What do yours do when they get in from school?

[SlinkyPebbles]

I'm attempting to avert a habit of turning tv on from the minute DD gets in, and it staying on until bedtime. I appreciate though that she'll be tired (she's just started in reception). Any tips for how to handle those few hours in terms of entertainment?

DD gets home, empties lunch box, gets changed, shows me her letters in her book bag, check for party invites etc.

Then she eats half the contents of the fridge and commands the iPad.

Dinner, bath, Mr Moon on tv, story (I read one and she reads one) the light out.

Not much time left for anything else although I do have 3 to do the above routine with

If there's any homework we do it straight away (bar sticking the kettle on, getting a juice). Once that's done he does what he wants till dinner's ready (usually plays on Nintendo DS, if he's been good!). Then it's dinner, bath, wind down and bed. He's 5.

DS Yr 2 - same routine since Reception: home, snack and drink, homework (was just reading in reception) then free to do what he fancies (but not TV) until dinner at 6pm. TV goes on after dinner. That said - one night a week he always has a friend over, and another two nights there are clubs - so routines a little different then...

Hi
My girls always needed some serious downtime at that age after the school day and walk home, and did come back and watch tv which for me was fine. They chilled out, had a drink and snack, I had a chance to sort dinner and look through book bags etc but I just wouldn't let them watch endlessly, they had a limit of half an hour or so. We'd do other things after that- play in garden, read, games, drawing, colouring, hama beads, lego.... then it was dinner at 5 ish and they were always in bed early at that age otherwise they couldn't cope with the tiredness.

My ds has just started, he is on half days at the mo but when he is in full time I can't imagine he will be upto much.

Our routine will be

• get home 3.45

-get changed, get drink/snack -check bookbag -Tv/play -dinner -wash/bath -story (if he can stay awake) possibly one from school -bed by 6.45/7

Even if the tv does go on, its only going to be half hour or so before dinner etc so I really don't mind and I think its good to have a bit of mind wasting time after a day at school.

When my DS started Reception he asked for the TV to go on as soon as he came home. I think it was his way of unwinding. They do have such a very steep learning curve in Reception that I think they should be allowed to watch crap Cbeebies. DS is now in Yr 1 and we have no TV, so the problem isn't there. Instead all he does now is collapse on the sofa with his favourite stuffed toy and lie down for half an hour. He also asks for lots of cuddles as well, I know he's just had so much to deal with and needs to let go for a while. Don't stress too much about the TV, he is far too young to do homework at this stage (other than colouring or drawing and I'd leave those till a bit later). Let him chill for a bit, it really won't hurt him.

I think the duration of the walk makes a big difference tbh, a 5 min walk after a full day is different from a fourty min walk.

I got ds shelling peas for dinner this evening
Aside from child labour... it depends entirely in the weather. Good, and I throw him in the garden for a bounce on the trampoline, which usually ends up with him
playing with the boys next door. Bad, tv, iPad, lego. I try to remember to put some toys in the lounge for when he gets home, something he's not played with for a while. I try and avoid tv, but sometimes I'm knackered so on it goes

Mmmmm, wish me luck!

At the moment my 5yo likes to play schools as if he didn't spend enough time there already Tonight's game was song practice - he warbled his way though his version of he's got the whole world in his hands from 3.45 until tea time (5.30)! He had a box to be the overhead projector and a whiteboard pen to draw on the patio door (where we practice his spellings) etc. once tea is over he chats to DH about his school game then we start the bedtime routine around 7. He has been asking for a desk for weeks so he can be like a real teacher. I won one on ebay recently and DH picked it up on friday night. In his news on monday he wrote about getting a desk - which was more important to him than the fact that we got a new pet and that we had friends over for a BBQ on sunday, LOL.

TBH this obsession is waaaaaay better than the constant "I'm bored" we've had for several weeks.

Mine (5 & 8) watch telly & have a snack when they first get home. They will often play with their little sister too. They sometimes it some homework / reading in before dinner.

After eating they spend the next hr doing violin practice. Then they're free to watch telly / play on the wii before bed.

Eat

Ds (reception starter) has activities 2 days a week after school. On the days he has no activity i usually play with him, read to him or we just chat. He also has a snack.
At 5.30 I put the tv on for him while I prepare dinner. It goes off at 6.30 when DH comes home and we all eat dinner together, then it's bath and bed for ds. He does his reading just before bed as I find he prefers to do it then. Light out is usually 7.30/7.45.

Also on a no activity day, if weather ok we sometimes walk to the park or something. Ds is usually ok after school but does like his downtime when I'm cooking later. Thats the routine we've fallen into anyway!

What do parents who work full time do? How does your routine differ?

I work f/t and at the moment I pick him up around 5pm and head home.

Tea is generally soup/sandwiches/beans on toast as he had a proper meal at lunchtime.

Watches a bit of tv (he generally cuddles up with me on the sofa and will talk about his day), might play with his cars/trains for a bit and then we are upstairs around 6:25pm for bath/bed/stories.

He is in YR so we have been 'reading' his book and flashcards together in bed - when he gets a bit older we will have to fit it in a bit earlier but it works at the moment.

Probably watching more tv just now than I would like but he is shattered after school and I'm not sure it does any harm just to wind down for a bit.

Mine are older (Y3 & Y6). Generally they'll have a snack when they get in, change out of their uniform & then do their homework. Then music practise.

After that they're free to play or read (we don't have tv or electonic games Mon-Thurs evenings) and they're expected to help with dinner.

Some nights we have running/cycling/swimming so there's not much spare time at all.

Thanks for posting this, slinkypebbles I have been a bit bemused as to what to do with all the time between 3pm and bedtime. I used to pick DD up from nursery at 5.30 so watching beebies for a bit was fine. She is also really hyper and bouncing off the walls when she comes home from school too which is weird, as I thought she would be tired. I have bought loads of snack foods (nursery used to do all of this!) and envisage we will do some quiet stuff in the garden, just to get her to wind down a bit. From what I can see from DD's other nursery friends who started in her reception class this week, they are all bordering on hysterical with excitement and over-tiredness (or desperate to run around after spending all day sitting down not sure which) that an hour or so watching tv must be quite a comfort in these early weeks.
Fuzzymum my DD is loving school too and wants her own notebook and pen to write in for her birthday!

Sometimes, it's quite nice to let them just sit and watch a bit of TV but I know what you mean about not wanting them to do it every night.

My DD is 6 (yr2) and does the following.

• Empty school bag - shows me pictures, letters etc
• Empty lunch bag
• Has a drink and a snack whilst we 'share' her day or watch a bit of TV.
• Then she goes outside, plays or I sometimes set a craft activity up on the dining table.
• Then we eat
• After tea she reads/practices her spellings/does other homework (only one of these)
• Bath and bit of TV
• Story, hot chocolate and bed.