Family Schedules During Social Distancing
We are all trying to figure out how best to manage family life during this new era of Covid-19 and social distancing. Me included. To organize my thoughts for the work/school week ahead, I adopted our family schedules and thought I would share them in case they might be helpful to others doing the same. Let’s all go easy on expectations right now as we are learning new modes of doing life and living in closer quarters than usual. Experiment with it and have fun!
Kids Daily Schedule
This schedule is meant to divide up the day between activities that kids can mostly do on their own (so that parents can work or take care of other household tasks) and activities to do together as a family. I developed the schedule with elementary school-aged kids in mind, but it could be adapted to other age groups.
DAILY INDIVIDUAL ACTIVITIES: Each block is meant to represent 30 minutes (except for the Virtual School block). You can decide for yourself what time of the day you want these blocks to occur, or leave the timing up to your kids. For my family, I put stars on some blocks to indicate they were required and some were left as optional. My kids like checking things off, so I will add their names to each block so they can check off when they completed an activity.
DAILY GROUP ACTIVITIES: We love a good themed day in our house! I view these activities as aspirations which may be fun to do if we can. I prefer to do these in the afternoons when kids tend to need help finding productive activities.
This tool is a general guide to organize the day, not a strict regiment. Adapt it to fit your lifestyle! I will be posting our family’s activities on Instagram and Facebook as much as time allows to help with instructions for specific activities. Otherwise, Google it!
Team Tasks (Chore Chart)
Ever wanted to start distributing household chores more but were'n’t sure how to go about doing it? Download this sample Chore Chart file and give it a try. You can adapt this schedule for the number of family members involved and the age appropriate tasks of each member. Here are a few helpful guidelines:
MORNING TASKS: If younger kids need help with these tasks then plan accordingly, but try to have kids complete as much as they can on their own. Consider setting a time by which you would like morning tasks completed and everyone will be ready to begin the day.
DAILY ONE: Assign one task per day with which all household members can help according to their ability. These tasks are ones that need to be completed once per week. Examples include: tidy up playrooms, clean bathrooms, tidy up bedrooms, laundry, empty trash cans, etc.
WEEKLY: Assign one person to take care of this task for the entire week, then rotate. These tasks are ones that need to be completed daily or regularly. In our family, we combine a few tasks together (e.g., meal prep helper, table setter, and kitchen sweeper is one task for the week). Examples include: dishwasher emptier, meal prep helper, table setter, kitchen sweeper, pet care, etc. Right now, you may also want to include wiping down door knobs, faucets, remotes, and electronic devices.