a
rough timetable too. We started our days with PE with Joe, releasing endorphins
and getting us "pumped", as my almost eight-year-old son would say,
for the rest of the day.
Having these timetables eliminated the element of
surprise, reducing their stress and it is something that I was keen to stick to
mostly because my son is autistic. With a routine, we could keep his day as
easy as possible. The "school" day would finish around 2.00pm so they
were free to play and do as they pleased until the bedtime wind down.
Again, I wanted to keep this consistent because if
I didn't, getting up for school in the mornings come September would be a shock
to the system if bedtimes were all over the place in the summer. I am back to
work now too so there are days where they need to get up early to stay with
grandparents while both my partner and I are at work.
C and E are 7 and 5 respectively, and although they
are not babies, a bedtime routine was and still is really important to us. We
eat dinner around 5.30pm and afterwards they will take baths. I will allow
screens or TV time for one child while the other is taking their bath but
afterwards, all screens are off. From past experience, they find it very hard
to shut their brains off at the end of the day if they have been playing on
tablets or watching TV right up until they go to bed.
They can then choose whether they would like to
play with toys (LOL Surprise dolls are usually E's choice) or read a book
quietly on their own (this is usually C's choice). They will then have a glass
of milk before brushing their teeth and flossing.
Keeping to my own bedtime routine is important too,
especially if I am working the next day. We actually purchased a new bed and
mattress at the end of March, right at the beginning of lockdown, spending a
lot of time deciding which base was best and consulting a mattress size guide to visualise what would fit
into the space we had. We ended up settling on a divan with a tall mattress so we spent the first week or so feeling a
little queasy as it was so high off the ground!
I am an avid reader, so I use the screen rule for
myself too. I'll more than likely fall asleep in the middle of a chapter or
drop my Kindle on my face because I've nodded off. I don't include the Kindle
under the screen umbrella as I can adjust the brightness!
Not having bright screen in our faces, getting the
recommended eight hours of sleep and sleeping on comfortable beds mean that we
are all feeling refreshed and raring to go in the mornings.
