The first hour home

The sheet

Planned with your child at the weekend: what they’d like to eat when they get in, where they go, what helps after a long day, and what waits until the hour is over.

For the fridge · A4 · One page · PDF, 46 KB

How it helps

Many children hold themselves together all day at school and fall apart when they get home. An hour that is theirs, with food, somewhere to be and no questions about their day, gives them time to recover, and makes the rest of the evening easier for everyone.

How to use it

1. At the weekend, sit down together and fill it in: what your child would like to eat when they get in, where they like to be, and what helps after a long day. If they have a medical condition that affects what or when they eat, the snack follows their care plan.
2. Tick what waits until the hour is over, such as questions about their day and homework, and agree how the hour ends.
3. When your child gets in, say hello and very little else, and hand them the food. If they want to tell you something, listen.
4. Keep the hour on the days they seem fine too, and give them a warning before it ends.

How to get this sheet

This sheet comes with a subscription. It is also yours with its chapter, if that is the chapter you read free, or if a teacher or therapist sends it to you. School staff and therapists signed in to their shelf can print it too.

The first chapter you open here is free to read in full, with its sheets. This one goes with Neurodiversity, and the Conversation with the School and What to Do When School Is the Problem.

Free to print

These are free to anyone, with nothing to sign up for.

• A plan for a bad dayTo fill in together · A4
• Before you ring the schoolFor a call or a meeting · A4
• What to say: school and friendsCards to cut out · A4, eight cards to cut
• Before the SENCo meetingFor a meeting · A4
• Three reports, side by sideFor a meeting · A4 landscape
• The return-to-school meetingFor a meeting · A4
• The move to secondary school, for a parents’ eveningFor a parents’ evening · A4, five pages
• The last half-hour before bedFor the fridge · A4
• The worry ladderTo fill in together · A4
• Before you see the GP about your childFor an appointment · A4, two sides
• A record of what happenedFor a call or a meeting · A4, two pages
• The people I can tellTo make together · A4, two pages

Every sheet, marked free or with a subscription, is at theparentbook.com/printables.