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.