The start of the school year is a big transition for children and offers an exciting gateway to all of the learning and growth that will occur in the coming year. From Kindergarten to Grade 5, building community routines is a crucial part of starting the year in the Lower School. Routines offer students a sense of stability, belonging, and group responsibility. When students know what to expect, they are better prepared to take risks, make connections, and dive into curriculum content. As a result, they feel more comfortable, confident, and independent over the course of their day when routines are in place.
Routines in the Lower School are intentionally simple and predictable. For example, in Kindergarten, when students enter the classroom, they hang up their tote bag, read the morning message, and head out to the playground. Grade 3 students hand in homework, read the morning letter, and follow its directions for morning work. There are routines for snack time, handwriting, math, transitions, special subject classes, partner work, and walking in the hallways, to name a few.
Strong classroom routines also reduce the cognitive load required for students to engage in executive functioning tasks and provide clearly-defined expectations to help students understand what to do across the school day. In addition, transition-related routines offer smoother shifts between activities, which reduces disruptions and can provide a natural flow of order and calmness throughout the day.
Students learn routines from interactive teacher modeling, direct instruction, and lots of practice. Once routines become habitual, it opens more space for interpersonal connection and deep learning that is a hallmark of St. Patrick’s.
It can also be helpful for families to mimic this practice at home with times such as getting ready in the morning, meals, or bedtime. Asking your child what they think needs to be done to prepare for a certain part of the day can help with buy-in, and we encourage families trying to shift routines to stick with the new routines for at least two weeks to see the benefits of this practice!