When LO comes home from school...

fignewt74

I need some suggestions for what to do with DS1 when he comes home from Kindergarten.  Right now we don't have a good routine and it seems like this open-ended time when I'm tired from spending the day with DS2, he is tired from spending the day in Kindergarten, and it is just a bad combination.  It ends up with him tormenting his little brother, me constantly saying "stop doing that, put that back, if you do that one more time...etc."  Just not good.

So I am wondering what you do with your school-aged kids when they get home from school.  It kind of seems like he might need some down time initially but also seems like he needs to blow off steam, I guess am not totally sure - but whatever it is, currently it doesn't seem like I am providing him what he needs.

Advice apprecaited.  TIA!

peacelove&mama

I've always done snack after school. We sit at the table and have a snack and talk about school. Now the kids are older so they do homework and clean their rooms if need be, then go out to play with their friends.

When DS1 was younger we sometimes went to the park or for a walk, played in the yard, painted or colored, read books, set up his train or hot wheels tracks and played with those. Basically, I let him dictate what he was in the mood for. If he was hyper, we went out. If he was tired, we'd have a quieter afternoon.

lcherian

When my daughter comes home from kindergarten, she spends 15 minutes or so to change and eat a snack. Right after that she spends about 20 minutes on homework. We go outside for about an hour, then dinner, bath, practice piano, stories, prayer and then bedtime. I also have two younger children.

Spin313

We don't really have a set after school routine.

Some days we stay and play on the school playground, or DS wants to play outside, but now it's getting cold for that. Some days DS wants to veg out and watch a show; other days he wants to do his homework right away. Otherwise, we read or hang out in the playroom and he tells me about his day.

rsd12

My middle son is in half day kindergarten so he eats lunch with his brother and then they play for a couple of hours before we have to get the oldest in 2nd grade. At that time of it is nice out they play outside, have a snack, then while the oldest does homework my two younger boys play. Then it is dinner time... And count down to bed time ; ) sometimes we have activities after school and friends over.

Angela814

I'm in the same boat as you. DD1 comes home off the bus, whines about being hungry, complains that I won't let her have candy for her afternoon snack, and then spends time teasing DD2. I think having a pre-planned snack right away would help. Maybe some down time watching a show before homework time?

MirandaHobbes

Flame away, but my son gets 30 minutes of a cartoon right when he comes home. It's his respite after a long hard day. I don't even ask him about his day until he's in bed at night and we're settling down to do his required daily reading. Sometimes we do homework or reading during breakfast or during supper.

MesmrEwe

Just as you need a chance to unwind, so do your kids...  IMO, do potty & snack as your two main routine items that way if you have to go somewhere after school it doesn't mess too much with having some form of routine.  I also agree with the PP in let him have time to either watch kid shows, play outside, take puppy for a walk, or some non-structured learning (crafts, drawing, painting, model kit, etc.) is going to do all of you good.  It gets to be a long day for everyone!!!

flyingsaucer

DS gets 30 minutes to have a snack and watch a show on tv(down time). Then he does homework for 20 minutes (only 1-2 days per week). DD who is 2 usually wants to sit and color and pretend to do homework. Then we have plan hour of play time. If it's nice out we play in the yard, but since it has been cold lately, we play inside. I try to set up structured activities for them to do while sitting at the table to that I can cook and they don't drive each other nuts. Usually play dough, painting, coloring, Legos, dominoes, etc. They are really into the play dough lately. Then we have dinner, baths, bed.

neverblushed

I had a similar age spread between my kiddos, and I definitely dealt with this issue.  From the time DD started K, we have had pretty much the same routine.  They have 30 minutes to relax, snack, play, or even watch TV before we get down to homework.  The only thing that's not allowed is computer/video games, because it's always a struggle to turn those off after 30 minutes.

Our afternoon and evening routine is like this:

30 minutes snack and relaxation

Homework (DS usually takes about 40 minutes; DD's can vary from about 40 mins to hours)

Chores

Play (DS can have 30 minutes of Nintendo DS; DD can use computer)

Help with dinner, set the table

Clean up dinner

Reading

Showers

In bed by 8:30ish or 9; reading; lights out by 9 for DS, 10 for DD

On activity nights (mostly Wednesday) the routine is different, of course, but it's roughly based on this pattern.

jnksmom

My kids need/want different things. DD wants to empty her backpack, do her required reading and homework as soon as we get home. DS needs some downtime before he does any homework or chores. He eats a snack and watches one 20-30 minute show while I do hw/reading with DD. Then DD plays or eats a snack while I do homework/reading with DS. After that it varies from day to day depending on what activities we have.

*sparky*

I am a few days late in answering this, but this is what we do.  DS actually gets picked up from school and there is a playground at the end of the street that I park on when I pick him up.  So in K, there was a group of kids that went to the playground after school pretty regularly.  It seemed that especially the boys needed to just run around and blow off some steam for a half hour or so.  Thenn when we got home, there would be a little tv and snack time, and I would let him just chill out oon his own for a little while.  Then homework, family play time, dinner, etc.

Kindergarten was stressful/exhausting for my DS at first, so even with all of this there were days that weren't exactly smooth, but overall this worked for us.

jlw2505

I work full time and my girls are in Kindy and 1st.  I make sure the girls have a very small snack as it could be 1 hour to 1.5 hours before dinner.  The girls have some play time and they also know that if they need it, they can go into their rooms to play/read, etc.  We do homework after dinner but some days, the girls ask to do it after school.  We have a play room in the basement and the craft table in the kitchen so on some days, I send each to a different location for a bit or if they have a lot of energy, we turn on some musci and they have a short dance party.