Parents want to know how to structure their children’s time when the kids need to be home all day instead of being at school. Many parents also are trying to work from home when their children are there.
Parents need to provide enough education and emotional support for their children.
Here’s how parents can work from home. Divide your work hours with your spouse so one parent gets about five hours of work while the other parent tries to get some work done while allowing for time with their kids. Then the parents switch roles. Try to get most of your work done between 6 a.m. (or 7 a.m.) until about 6 p.m. and get the last two or three hours of work done after the children go to sleep. It helps a lot when parents set up a daily schedule so that they can tell their kids how the day will go.
Here’s a sample schedule for 3- to 10-year-olds, from morning to night:
1. Get dressed first thing in the day so kids don’t treat weekdays like the weekend. Preschoolers need help getting dressed.
2. Have the kids think of breakfast ideas and encourage them to help you make breakfast. (Good for interacting with your kids.)
3. Next is some outdoor activity such as walking, biking, scootering with you. Walk around the neighborhood with the kids. If you have a backyard, try kicking the soccer ball. Let them do water play, bubbles, digging in the dirt or sand, watering, weeding, and planting. (Use up some of their energy.)
4. At home, have your younger children (3 to 6 years old) look at books or read to them. Help your young children practice recognizing letters and numbers and printing them as well. Have them color. Have children under 7 use workbooks if online learning has been hard for them. A good series of workbooks from preschool through elementary school you can order is “Comprehensive Curriculum of Basic Skills” (These are available on Amazon.com). Kids who are 7 or older can do online learning. Parents need to be available to their kids for this. Most kids can do about an hour at a time with your support. (Focus on academics during this time.)
5. Next would be playtime, including building with Legos, playing with dolls and imaginary play. Encourage craft activities like Play-Doh, painting, coloring, cutting, gluing. Look online for creative and fun activity ideas for 3- to 10-year-olds. (Encourage creativity.)
6. Just before lunch is a good time for the available parent to play games with the children and teach them to take turns deciding what they’ll play. (Kids learn to not always expect to get their way.)
7. Have the kids help you make lunch and have a parent eat with them. Kids should clear their plates and help clean up. (Kids feel connected to their parents.)
8. After lunch, have quiet time for younger kids to look through their books, listen to music, (or) play in their room. Older kids should be able to spend more time on distance learning, one hour or maybe two with a parent being available to help as needed.
9. In the afternoon, about three times a week, parents should set up two-hour play dates with another child. It’s useful to have a few different kids to choose from who become part of a kid’s “social bubble.” (Kids really need time to play with their peers.)
10. Later in the afternoon, have your children help you with chores such as laundry, dishes, toy pickup, vacuuming, etc. so they learn to be helpful. And then have them help you make dinner including setting the table, clearing dishes, loading the dishwasher. Younger kids can make green salads or fruit salads. (You and your kids get to work together.)
11. After dinner, spend about an hour where the whole family can be together, doing what seems like fun. Then it’s bathtime for the younger kids and showers for the older kids. (Whole family has playtime together.)
12. Next comes the bedtime story and time for your child and you to chat together. Regular bedtimes are 8-8:30 p.m. for younger kids and 8:30-9 p.m. for older kids. (A nice end to their day.) 13. After the kids are asleep, then parents can just focus on their work and maybe get close to seven hours of sleep themselves.
A schedule like this can help a lot in meeting your children’s important needs while parents get enough of their work done.
Dr. Annye Rothenberg, Ph.D., is a child and parent psychologist with a practice in Emerald Hills. She works with families in Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley, Woodside and other nearby cities. Her website is annyerothenberg.com.



