Parents are key to ensuring the success of our children. The quicker parents realize they need to establish a plan for such success that includes routines, the quicker children can develop a healthy foundation for their future. Research has found that routines are a major component of children’s lifelong success. Daily routines provide children with a safe, secure, and structured environment that can help them grow into well-rounded and confident adults.
Establishing routines early in a child’s life can lead to the following benefits:
1. Routines set a positive tone for children’s lives by helping them develop good habits early in life. As a result, children feel safe and secure in their home environment. Routines are also a significant factor in establishing a strong foundation for children.
2. Routines help children establish expectations. They will grow to expect to do a certain task daily, which is a good way for parents to get children to do chores or homework because they are expected to complete the daily task. As children become accustomed to the task, it becomes less of a problem and more of an expectation.
3. Routines give children confidence and independence by allowing them to complete tasks on their own. After successfully completing these tasks several times, they gain confidence and independence.
4. Routines establish healthy, constructive habits. Parents have the opportunity to direct children to a healthy way of life by establishing healthy and constructive routines. Parents can require routines that ensure the task will be beneficial for the success of their children in the future. Routines can be as easy as brushing their teeth at a certain time or doing homework at a certain time each day. The key is that parents set the tone with constructive routines that can be beneficial for their children for the long haul.
5. Routines develop structure for children. Parents can successfully provide structure for their children by incorporating routines in the morning and evening, before and after school, and on weekends. Children with structure at home are generally more successful in school and life. Children who develop structure in their lives develop self-discipline and know how to follow rules. This is very important for their future success.
Children’s routines can include completing chores around the house, which will help children and teenagers develop a sense of responsibility while mastering some fundamental skills that will be useful in life. As they grow older, the chores may change so the children’s development will continue. The earlier in life parents start assigning chores, the more quickly they will become accustomed to being a part of the success of the home. This allows parents to contribute to the maturity of their children.
Parents should also make sure they develop routines that relate to children being successful in school, which could include reading to them every night, doing homework at a certain time each day, regularly taking children to the library, and/or scheduling a limited amount of television time for children. Routines are critical for developing children’s strong foundation and ensuring success in the educational arena. Successful teachers always utilize routines in their classrooms, and parents are their children’s first teachers.