Routines – Shifting Into A New Normal

The recent closures of schools and businesses are widespread and have led to major disruptions in the daily routines of families.  Children are trying to adjust to doing school at home, and parents are now trying to balance their new work-from-home life with a new role – teacher to their children. To cope, it’s important for families to implement daily routines that incorporate school and work along with family time and hobbies.

Humans are creatures of habit and when our everyday lives are disturbed, we become anxious. For children, this anxiety often leads to behavior problems  which can create power struggles and difficulty completing schoolwork. To help ease these challenges, implementing routines will help parents to . . .

• Establish a work-life balance even as they work from home
• Manage their children’s expectations and reduce the amount of “Can we do X?” and “When are we gonna do Y” types of questions.
• Get more done by sticking to their plans.

By doing this, children will have a greater sense of security and will be more likely to cooperate, which will lower the stress level of the whole family.

Since we are all faced with uncharted territory with this new public health crisis, it can be stressful to even think about implementing a new routine. But, if we allow ourselves to slow down and view this time as an opportunity to grow, trying out a new routine will be easier.

For children, this time can help them learn more self-discipline and self-control. With a consistent daily routine and consistent daily expectations in place, children can also begin to adopt these new constructive habits, which are life skills that they will need throughout their lives.

It’s important to remember, however, that routines should have time scheduled for regular breaks. When children are at school, they are not doing academic work for 7 hours straight! They have time for recess, lunch, change of classes, physical education, music, art, etc. There is also a designated time that they can look forward to when the school day ends, so it’s important to make sure this time is established as well. By doing this, children learn to look forward to things in their schedule, and thus they are more likely to adhere to the routines that parents put in place.

The class routine of the Krav Junior program was developed with this information in mind. The sequence of class each day is the same: focus breathing, mat chat, warm up, drills, have fun game, final Kida. This procedure helps children know what to expect each class and gives them something fun to look forward to!

The uncertainty of when things will go back to “normal” is stressful. Implementing new routines may seem difficult at first, but they will ultimately help you feel more at ease. As you implement your own schedule, remember to be patient with yourselves and with each other. These days, navigating through each day is a new experience for everyone, and we all deserve grace. Focusing on the new and improved behaviors that will come out of this experience will help us all keep moving forward.

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Source: SKILLZ