Early Learning Project
May 2009How Do Family Mealtimes and Other Daily Routines Enhance a Child's Well-Being?Barbara Fiese
Online Resources
- A Review of 50 Years of Research on Naturally Occurring Family Routines and Rituals: Cause for Celebration?
This article notes that when there are predictable routines in the family, young children are healthier and their behavior is better regulated.
http://www.apa.org/journals/releases/fam164381.pdf - Understanding and Guiding How Your Child Eats
This guide suggests ways that parents can make family meals fun and pleasurable while promoting good eating habits.
http://www.ocd.pitt.edu/Files/PDF/Parenting/HowYourChildEats.pdf - Family Meals
This parent guide discusses how to plan, prepare, and share family meals. In addition to health and nutrition benefits, family meals provide a valuable opportunity to reconnect.
http://kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_center/healthy_eating/family_meals.html - Family Routines
This Web site points out that routines are how families organize themselves to get things done, spend time together, and have fun. It discusses different kinds of routines and why they are good for both children and parents.
http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/family_routines_how_and_why_they_work.html - Why Are Family Routines So Important to Children?
This American Academy of Pediatrics resource discusses ways to establish effective family routines.
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/family-life - Correlates of Family Routines in Head Start Families
This study suggests that establishing family routines could contribute to mothers’ overall well-being, but that establishing routines as an intervention in Head Start may have limited potential.
http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v6n1/churchill.html - Family Routines and Rituals: A Context for Development in the Lives of Young Children
This article notes that naturally occurring family routines and meaningful rituals provide both a predictable structure that guides behavior and an emotional climate that supports early development. The authors suggest that variations in the practice of family routines and the meaning connected to family rituals are associated with variations in young children’s socioemotional, language, academic, and social skill development.
http://depts.washington.edu/isei/iyc/20.4_spagnola.pdf
Illinois Early Learning Resources
- The Gift of Words: Conversation and Routines
This Tip Sheet points out that knowing many words and understanding them are important in developing thinking skills and in getting young children ready to read. The Tip Sheet suggests ways that busy parents can help their children learn new words.
http://illinoisearlylearning.org/tipsheets/gift-conversation.htm - Making the Holidays Memorable and Meaningful
This Tip Sheet notes that whether your family celebrates Hanukkah, Christmas, or Kwanzaa, the holidays can be stressful. By focusing on family rituals and traditions, parents can make the holidays meaningful for young children.
http://illinoisearlylearning.org/tipsheets/holidays.htm
Additional Resources
- Family Routines and Rituals
Author(s): Fiese, Barbara H.
Availability: Yale University Press. P.O. Box 209040, New Haven, CT, 06520-9040
Publication Date: 2006
In this book, Barbara H. Fiese examines how the practices of diverse family routines and the meanings created through rituals have evolved to meet the demands of today’s busy families. She discusses and integrates various research literatures and draws on her own studies to show how family routines and rituals influence physical and mental health, translate cultural values, and may even be used therapeutically. - Routines and Rituals in the Lives of Infants, Toddlers, and Families
Source: Zero to Three, v22 n 4
Publication Date: 2002
This issue of Zero to Three explores the role of familiar routines and rituals in the development of infants and toddlers. It includes reports of research that document what occurs between young children and adults during caregiving routines, the meaning parents give to family routines and rituals, and the links between routines and children’s developmental outcomes. - Sustaining Resilient Families for Children in Primary Grades
Author(s): Patterson, Janice; Kirkland, Lynn
Source: Childhood Education, v84 n1 p2
Publication Date: 2007
In this article, the authors present guidelines for creating and sustaining resilient families. They suggest promoting the value of family time, authoritative parenting, routines, and the importance of social support. - Attention to Language: Lessons Learned at the Dinner Table
Author(s): Ely, Richard; Gleason, Jean Berko; MacGibbon, Ann; Zaretsky, Elena
Source: Social Development, v10 n3 p355-73 2001
Publication Date: 2001
The authors studied the dinner table conversations of 22 families with young children. They analyzed utterances for language-focused terms and reported that metalinguistic uses exceeded pragmatic uses. They found that during routine social interactions, parents provide children with potentially important information about the communicative functions of language.
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Illinois State Board of Education
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