After school routine for Reception age kid - feeling a bit clueless

[OnTheJourneyOnwards]

Pick up time is 3:15pm, we drive home and are generally home by 4pm.

And then I’m like… winging it until bedtime.

I honestly don’t know how to make an after school routine that fits in reading, homework, dinner, bath, bedtime 🙈

I think bedtime is probably too late, DD is down by 8/8.30pm but sometimes it’s closer to 9pm if she’s got homework and needs a hair wash (she’s a curly haired girl so her hair routine takes ages!).

On top of that I really want to cut down screen time, but we’ve fallen into the routine of tv after school.

Please help me get back on track!!

What time do your Reception aged kids (5yo) go to bed and what’s your after school schedule like?

Please be kind 💜

How much homework is she getting in reception?!

One of mine didn't get any and the other had it over the weekends so we never had to incorporate it in an evening routine!

Home
Snack if you don't one
Homework
Play
Bath
Dinner
Bed

Others will come along with a routine, but when the weathers good I recommend spending a bit of time outside instead of the screen time (save that for poor weather). It’s a good way to decompress after school and transition into being at home.

No problem with a bit of tv after school. It’s useful downtime as long as you can control the time it goes off. We usually read the school reading book in bed. Slightly different here as DS is ND but generally we try to keep it light in the evenings. A routine has developed over time - DS is now Yr2. In Reception I just made sure he was happy, fed and went to bed at a reasonable hour. DD is starting Reception next year and we’ll be feeling our way with her too as she’s very different to DS. DD also has ringlets, I just wash and condition in the bath then comb while she has conditioner in before rinsing. My priority in Reception was to make sure the experience was as positive as possible.

Hi OP,

3:20- collect, we are a 5 min walk away.

3:30- drink, snack, catch up about our days.

3:45-4:30- free play inside (Lego, puzzles, colouring) or in the garden. TV stays off. If good weather, park straight from school. May have a school friend over to play. May go to a local free event occcasionally.

4:30- screen time of my son’s choice (my DD aged 3 has her turn after lunch as she’s only at pre-school until 11:30).

5.45/6pm- family dinner. My husband and I then alternate either 1 doing bath/shower, 1 reading, or 1 reading with each child if not a bath night. Or he washes up & I sort both. Basically all hands on deck between 6-7ish!

6.30pm- reading book (my DS is in Y1, he was tired initially in R, so we used to do this earlier after school or even first thing in the morning) & quick bath/shower.

7pm- bed (this bedtime still works for my DD 3, but my son now continues playing quietly in his room until 7.30-8pm depending on how tired he feels).

I think it would take me a lot longer if my husband was back home from work later.

I find it harder in the colder/wetter weather when we any use our garden or local parks as frequently.

Hope this is of some use 😊

Ds toutine at 5 was-

4pm tv/park/play with toys
5pm tea
530pm homework
6pm play with toys (later replaced with switch)
7pm get ready for bed
8pm lights out

We just do snack after school then free play until dinner time at 5.30/6. 6.30 go upstairs for bath if it’s a bath night, start stories at 7 (DC read to us then we read to them), lights off at 8, though DS(6) can read a bit longer.

Ive got a 4yo in preschool and a year 2 and this has been our routine for years. Earlier bedtime has never worked for my kids but they wake at 7 usually - if they were up earlier they might need to go down earlier. And they don’t have homework during the week.

At that age it would be snack and drink as soon as we got in, then reading and any homework.

Then TV/ play while I cooked dinner, then dinner, bath, a bit more tv and then bed with story. At that age bed was definitely 7/ 730.

My son is 6 (summer born year 2) but his routine was similar in reception other than reading was as soon as he got home.

Pick up at 3 and only 10 minutes to get home. Snack then usually swimming, skater park, bike ride, play outside if nice or drawing, Tv, games if weather is rubbish.

we eat dinner about 5 then go upstairs for bath and reading at 6. He’s usually asleep by 7pm.

He needs a good 11 hours sleep minimum and it’s rare he doesn’t fall asleep until later. I feel blessed for this!

My younger 2 (7 and 5) have a loose routine.

Pick up is 3:35 and we either go to the park (on a non club day) or come home for playing or going on the trampoline.
Dinner is at about 5, we pick OH up from work at 6. Homework and reading then an episode of Bluey or something before bed at 7:30/8.

They shower in the mornings unless they really need one (like tonight!)

She gets a tonne of homework 📚

One maths homework
One phonics/literacy homework
One set of spellings to learn
Plus a reading book
And a show and tell project (not really homework as such but it’s another thing to think about and organise)

How long does homework take every evening?

3.50/4 - home, empty own bag of water bottle and snack pot and then play or crafts

4.30 screen time while I make dinner

5.00 dinner

5.30 play again

6 - bath and supper

7- stories and bed

We do homework at the weekend.

Spelling in reception?! Stick them on the dinning room wall and practice over dinner.

It’s not every night that we do it as sometimes we do a bit on the weekend. But she HATES homework so it’s a bit of a battle to get her to engage with it. Generally takes anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, depending on how much resistance we get 😔 (and some of the tasks involve a tonne of cutting and sticking or extra resources like weighing scales etc)

We have got support from the school and a behaviour chart for her, but often she will just completely refuse… only to change her mind after screaming about it.

We suspect she’s autistic so there’s that as a factor as well.

We usually get home about 3.45 (we walk home and it can take anything between 10 mins to half an hour 🤣)

We have tea about 5.30ish.

7.30 we do supper and DH reads some short books, then it's teeth, pjs and I read a chapter book in bed about 8pm and give him a cuddle until he goes off. He usually goes anywhere between 8.30-9.30pm - he's autistic and takes a while to wind down. Sometimes if he's really tired he'll fall asleep early but that usually leads to very restless nights.

In between those things we do his reading book, play outside/bake/do Playmobil or Lego/watch TV. Whatever fits best with weather, how tired DS is etc. We don't bath him every night.

How much homework does she have in reception? Ds has a reading book and some words to practice but that's it. We usually just do the book, then I leave the words randomly around the house so he reads them when he comes across them. At weekends we have optional bits like "build a castle" or "make repeating patterns". He's just started having some sentences to write out, but we'll probably do them at weekends and once or twice in the week.

Mine always had TV as soon as we got home for an hour while I made the tea (and decompressed myself after work!). TV always turned off after the same programme every day (even if the tea wasn't quite ready) Tea at about 5, family/play time until 6.

Bath at 6ish, teeth etc 6.30. School reading book for 10 mins (even if we only got through 3 pages) then a proper chapter book snuggled in bed. Lights off 7.30 (up again at 6.00 the next morning)

Don’t do the homework that’s ridiculous. Just read to her and have her “read” back anything else , even spellings is not only not helpful it’s detrimental.

Just read your update about homework. No way any of mine would have coped with that at that age. Do what everyone is surely doing, and just do all the cutting and sticking yourself 🤷‍♀️

Sorry but 9pm is way too late for a reception child. At that age mine were in bed 7 at the latest and tbh on days they were tired sometimes it was lights out by like 6.45! She must be exhausted?!
We often did reading first thing in the morning while I drank a hot drink at like 7am, then they were fresh rather than tired at 6pm.

They really don’t need homework in reception, the school day is long enough for them at that age as it is.

My dd is in reception, we don’t have a set routine as it’s different every day. After school she either has afternoon club, a play date, or an activity. Then after that we do a reading book whilst dinner is cooking, dinner, wind down time then bed.

We would come home and it was snack, drink, screens. An hour or so later they’d want to start playing and as I had more than one child, they read with me for 10-15 mins in turn.

Dinner 6, bath afterwards, play then bed

Worksheets etc were done Saturday after breakfast.

If my child was resisting like yours then I would do 10-15 mins then stop. Incomplete homework is not a big deal at your DD’s age and school is tiring.

Half an hour to an hour on the park. Home, dinner, homework/ reading book.
Bath/ bed by about 7.30pm. 9pm is too late. I would leave the homework to a few times a week. At that age it's not compulsory.

Blimey that's loads, no wonder you're finding it difficult to fit it in! Can any of it be done at the weekend or is it all midweek?

ds2 is in reception - the only homework they ask is 15 mins of reading practice a day and 15 mins of number practice.

have you asked the school how long they expect you to look at each task?

reading is done with breakfast here, not afterschool.

our school finishes at 3:20 but the kids go to child-minders until just after 5, There they watch tv, play outside or play with toys (kids are 9 and 4)

home for tea, where they get 30 mins screen time while we prep.
then homework, then play then bath and in bed for 8, lights out 8:30

I just stick them in front of the iPad