Life at home with my two little ones can be hectic at times. They are 19 months apart, and one of two things can happen as we go through our day. First is (unfortunately) fighting – toddlers and preschoolers are quite selfish and there is quite the learning curve for sharing and taking turns. The other is slowing their mom down when she is ready to leave or transition to the next activity. Throw in a six-month-old who I watch every day and hectic is taken up a notch. Because of my current reality, the timer is my best friend. At home we use the one on the microwave and the timer on the trusty iPhone never fails when we’re on the go.

Siblings fighting over the same toy is inevitable. When this happens, my children know the drill.

One child lets the other know that they’d like a turn with the toy.

The other child responds with “You can have it when I’m done.”

“How much longer?”

“2 minutes (my 2-year-old son’s response every time!)”

And this is when I interject. I give the second child the option to know how long “2 minutes” is or if I need to set a timer. I like to give them a chance to sense time passing and know when they are done with the toy and ready to pass it on. My daughter will usually tell me that she knows when 2 minutes have passed – and she does. In fact, she usually is done before a timer would have rang. If the timer is needed, it is a good visual for all parties involved – they can see the numbers counting down. And when the timer is done, there is a beeping or a song to let everyone know it’s time to switch. It’s not flawless by any means, but it does work most of the time.

Transitions can be tricky for little ones. Time to clean up, time to go to the bathroom, time to get your shoes on, time to head out the door, time to leave the zoo. I’m sure in their eyes, I have the worse timing! I do try my best to give them several warnings, but the timers yield a much better result and less crying. For example, when it’s time for us to leave the museum or the zoo (two of our favorite places), I will first give them a 30-minute warning so that they know it’s almost time to go home. I usually set my phone timer when there are 5 minutes left. As soon as the song plays, both of my kids – and any regular friends we see – will look right at me to make sure it is time to leave. Using the timer in this way has made this transition so much easier for us – there is rarely tears or opposition, which makes leaving go just a little smoother.

Trust me when I tell you that a timer is a game changer – even almost magical. It takes training and practice, but once established, it will help you in so many areas.

Generally speaking, the daily schedule should have large chunks of time dedicated to broad activities. It is far more important to have an hour scheduled for “free play” and the next hour scheduled for “outdoor time” than to include a ten-minute chunk for “transition” or “bathroom break.” The broad categories ensure fluidity and allow the teachers to meet the needs of the group flexibly on each day.

Mathematically, sticking to a daily routine allows children experience sequencing first-hand and will help when it comes time for more sophisticated math operations such as adding and subtracting two digit numbers and understanding the order of operations, the rules that define which procedures to perform first in a math equation (surely we all remember: PEDMA or Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally/parentheses, exponents, multiplication, division, addition, subtraction). The order of routine in the classroom becomes meaningful to children when they realize, for example, that they can’t sit down to eat snack at the table unless they’ve first cleaned the table of playthings (“cleanup time”). This is also true when they are working on getting dressed to go outside. First the children put on their coats and then they put on their mittens. The natural consequence of putting on mittens before coats is that for most, it simply isn’t possible to zip the zipper or close the buttons with mittens on. Encouraging “order of operations” within the classroom structures and activities by allowing the children to see, feel, and experience the natural outcomes of the sequencing hammers the concepts home in real and meaningful ways.

When creating a schedule, don’t forget to allow ample time for transitions which can be stressful to both children and adults); be sure to incorporate a realistic time for clean up, hand-washing, and dressing (for going outdoors), in addition to snack set-up and preparing to go home. Transitions are learning opportunities in their own right! However, best practice asks that we minimize transitions as much as possible to lessen the anxiety associated with them and to increase the time children spend at play.

I have seen a preschool class transition from free play to cleanup time, only to sit at the rug and wait for the whole group to transition to the washroom for hand washing. Once arriving at the washroom, all of the children had to sit against the wall and wait to have their turn washing their hands. Once they were done, they lined up and waited for all of the children to finish. They then went back to the classroom and sat at the tables while they waited for the snack to arrive. Each part of this scenario is another transition and there are far too many. How would you reduce the above-described transitions down to 2?

I have found that teachers who voice the daily routines as a part of their practice encourage this type of thinking in the children. It is OK and actually recommended that you say things like, “First we have snack and then we go outside.” Or, “After you wake up, your dad is coming to get you.” Even though you might think you say these things every day – all day long – young children do not have enough experience in their short lives to know for sure how the schedule works. They need reassurance about their upcoming activities and the way their day will unfold. You can provide that by giving voice to the daily routines in your classroom.

posted by Alison Balis Hirsch