Routines and Rituals

Routines and Rituals

by Kyle D. Pruett, M.D

Ah, routines and rituals…such comforts against the one universal truth that life is nothing but change. Our children seem to get this sooner than we parents. When they struggle as infants to get the day and night thing down, they are teaching us how important and soothing the predictable is when tired, hungry, cranky and the like. As toddlers, we watch in amazement as they doggedly line up their shoes, trucks or dolls in the face of a little uncertainty and in search of the reassuring symmetry of order. These are not simple entertainments, but powerful and effective coping strategies that, if we are lucky, they never quite give up. Some of the uses of the psychological calendar of anticipation and predictability:

• By 18 months:  Children know the routines of everyday life and are very reassured by them: dressing, mealtimes, play, school, bath time, and finally bedtime with a story and a kiss. These are an antidote to the uncertainties of this period of rapid growth.
• By 24 to 26 months:  Children have a reliable sense of the week’s rhythms, and appreciate the difference between a weekday and a weekend.
• By 42 months:  Children begin to anticipate the predictable patterns of the year and its changing seasons, family gatherings, holidays, and birthdays. All the while they are soaking up the beginnings of culture and ethnic diversity in such vital rituals.

Routines and rituals are especially important (and sometimes hardest) to maintain when a child is ill, or the family is going through a stressful time. Routines around food, clothing, bathing, going to school and sleep can be soothing precisely because they don’t vary in the face of change. The ultimate routine or ritual is mealtime. Children learn about what matters in life in a regular, predictable, culture-rich and (one hopes) nutritious environment. Plan it and protect it.

Ultimately, they (and we) give up most of these early comforts, going the way of the blankie and binkie. The next generation of routine and ritual comforts owe their efficacy to these early and more primitive coping strategies. So honor and promote them while you may. They disappear all too soon.

The Goddard School located in Snellville, GA offers a year-round program for children from six weeks to six-years-old. Children are encouraged to develop at their own pace in a warm environment supported by a team of dedicated teachers. The Goddard School FLEX Learning Program™ is based on a unique learning continuum that encompasses developmental guidelines, formative assessments and child-focused lesson plans that are delivered in a creative and fun environment with a child-centered approach to meet each child's individual needs.

Kyle D. Pruett, M.D., is an advisor for The Goddard School®. Dr. Pruett is an authority on child development who has been practicing child and family psychiatry for over twenty-five years. He is a clinical professor of child psychiatry at Yale University's Child Study Center.The Goddard School has become the first preschool program to join P21—a national organization championing 21st century skills. Through the fusion of reading, writing & arithmetic with the 4Cs—critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity—Goddard School graduates are well equipped and ready to succeed in school and in life.Visiting our School is a great way to see our programs in action, introduce you to our teachers and answer your questions.

For more information on why The Goddard School located in Snellville, GA is the place for fun and learning, please contact The Goddard School Snellville!

The Goddard School Snellville

1565 Janmar Rd. Snellville, GA 30078

(678) 344- 0042