Scheduling Without Actually Scheduling Part 2 - Daily To Do List

Last post was about how we schedule the outings in a week. Today is about how we do a daily to-do list. Here is a picture of a day's list (with The Kid's name removed):

This list is typically the more "academic" stuff I want to get done in a day - reading, math, spelling, science, fine motor skills. It does not include lots of other playing, but rest assured that plenty of off-list stuff happens every day! Some of the things are in a code of sorts - "number games" means RightStart Math and "Activity sheets" is a selection of Kumon fine motor skill sheets, Mad Libs, and Can You Find Me? sheets.

The list is in no particular order. If something needs to happen at a particular time, such as gymnastics, that is written on the board. Otherwise, The Kid can pick things in any order and we erase them as we finish. There is no requirement that everything be done and often the list is altered during the day. Sometimes she wakes up and declares she wants something added to or deleted from the board, which is fine. Sometimes we just get to the end of the day and didn't get to things, which is also fine. But the list manages to put a lot of control into the The Kid's hands regarding what she does when and keeps me on track for remembering to do something.

Scheduling Without Actually Scheduling Part 1 - Weekly Schedule

I like schedules and lists, but they don't really fit in with preschooling very well. I've had to adapt and meet somewhere in the middle. I use two large magnetic white boards, 2' x 3' each, to keep our schedules and lists in a child-friendly format.

Here's our weekly schedule:

I made this before my child could read, so it is done with picture magnets. I made the magnets by finding pictures online for all the places we normally go together - I preferred pictures rather than logos but used recognizable logos when needed. I then printed out the pictures and fed it all through my Xyron 900 to make them into laminated magnets. If you don't have a Xyron 900, I believe there is magnet paper that can be fed through a printer, you could take your pictures to an office store to have magnets made, or you could print the pictures out on stock paper and add self-stick magnets to the back.

This calendar is for outings and non-negotiable stuff like doctor's appointments. We also include bathtime on here because we were a little too prone to forget about it! When she was younger, it also included naptime so she could see whether events were planned for before or after nap. While I keep this simple and most of our day is free-flowing, you could include as much of your day as you wanted to.

We started this calendar around the time she turned two. At that time, everything was put on with no input from her. Now that she is older and there are more places to go than there is time, we talk every Sunday about what things she and I want to do for the coming week and choose what goes on the schedule together.