After School/Work Routine

I decided a few weeks ago that I needed to have a simple After School Routine for Asher this year.  Through the summer we have been struggling with getting him to come to the dinner table when it's time to eat because he gets so wrapped up in playing or watching a show etc.

I found a few templates on Pinterest for after school routines but none of them quite fit our needs so I decided to make my own!

My first version in the sheet protector

With our routine Asher is to come home and give me a hug and kiss first (not on the schedule but he knows).  Then I have asked that he unpack his own backpack and lunch kit.  After that is done he gets time at the kitchen counter for homework/reading or an activity if there is no school work to be done.

When dinner is ready he knows that after dinner is FREE TIME!  On nights where he has an activity like swimming or Karate the free time goes towards those activities and at 7:00pm we start the bedtime routine.

This has been great, because he now knows that the sooner he finishes dinner the more free time he gets!

The last few nights have been a lot smoother and he has been really enjoying checking off the tasks on his schedule!

Since I love sheet protectors and use one for my weekly meal plan, I printed it off and slipped it into one so that he could check off his Jobs as the night goes on.  He also decided to number the jobs.  For us this works great because Asher is a very visual learner.  I'm planning on making a simple morning routine for his as well to help keep everyone on track!

I thought I'd share it here in case anyone else could use an after school routine too!  I hope this helps your family in the evenings too!

Click here to print off a copy!

It's nice to start getting organized!  I'm also working on pre planning activities for both boys during the Pre-dinner homework/activities block so that they are kept busy while I make dinner!  Stay tuned for that!