Do you like to look at a menu when you go to a restaurant? Or, do you let the waiter bring you whatever the “special” is, sight unseen?

When you go on vacation, do you plan your hotels and activities in advance, or do you like to “fly by the seat of your pants” and figure it out as you go along? 

Some folks like the adventure of a blind leap, but for 95% of the rest of us, we like to know what’s coming next! It helps us relax, reduces anxiety, and helps us wait for things (like knowing lunch is coming in 10 minutes!)  

If  you as an adult like to know what’s coming- I can assure you – little kids LOVE to know what’s coming! So if you want your life to run smoother with little kids,  let them know what is coming (for dinner or for the day.)  This is CRITICAL to having a smoother, happier  day!

How do you let little kids know what’s coming next?  In the teaching world, we use a strategy called VISUAL SCHEDULES. It’s more than just “telling” a child what is going to happen in the course of their day, it is actually “showing” them what is going to happen.

It works for typical kids, it works for special needs kids, it works for toddlers, and it works for teenagers. It is basically individual pictures of the daily events of the day. For example, if I am telling my preschooler about the day ahead, I could show them this:

Even a little kid who can’t read or say the words knows what the day  looks like:  “First you’ll go to school, then we’ll stop at McDonald’s for lunch. After lunch, we’ll go home and then you can play with the iPad” (aka the holy grail!)  If I showed the pictures to my child before school, then when he yells for the iPad right after school ends, the pictures remind him of the schedule for the day.  It gives him a schedule he can see and remember! And that helps him relax, reduces his anxiety, and helps him waits longer. I might find the pictures on the internet,  I might draw stick figures on a piece of paper and put clear tape over them to make them last longer. Either way you have a schedule that a child can see, and they can refer to it over and over again in the course of the day.

Why is this important?

1. Little kids (and big kids!) don’t always remember what you say.
2. Knowing and previewing the day ahead of time let’s kids anticipate what is coming next- so they can gear up for it. They are not surprised.
3. A visual schedule reduces anxiety (which can cause tantrums) and helps kids feel more secure. and calm.
4. The visual schedule shows them the order of their day in pictures. It helps them understand “first, then,  and finally.”   Time concepts are notoriously hard  for young learners.
5. Not every child has the language to understand what you say, but as they saying goes “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Just ask anyone who has been in a foreign airport and spies the picture symbol for the bathroom! Pictures level the playing field- because everyone can “read” a picture.
6. When the child asks the inevitable question- “Then what?” or “When can I play with the Pad?” you can refer them to the schedule. Over time it will cut down the questions because they can “see” the answer.
7. It reinforces early reading skills– left to right (for English!) 
8. They can be made for every part of your day, even the rough ones:  bedtime, dressing, or cleaning up their toys to make life easier!   Does this take a little time to make?  Yes!  But just a little!  

In 25 years of teaching preschoolers, I have never seen a strategy work so well for so many!  It results in happier kids, which means happier parents!  You may be only a few “pictures” away from some of the easiest days of your child’s life!

Karen  Wilkerson, The Mommy Mentor