Coming home
Duration/age
The bell has rung, the bag is packed. Open the door and off goes the pack.
It is the end of the school or kindy day and time to go home. How will you get home? Do you travel home the same way every day or do you sometimes walk? If you walk do you travel the same way as you would in the car or is there a shortcut?
Do you have a regular routine when you get home? Are there jobs to do? Or does a long day mean you are both hungry and food comes first before any jobs?
Before we go inside we need to check the letterbox for mail.
I have cut up fruit to eat, but first you need to unpack your bag.
What are you going to eat? Is it just a snack or will it be a main meal after the school day?
Sometimes you might have prepared some food before you pick up your child. Other times you might wait to see what sort of thing they want to eat and you can ask them to help.
Once you have washed your hands you can help me to get the fruit and cut it up. You can pick from banana, strawberries and kiwifruit.
Why does this matter?
Having regular routines helps your child to predict what will happen, listen to directions and develop independence. As your child follows routines, they are experimenting with ordering and grouping using time and location. “We will get the letters before we have a snack because we walk past the letterbox on the way to the front door.”
When your child asks for changes in their routine, they are experimenting with using language to describe their thinking. As they communicate their ideas they are learning to negotiate, make choices and to listen to the ideas of another person. “If we walk home today could we have a picnic at the playground on the way home?”