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Managing My Time ~ The Morning.

Managing My Time ~ The Morning.

Posted On January 23, 2013

This is the one area of my life I vow to work on this year.  You see sometimes I am not so good at managing my time.  and I hate it!  I like structure, routine, flow to my day.  For me it’s not about specific times to do things (although sometimes that helps) but more of a flow or order to my day.  Here are some things I really need to work on.

  • A structured routine for Before and After School.
  • Specific Times for blogging/emails/Social Media
  • More structure to Little Miss A’s “Learning Time”
  • More organised for errands, groceries, time out of the house
  • Fitting in the cleaning schedule
  • Spend more time outside.
  • Family Night
  • Less TV
First things first, I felt like I needed to get it down on paper.  
I started with non negotiable times and included the time taken to travel to and from each activity
  • School Drop Off and Pick Up
  • Scheduled Extra Curricular Activities (swimming, ballet, gymnastics)
  • Wake Up Time
  • Bed Time
Secondly, I scheduled our morning.  We had a “routine” happening last year and it worked but needed a little fine tuning.
This is not so much time orientated but more just the order things happen.  The only time I really look at the clock is 7am.  Until then we are downstairs and we head up at 7am.  This is the business time of day of getting ready for school and the time that the kids need the most prodding!
 
I am an early riser.  I LOVE this as it means sometimes I get a WHOLE HOUR to myself to have a coffee, plan my day, write lists, check emails and Facebook.  Ever noticed how many of my status updates are at 5.30am???
By 6am the kids are up.  I have NEVER had the luxury of having to WAKE MY KIDS UP! The upside to this is that they are early risers which gives us plenty of time to get ready for the day ahead.  We are morning people in our house! 
It is after school drop off that my problems begin!  I am in the habit of then heading to the shops, yep nearly every day! This year this has to change!
You may need to click on this picture to see it a little bigger.
Classroom Help: Once school starts I try and help out in Master O’s classroom.  I find this is the time of day teachers ussually like some parent helpers.  Last year it was to change over the home readers and help with group work.  I love to help out in his class, he loves me there and well Little Miss A loves to pretend she is a big girl and sit at the desks and join in. 
Errands Play Date: Last night I decided to not send Little Miss A to Gymnastics.  I will instead continue to send her to Ballet.  Instead I would like to spend this time with her out and about, doing errands, having a baby cino together, meeting frineds for a play date.
FTL: You can take the teacher out of the classroom but you can take the classroom out of the teacher.  FTL stands for Focused Teaching and Learning. This is not sitting at a desk memorising things. But learning through play, focusing on the teaching of a specific concept or skill.  Letters, Numbers, Colours, Shapes, Sorting, Matching, Sequencing, Name recognition, Language.  We start with some action songs, felt board stories, book.  Then a game or activity for the skill.  This then leads into using this skill in some teacher led”play” situation.   Role play, puppet play, dramatic play.
Snack – Outside Play:  This year I want to spend more time outside!  The kids too!  We have created a fairy garden, sand pit, cubby house, art area and dinosaur garden.  This term I would like to work with the kids to create a vege/herb/flower patch.  Little Miss A and I like to eat morning tea, (me have a coffee)together outside.  
Investigate/Explore:  This can be inside or outside.  The sensory tub, craft, art, gardening, construction.  This is an activity still with me starting her off and then letting her explore for herself.
Independent Play: Is a self selection from the toy rotation.  It might be playing dress ups, drawing, reading, making a necklace, digging in the sand pit whatever she feels like playing.  This is INDEPENDENT play.  A time for me to step away and let her explore and solve problems for herself.
 
TV/DVD: We are very lucky to have Foxtel which means I tape “suitable” shows for watching just before she has lunch.  
and that brings us to Lunch time! Tomorrow I will share our afternoons!
Remember this is not about specific times.  Sometimes activities naturally happen in a different order or take a longer amount of time.  But this gives us some structure and flow to our day as we try to make the most of our precious time together.