Balanced Day

[playfelt]

Has anyone tried using the balanced day schedule that is used in many schools now in their daycare? I started it today as best I could and will give it a fair shot before abandoning but in theory it should address the snack/meal issue of seeming like we are always up and down and washing hands and the fact they like the snacks and treat lunch like a tide me over till the next snack. Already tried switching the foods around and yes they have favourite categories like fruits and carbs. I am also looking to wean off morning naps but for sure they can't make it to noon because they fall asleep in their chairs before meal is barely served.

Served nothing from arrival to 10:15 but might in future do a small drink around 8 but we will see as they are used to snack now. Mine all come by 7:00 so they have been up since 5:30 - 6:00 am so it is a long morning for them. They all ate their lunch and I think better cause they were really hungry except for those that put up a fuss about most real foods anyways so time is not the factor here.

They were then in bed by 11:30 which gives them 3 hours from 11:30 - 2:30 which would be the same as the little ones sleep now just allowing them to do one large block of sleep instead of me having to wake them from their two shorter naps. And it allows another half hour for those really tired to still be up by 3:00 so we can eat and go outside. Snack after nap will also be bigger than before but it will also be earlier ie 2:45 instead of 3:15.

Would love to hear what others have tried or if your child has this schedule at school how it has worked for you. What times have worked the best ? I will adjust them as the kids adjust.

[torontokids]

I'm not sure what the "balanced day" is.

[torontokids]

just googled it

[playfelt]

Instead of two recesses and lunch the schools do 100 minutes instruction then a food and play period - allows for longer outside and then another 100 minutes of instruction and then another food and play outside period then school till hometime. It means less time wasted getting ready for recess or settling down after and gives larger blocks of time to do more concentrated activities. There are variations on when the times are but that is the gist of it.

If this is what many children will be facing when they get to school it may become the norm for daycare to work with a variation of the same schedule. Mostly I am trying to find a way to eliminate morning naps but not have the kids so tired they cry for the last hour and fall asleep in their lunch instead of eating it.

[Artsand crafts]

I haven't heard about it, but I just googled it a bit now. My current schedule is as follows: 8:45 snack (fruits) / 11:15 lunch / 12:00 to 2:30 nap (usually more for infants) / 3:00 large snack / 3:30 crafts, sensory activities, learning activities or just free play / around 4:30 free play. They are very busy in the morning I think because of that they eat well, and sleep well. I have not have big behavioral problems in a long time.

[playfelt]

My gang comes starting at 6:45 so up early which means parents don't get them into bed. Going down at 8 pm and getting up at 5:30 am does not a full night of sleep make and that assumes they don't wake up in between. Hence I still have sometimes more than half my gang doing morning naps.

Some days it is nice to have the break and only a couple to program with and other days it just seems someone is either eating, sleeping, or getting their diaper changed all day and we accomplish nothing.

[Artsand crafts]

3 new infants started 3 weeks ago and all of them were having 2 naps at home. I already weaned one of the first nap and one of the other 2 did not slept during the morning today, he just laid down quietly. I just reduced the time of the 1st morning nap gradually. You could gradually wean the guys that are coming earlier but it may take more time. At least with shorter naps in the morning for a while you will have more time to get things done.

[sunnydays]

So does that mean the kids only eat twice a day instead of three times? I like that idea as I feel like I am always feeding them! But, I could not get them napping at 11am...the younger ones maybe, but the 2.5 and 3 year olds are not tired enough to sleep by then. I don't have any morning nappers, but everyone naps for about 2.5 hours in the afternoon for me. Since my schedule is working for me...I dont think I want to rock the boat! Let us know how it works for you!

[Crayola kiddies]

I don't do morning snack anyway as I serve a parent supplied breakfast at 7:45. Then we eat ounce at 11:15 and the kids are all in bed by 12:15. Then they have afternoon snack at 3:15. And all kids are gone by 4:30.

[playfelt]

So does that mean the kids only eat twice a day instead of three times? I like that idea as I feel like I am always feeding them! But, I could not get them napping at 11am...the younger ones maybe, but the 2.5 and 3 year olds are not tired enough to sleep by then. I don't have any morning nappers, but everyone naps for about 2.5 hours in the afternoon for me. Since my schedule is working for me...I dont think I want to rock the boat! Let us know how it works for you!

That's exactly what it means. We get good and hungry and then get up to the table and eat a proper meal so it means the kids will eat 4 meals a day instead of 3 meals and 2 snacks but it means more time between eating so the stomach knows hunger enough to eat and hopefully eat better instead of grazing which is what it seems like now. Serving a piece of meat at 8:30 just doesn't have the same acceptance rate as serving it at 10:30.

By serving lunch 1 1/2 hours earlier the little ones are able to eat without falling asleep while still staying awake for most of the morning to do activities with us. They then sleep the whole time. I put the older ones down last so they were closer to their normal time but still earlier. They will still get enough sleep and be up when the babies are.

I tried pulling the morning nap and that didn't work. I tried shortening it but got tired of having to wake them up and then listen to them cry for the next hour because they were still tired meaning we accomplished nothing. I tried putting them down as soon as everyone was here but then when they got up they were thirsty so needed to feed them since they hadn't had snack - others then wanted too and had to say no you ate, but also meant it limited our activities as we had to do what was in the kitchen. So just working on some kind of plan that fits everyone's needs. I know the babies need more sleep overnight but that is something I can't control so trying to find a way to control my time during the day so that as much as possible we move as a group from event to event and there is less wasted downtime.

Here is the link to the Ottawa school board about balanced days:

http://ocasc.ca/school-council-resou...y-information/