After-school routine for first grader?

[NicaG]

what do your young kids like to do when they get home from school? We've been doing a little too much tv/x-box, andi'd like to get into a better rhythm. I'm conflicted because I feel like ds needs some unscheduled downtime, but then he gets bored. What happens at your house after school?

[meemee]

welll.... be ready. you will hear bored very often. 

i get on dd's case when she complains about boredom at her dad's place (coz she's used to tv at his place). she is pretty good at finding stuff and entertaining herself here at my home. 

i see you have other kids and are about to deliver too. 

but with an only child we didnt really have a routine. we'd check in after school and see what we both felt like. sometimes i'd pack a picnic. either way we'd go 'do' something. mostly park for us. i think since dd finds the regiment of school so tiring that at K and 1st just having the freedom to go crazy and run around really helped her. 

her fav. has always been other neighborhood kids to play with. 

a lot of art supplies. walk in the neighborhood. playing with the kitty. gardening. cooking/baking together. 

[little feet]

I let my first grade daughter watch tv for no more than an hour, and I make sure she gets food and drink in that time.  Then we do her homework (this is new, so I guide her through it) and she has free playtime (w/o tv, but can be educational games on the computer) until dinner.  Too much tv makes her really grumpy.  At seven is clean up and quiet time and at 7:30 we read books together.  She has to have her jammies on by 8, and lights are out usually around 8 - 8:30, depending on how much reading she wants to do.

[cjam]

The school bus drops the kids off at 3:30 and I try to keep them outside until 5:00 when they come in to do homework and I cook dinner.  They either ride bikes/scooters, play with neighbourhood kids, go for a swim in our pool, go to the park.    It's only week 2 of school for us but so far it's working.  If they are hungry, I've been bringing a snack out to the front porch. 

[pianojazzgirl]

Last year dd was in grade one, and the routine was the same as it is now.

She gets home from school and immediately has a snack (she's always ravenous by this time).  Then homework.  Then free-play (playing with her brother, drawing or doing crafts, reading, etc).  Then dinner.  Then violin practice.  Then maybe a little more play time, and/or bath.  Then bed.

We don't do tv here, but I find that she is able to find things to do.  Reading alone in her room is what she prefers if she just needs to chill out.

[kayleesmom]

subbing :)

[madskye]

No tv on schooldays/nights, just on the weekend!  She has a tough time with transitions, and fighting over turning the tv off every time is not worth the hour of peace we enjoy while the tube is on.  So instead...

Home at 3:30-snack and catch up

4-5 Go to the library, go to the park, have a friend over to play.  If we stay home, puzzles, a craft, curl up on the couch and I will read her a chapter book.  She has a guitar and a microphone and a drumset and will occupy herself with those for quite some time.  Not so interested in playing with any dolls or toys on her own though! 

5pm-I give her a treatsnack and she she does her homework at the kitchen island while I start to prep dinner.  She feeds the dog and puts out the napkins and silverware.

6:15-7:30 Husband comes home, they catch up, we eat, do the dishes

8pm-BEDTIME and stories.

No tv is actually really, really nice.  I dislike most of the kids shows, and I hate fighting over the amount of tv, so it works better here to just not have it even be an option.

[berry987]

My first grader walks home from school by 3:30 (either with me or a neighbor parent). Usually he throws his backpack down and runs back outside to play with friends. He comes in for a short snack at some point, runs back outside, I start dinner, DH comes home, we eat, and then it's either back outside or late enough that it's shower time. We have a whole crew of kids on our block and they run around, ride scooters/bikes, or just wrestle and play on the lawn. Of course it's September and beautiful outside right now. We live in Wisconsin and last winter they didn't play outside for months on end. So I'm not sure what our routine will be then. On bad weather days he likes to play in the basement with his legos along with his brothers, draw and color at the kitchen counter, listen to music on my IPod on his bed, etc....so those will probably be his wintertime activities after school. It's so hard to say no TV in the middle of winter, but I try to limit to a 30 minute show after school. 

[meetoo]

We do:

snack/go through backpacks/put school stuff away

free time, they can do anything but electronics. Generally they go outside and play.

dinner

homework (sometimes they do this while I'm cooking, sometimes my oldest chooses to get hers out of the way as soon as she gets home, if it hasn't been done yet this is the homework time )

storytime/silent reading/baths/chitchatting  

bed 

We are working on no TV/wii during the school week. At this point they are watching some TV in the morning if they get ready early. Ideally, I would like no TV/computers/video games. I feel like the school day is long and electronics eats up their play/reading time. One of my kids is also currently involved in a sport that meets 2/3 times a week. 

[~cassie]

We get home around 310, have snack and do homework(takes him 10-20 mins). Then he is allowed to go outside for 1.5 hrs and then we have dinner, bath and then bed at 630-7. Sometimes after school my dh will take them to the park if I need to study but it doesn't happen often.

[redpajama]

We don't really have a routine (or, not an intentional one), but my K and 1st graders get home around 4:00.  They usually eat a snack at that time, put their lunchboxes on the kitchen counter/hang up their backpacks/give me any papers they brought home, and then...go play until dinner time.  For my son (1st grade), that usually means reading for an hour or so, then playing with legos or other toys.  My daughter (K) will usually color/draw some and then play with her little sister (2) who has been missing her all day.  Then we eat dinner around 6:00, and they go play some more--by then, the neighbors are often home, so they might go outside and play with them for a bit.  By 7:00 or so, we usually get them in the bath and start getting them ready for bed.  They're in bed between 7:30 and 8:00, where my older two might read/look at books for a bit before going to sleep.  

[meemee]

awww redpajama mama that sounds sooooo sweet. 

[*bejeweled*]

DD gets home at 3:30.

She washes her hands, has a snack, watches tv for awhile, does her homework, plays her piano for 30 minutes, goes outside to play until dinner.

Dinner is usually at 6:30, then duties, bath, stories and bed @ 8:30.

Her duties include feeding her pets and getting her clothes out for the following day.
Edited by *bejeweled* - 9/15/11 at 6:00am

[NZJMama]

We get home about 4. School gets out at 3:20, but I usually let him play on the playground for awhile after school. Come home and free play and do homework if he has any. Eat dinner at 5. Right now, we have baseball 3 nights a week. So after dinner, we are off to baseball. We get home at 7:15 and then its bath, book, bed. I try to have them all in bed by 8pm, but right now that is really tight.

[NicaG]

If your kids go outside to play, what do they do out there? My ds has never been much of an outdoor kid, and our yard is small, and he's bored after a few minutes. We have a swing set, but he refuses to pump himself on the swing. He will sometimes ride his bike on our street. He doesn't much like playing with his little sister, or the neighbor girls. He likes to play soccer but I'm too pregnant at the moment to keep up with him. I wish I could send him outside for an hour, that sounds great! But not really a reality at our house, sigh.

[KCMichigan]

Bored is good. Forces them to be creative!

We are media free during the week (unless the girls need to type or look something up on the computer with adult help for homework).

My 1st graders get home at 3:30. Often they go outside to play for an hour or so. Then at 5 , I prep dinner and they do their homework. We eat around 5:30/6- after they help me pack their lunch and then they have time to play for a bit more inside. 

We start bedtime routine between 6:30 & 7. They look at books for 10-20 min before bed. Lights out at 7:30. (they are up at 6:30).

For outside play they run around, play tag, play with neighbors, draw with chalk, inspect bugs/plants, collect rocks/sticks, dig in the dirt, drawing, etc.

Inside play is more crafty, toy play, dancing to music, or reading.

[*bejeweled*]

For outside play DD rides bikes and scooters, plays with walkie talkies, jumps rope, plays hide n go seek, 4 square w/the ball, kickball, tag, soccer, looks for frogs and snakes, climbs trees, collects rocks and sticks and leaves. In the summer they swam and had water balloon fights.

I agree that bored is good. When I don't get involved in trying to plan an activity, they come up with really neat things to do.

[*bejeweled*]

NicaG, I highly suggest getting your DS walkie talkies. They're a huge hit around here. They love playing all sorts of spy games with them and it encourages playing with others.

Originally Posted by NicaG 

If your kids go outside to play, what do they do out there? My ds has never been much of an outdoor kid, and our yard is small, and he's bored after a few minutes. We have a swing set, but he refuses to pump himself on the swing. He will sometimes ride his bike on our street. He doesn't much like playing with his little sister, or the neighbor girls. He likes to play soccer but I'm too pregnant at the moment to keep up with him. I wish I could send him outside for an hour, that sounds great! But not really a reality at our house, sigh.

[MJB]

We get home around 4. The boys (3rd and 1st grade) have a snack, then do their homework. I let them play Wii or watch TV for 30 minutes when they finish their homework unless it is Monday or Wednesday, in which case they have soccer practice at 5:30-7 (then a rushed dinner, shower, and bedtime). Sometimes they go to the park, often they just play legos or in our yard. On Fridays my older son has swim practice so my 1st grader just reads while he's gone.

[crowcaw]

Mine are twins and I find if I spend a little time reading to them or sit down with them for a snack they can pretty much entertain themselves for quite awhile afterward.  We don't do tv because with mine it's the precursor to boredom.  Once they watch a little tv subsequent time is boring.  If I never turn it on, they seem to be better at occupying themselves.