Transitions, Routines, & Schedules

On today's episode, we are talking about Transitions, Routines, and Schedules!

To download the infographic for today’s episode, along with all the resources discussed, please visit: http://kskits.org/kids-these-days-podcast-0

 Kids These Days is a co-production of the KCCTO-KITS Infant Toddler Specialist Network (ITSN) and KCCTO Workforce Development (WFD) programs.
The KCCTO-KITS Infant-Toddler Specialist Network is a program of the Kansas Child Care Training Opportunities, Inc. (KCCTO) and the university of Kansas Life Span Institute at Parsons. The Workforce Development Project is a program of KCCTO.  Each program is supported through a grant from the Kansas Department For Children And Families’ Child Care And Early Education Services. However, information or opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the agency and no official endorsement should be inferred.

To learn more about the Infant Toddler Specialist Network, please visit: http://kskits.org/technical-assistance-0.  

To learn more about KCCTO and Workforce Development, please visit: https://kccto.org/ 

Contact us via email at – kidsthesedayspod@gmail.com 

Follow and tag us on Instagram & Facebook @kidsthesedayspod & Twitter @ktdpod

Music credit: Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3843-hackbeat
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 

Kids These Days is a co-production of the KCCTO-KITS Infant Toddler Specialist Network (ITSN) and KCCTO Workforce Development (WFD) programs.
The KCCTO-KITS Infant-Toddler Specialist Network is a program of the Kansas Child Care Training Opportunities, Inc. (KCCTO) and the university of Kansas Life Span Institute at Parsons. The Workforce Development Project is a program of KCCTO. Each program is supported through a grant from the Kansas Department For Children And Families’ Child Care And Early Education Services. However, information or opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the agency and no official endorsement should be inferred.

To learn more about the Infant Toddler Specialist Network, please visit: http://kskits.org/technical-assistance-0.

To learn more about KCCTO and Workforce Development, please visit: https://kccto.org/

Contact us via email at – kidsthesedayspod@gmail.com

Follow and tag us on Instagram & Facebook @kidsthesedayspod & Twitter @ktdpod

Music credit: Hackbeat by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3843-hackbeat License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hey, it's Sarah, and this is Kids These Days, a podcast brought to you by funding through the Kansas Department for Children and Families. More than likely, the word transition means different things to each of us. Like maybe you think about a developmental transition, where a child is moving from one stage of development to another. Or maybe you think about a child transitioning from one classroom or age group to another. While both of these examples of transitions are very important topics in the field of early education, today we're going to focus on the transitions that happen during the day. Or more simply put, the time spent between when one activity ends and another begins. But before we jump into the how, to and why for about transitions, we must talk a little bit about schedules and routines. And again, both of these words mean different things to different people. But for the purpose of clarity, we're going to use these following definitions. Schedules are the sequence of events that happen during the day, like your daily schedule. And routines are the procedures we engage in to get through the daily schedule, typical everyday activities. So routines should be regular and unvarying and constantly repeated. Some might even call them boring or annoying. Think washing hands, driving to work, changing diapers, getting ready for bed, etc. It is important to know that routines are pleasurable to children. They reassure them, provide structure, and ease the transition between home and school. Routines help children feel calm and relaxed. And because they are calm and relaxed, they are more open to learning and taking in new, novel information. Understanding their daily routines means children are learning about sequencing, which stimulates their ability to remember, allowing them to anticipate what comes next. Especially when you are consistently talking with them about what they're doing now, what they'll do next during diaper changes, mealtimes transitions. And speaking of what comes next, let's transition back into talking about transitions. Unless you're gonna let your kids run around like headless chickens, you are going to have transitions within your day. The trick is to plan your daily schedule and routines to reduce the number of unnecessary transitions each child experiences. So, what do I mean by planning a daily schedule and routines that reduces the number of unnecessary transitions? Well, let me give you a real life example. I want you to listen to a portion of a daily schedule for a family childcare provider from just after breakfast up to lunch. See if you can count the number of transitions or each time there is a change in activity for the kids.

SPEAKER_02 2:49

Once everyone is done eating, the kids help clean up and wash their hands. Then the kids do free play inside while I change diapers and help older kids go potty. Once everyone has been changed, I finish cleaning up breakfast and get things ready for morning circle time. The kids pick up from playing and come over to the big carpet for circle time, which usually lasts about 10 to 15 minutes. Then the kids go back to play inside for about 30 more minutes. We clean up from inside play, get coats on and shoes on, line up at the back door, and go outside. Kids play outside for about 45 minutes. Come inside, everyone takes off their coats and shoes, big kids go wash hands and go to the bathroom. Once all the diapers are done, I have the kids pick up the fine motor toys and do an art activity. When we are done with the art activity, the kids help clean it up, go wash their hands, and get a book to read on the carpet or library area while I get lunch ready. Once lunch is ready, the kids put away their books, wash their hands, and come to the table to eat.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

So, how many transitions did you count? 23. Help the kids clean up, wash their hands. Kids do free play. I change diapers and help older kids go potty. Kids pick up from playing, come over to the big carpet, kids go back to playing inside, clean up from inside play, coats and shoes on, line up at the back door and go outside, come inside, take off coats and shoes, wash hands and go to the bathroom, find motor toys for the big kids to use at the table. I change diapers, kids pick up, do an art activity, kids clean up, wash their hands, get a book, put away their book, wash hands, come to the table to eat. There are necessary transitions, like coming inside or washing your hands, going to the bathroom, doing different activities. Please wash your hands. But do you think that any of those transitions that I just listed above could have been cut or maybe move some activities around? How do you think the kids responded to that schedule? Spoiler alert, it wasn't great. So now let's take another listen of the same program where the provider evaluated her schedule and made some changes. So again, we'll hear about the time from just after breakfast up to lunch.

SPEAKER_02 5:10

Once everyone is done eating, they help clean up and wash their hands. We all go to the big carpet for circle time, which usually lasts about 10 to 15 minutes. Kids do free play inside for 45 to 60 minutes. During this time, I change diapers and help older kids go potty. I do a messy activity that children can choose to join or not. Art, sensory, etc. We clean up from inside play, get coats and shoes on, line up at the back door, and go outside. Kids play outside for about 45-60 minutes. Come inside, everyone takes off their coats and shoes. Big kids go wash hands and go to the bathroom. I change diapers. All kids get a book to read on the carpet or library area while I get lunch ready. Once lunch is ready, the kids put away their books, wash their hands, and come to the table to eat.

SPEAKER_00 6:03

Now, how many transitions did you count? 16. Help kids clean up, wash their hands, go to the big carpet, kids do free play inside, I do diapers and potty. Kids can choose whether or not they want to join in the messy activity, clean up from inside play, get coats and shoes on, line up at the back door and go outside, come inside, take off coats and shoes, wash hands, go to the bathroom, change diapers, get a book, put away their book, wash hands, come to the table to eat. So what changes did you notice? Maybe that circle time happened right after breakfast instead of in the middle of free playtime, which cut out two unnecessary transitions. Or that the provider is doing diapering and toileting during free playtime instead of making everybody wait before and after. And that that messy activity like art sensory is happening during free play as a choice. So with the previous schedule, the provider experienced more running, lack of engagement from the kids, and some challenging behaviors from the older kids like climbing and hitting. Once she moved around some of her activities and cut out some of the unnecessary transitions, how do you think the kids responded to this schedule? I'd like to say that changing her schedule completely eliminated all of the running and lack of engagement and climbing and hitting. But of course, this isn't a magic wand. But I will say that evaluating and changing her schedule greatly reduced the running, the lack of engagement, and other challenging behaviors. She began to see more interaction between kids and between her and the kids herself, and that it was a greater quality of interaction. And it's also important to remember that this revising the daily schedule thing, it's not a one and done. Evaluating your daily schedule and how well it works or it doesn't work for the children enrolled in your program should be an ongoing part of the observing and reflecting you do every day. Please do not change your daily schedule every other week. That would be like having a major transition for the kids every two weeks. Remember, children need to experience something an average of 2,000 times in context before they get it. So instead be mindful of your schedule when you get new kids, when the seasons change, as your children get older, or even as you have changes in your own life. Okay, we're gonna take a quick break and when we come back, we'll talk about planning for transitions.

SPEAKER_01 8:43

Looking for reliable online resources to share with parents or to learn more about why kids do what they do? Well, search no more. The Casito Kits Infant Toddler Specialist Network has created a collection of one-page information sheets, virtual kits, and online technical assistance packets just for you. These resources cover topics from biting, resilience, active supervision, intentional planning for infants and toddlers, and so much more. Find the link in your show notes or visit kskids.org backslash technical-assistance-0 to access these resources today.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

When you think about the routines that happen during your day, like hand washing, mealtime, getting ready for bed, playing inside outside, putting on a coat, standing in line to go outside? How do you teach your children those routines? How do they know what to do when you aren't there? How will a sub or new teacher know what to do in your classroom or your program when it's time to complete those routines and then transition in between routines? How will they know what to do during a transition? Well, there are two really great ways to make this happen. One, use auditory and visual environmental prompts, like the emotions boards we talked about in the All Feelings Are for Feelings episode. Or the books, songs, finger plays, visual schedules, rules boards, emotions boards, and hand washing posters we talked about in the team episode. Or the timers we talked about in the first free play episode. So when I was a classroom teacher, before I learned about timers and transition planning, I was really great about telling the kids we have five more minutes to play. However, I wasn't so great at making sure that five minutes didn't turn into like 10 or 15 minutes, which then usually made us late for outdoor time, which was an issue because we shared a playground with two other classrooms. So then we'd have to rush around putting toys wherever there was space, getting the kids out the door into the playground. Believe me, there were many times when someone ended up going back for a coat or a water bottle. To say I was unprepared for the upcoming transitions is a major understatement. So let me share a magic tool and strategy I learned and used every day to help keep that from happening. The tool, a timer, the strategy, setting it. So let me tell you about it. So setting a timer for cleanup time. So 10 to 15 minutes before the scheduled end of indoor free play time, I would set my big digital timer for five minutes. Then I would take that timer around the room and show each child or group of children the timer while saying, in five minutes, when the timer starts to beep, we will clean up to go outside. And I was always sure that I made eye contact with each child, or for my kiddos that eye contact was uncomfortable, I knew to ask them if they heard my words. So once I was sure that all the kids were aware of that upcoming transition, I would go over to my CD player. I guess that maybe ages me a little bit. I would go to my CD player and set the cleanup song to play, repeat, pause, because I'm not ready to hit play yet, and side note, your cleanup song can be whatever song you and the kids decide you want it to be. It does not have to be one that talks about cleaning up. I had a program that I worked with that the kids picked Hey There, Delilah, as their cleanup song, and they loved it. When the timer goes off, say, Oh, I hear the timer. That means it's time to clean up. Immediately hit play on the CD player and let the cleanup song start playing on repeat until everyone is done cleaning up, which you are helping with. And why do we want to leave the song on repeat till everyone's done cleaning up? Well, because we're gonna let the music do the work for us. When I first started using the timer, I would sing the cleanup song. And at least once every day it would go a little something like this. Time to clean up, time to clean up, let's all help, let's uh John, the blocks go on the shelf. Do you want my help or can you do it by yourself? Let's all help, let's all Sarah, come over here and help with this. Well, guess what happened when I stopped singing? I sent the message to the other kids that cleanup was over because the song was over. I ended the auditory cue that said it was cleanup time. So I started using the CD player and let the music do the work for me. The kids still had the auditory cue going the whole time, telling them to clean up, and then I could continue to help the kids and provide verbal redirection when it was needed. So, what about those kids that have maybe a little bit more of a difficult time with transitions, even after you have implemented this consistent five-minute timer prep? Try giving them a 10-minute timer warning ahead of the whole class five-minute timer warning. Or you can even get them their own little small timer that they can hold on to. But please remember this should be done in a respectful, non-punitive way. Just as you might create an individual visual schedule for a child. Consider individual timers or prep as an easily managed addition to the cues and supports already in place for the whole classroom. Now, I did say that there were two really great ways to make sure that you, your kids, subs, new teachers, etc., know how to complete routines and transitions within your program or home. So here's the second one. Make sure you have a pen and paper handy. This is big. You ready? Identify the transitions in your day, make a plan for them, and write it down. The example I just gave about using the timer for the cleanup transition, guess what? I wrote it all out, made several copies, and hung those bad boys all over my classroom. Guess what else I did? If you were new to my room, before I let you loose to change the lives of small children, I made sure you read that plan. That way I knew everyone in the room knew what to do, whether I was in the room during the transition or not. Doing this really empowered the other teachers that came into my classroom to know exactly what was expected of them, which then trickled down to the kids and they knew exactly what to do. So I have an assignment for you. I want you to take five minutes and write down your daily schedule. Start to finish, everything you do. Pretend like my husband is gonna take over your program or classroom for a day. How would he know what was going to happen the whole time? Now that you've written that all down, get out a highlighter and mark each entry where there is a transition. Each time there is an end of an activity and a start of an activity. How many do you count? Remember, there are going to be transitions in your day. That is okay. But are you planning your day to reduce the number of transitions each child experiences to cut out those unnecessary transitions? Once you're done with all of that, why not come up with a plan of action for one of those transitions you highlighted? Don't have time? That's cool. Steal my cleanup timer transition for starters. We would love to hear how well it works for you. So in today's episode, I've referenced a lot of different resources. Check out the show notes where you'll find our weekly infographic, thank you, Rudy, and the full two schedules that we referenced. In addition to a handy dandy transition and routine planning sheet, and the written-out example of the timer transition. Please know that the transition and routines planning form is just an example. Something that came out of my brain. You can write it down on a piece of paper, you can type it up on your computer and print it out. Whatever works best for you. But I know for me, sometimes it's really helpful to see an example of what it might look like before I can take it and make it my own. So again, we would love to hear from you about how that timer transition is working for you or what other transitions you're planning for. Hit us up on social media, and we'll see you next week. Kids These Days is a co-production of the Casito Kids Infant Toddler Specialist Network and Workforce Development Programs. These programs are supported through a grant from the Kansas Department for Children and Families Child Care and Early Education Services. However, information or opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the agency, and no official endorsement should be inferred. If you have questions, comments, suggestions, or want to share your practice related to this or a previous episode, please email kidsdayspod at gmail.com. And follow us on Instagram and Facebook at Kids These Days Pod. Be sure to check out the infographic and other resources for this episode in the show notes. Don't forget to hit subscribe. This episode was written, recorded, and edited by Sarah Holmes. Infographics by Rudy Benavides. Music track Hack Beat by Kevin McLeod. See you next time on Kids These Days.