Ah, summer! The days are long, the kids love it, and stay-at-home parents have likely sprouted another gray hair or three. But what goes up must come down, and the same kiddos riding high through summer anarchy soon find themselves back in classrooms, activities, and a generally more structured environment.

However, even as visions of school buses dance in your head, returning to the routine itself can create new problems, especially in time management. How much of a child’s day should be scheduled? How much is too much? Where is that sweet spot between healthy exposure to new things and your seven-year-old breaking out in stress hives?

Every child is different; what fits one might be a trainwreck for another. One can use some general rules of thumb to help kids make the most of their time without overwhelming them, especially during those pesky hours between the end of school and the end of the average workday.

STRUCTURED VS. UNSTRUCTURED

Knowing the nature of your child is the first step toward deciding what sort of activities and environment will be best for their personality. Whether they are 6 or 16, some kids thrive when they are busy, while others are happiest when they have ample time to determine their course for the day. That said, providing kids with basic structure to their day is invaluable in developing healthy life skills, such as time management. However, there is also a strong correlation between unstructured free time and the development of self-directed executive functioning. Simply said, the more time kids spend without explicit directions, the better they are at developing ways to adapt, self-entertain, etc.

Toddlers should spend one hour a day in independent, unstructured play and at least half an hour in structured, adult-led play. These recommendations are based mainly on holistic goals such as imagination, creativity, and social awareness. As kids age, the times shift based on maturity and purpose. Kids from age six upwards are encouraged to have at least one hour of movement-oriented activity, ideally outdoors. So, what might that look like?

IS OPTIONAL AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMMING A GOOD IDEA?

First, let’s define afterschool programming as anything aside from regular team sports, lessons, club activities, etc. In the past several years, afterschool programs have received increased focus and study around their role in positive child development (see The Wallace Foundation and America After 3 pm for more information). Generally, afterschool programs run the gamut from babysitting to highly specialized enrichment programs and everything in between.

Kids involved in regular afterschool programming tend to fall into two categories: those that want to and those that need to. For those looking at afterschool programming as a form of childcare due to work schedules or other logistics, programs within the school or close by can often be the best choice. There can be a lot of variability between programs. For example, some offer a dedicated homework period with certified teachers on staff to tutor kids who need assistance. In contrast, others follow a more relaxed schedule with supervision for safety but little else in the way of structure.

STRIKING A BALANCE

The best way to approach how to help your child appropriate their time is to take what is non-negotiable and work backward from there. So, rather than require junior to be involved in activities “three afternoons a week,” a better approach would be to flip the issue on its head and see how much time is left after core responsibilities are met.

Here are some common factors you can consider when helping to decide how to manage your child’s downtime.

• Homework: Everyone’s favorite, I know. This ball of wax deserves its own article for the amount of debate it gets. The big takeaway is understanding the amount of homework your child may receive given their age. Ten minutes for each grade level is considered more or less standard. So, a seventh grader should count on 70 minutes of homework a night. While this can be viewed as a ballpark number, it should go without saying that kids may spend more or less on work, depending on the nature of the assignments and their abilities.
• Sleep: Children ages 6-18 should aim for 10–12 hours each night. Having said that, how many 16-year-olds do you know how to go to bed at 8 pm? There are recommendations, and then there’s reality. Again, you’re the best judge of your kid’s needs.
• Exercise: Regular exercise has always been a cornerstone of healthy development and arguably more important than ever. As referenced above, one hour a day is considered the standard.

That needn’t mean you make your child run hill sprints for 60 minutes straight. A 15-minute walk to school and a 30-minute gym class later, and voila! You’ve just done 45 minutes of exercise. If your child is resistant to exercise, the best advice is to find a way to make healthy habits not feel like a chore. Team sports are NOT for everyone, and healthy lifestyles are often integrated. There’s a reason many people join gyms and then never end up going: working out for working out’s sake is, well, horrible.

Finally, researchers from Villanova and Stanford University reached an interesting number in a recent, non-peer-reviewed study. After gathering data on the subject in 2007, they found that more than 20 hours spent in extracurricular activities led to increased stress and anxiety levels in most teenagers. This translates to four hours a day over the average school week. Which, frankly, most would consider being common sense.

When figuring out the best way to keep your children healthy and occupied, the best advice would likely be the same for any other endeavor—start small and build.

Originally from New England, Matt Desenberg is a writer living in Monterey.