It’s back to school time and the inevitable problems need to be addressed. How can you
get back on that early to bed, early to rise schedule? How can you best communicate with
teachers? How will you encourage your kids to work hard and do their best while at
school and also with their nightly homework?
Here are some tips for making that back to school transition as smooth as possible.
1) Anticipate the schedule change and move bedtimes earlier by increments over
several weeks before the beginning day of school. Going to bed fifteen minutes
earlier isn’t a big deal and it will help avoid that drastic change from the relaxed
summer schedule to the rigid, up and at’em schedule of fall.
2) It’s also a good idea to incorporate some morning chores into the new routine so
that the first school morning won’t be such a shock. If they’re up at 7:00 a.m. and
have eaten breakfast, put dishes in the dishwasher, dressed and gathered up their
school supplies and lunches by 8:00 a.m. they’ll be organized and ready for their
new day.
3) Make back to school shopping fun and reasonable. The supply lists may be long
and costly so do your best to get a head start on that. But for school clothes you
may want to shop sales for a few new outfits and then wait until after school
begins to buy any other necessary clothing items. You’ll avoid the rush of other
back to school shoppers and you may get better bargains afterward. Another tip is
to take careful stock of each child’s existing wardrobe and see where to fill in.
You may be able to minimize the items purchased by adding some classic colors
and styles to what is already in the closet.
4) Take advantage of any back to school or meet the teacher open houses at the
schools. Most of kids’ worries and concerns about school revolve around
unknowns such as the location of bathrooms and classrooms, the identity of their
new teacher, and the friends who may be in their class. A thirty minute visit to
school before the opening day will do a lot to dispel such worries.
5) Make discussion about the upcoming school year positive. This is not the time to
relate unhappy stories about your own school experiences. It’s a time to
encourage, speak about your confidence in each student’s abilities, build
enthusiasm for school and after-school activities and let your student know how
much you trust them to succeed. If children have stayed active in academics over
the summer, all the better. If not, get back into the reading routine before school
starts.
6) Re-establish homework expectations each evening. Be sure there is a time and
place for doing homework and protect that time.You may need to have a family
meeting to set new expectations for screen time, sports and other activities that
compete with homework time. A weekly schedule of family events posted on the
wall is a big help to some families.
7) Look for signs your child is concerned about returning to school. If sleep habits
or eating habits change, of if your child voices worries about school, take the time
to talk about them. Some children fear bullying behavior on buses or on
playgrounds. Be sure to assure them that both you and school staff members will
protect them.
No matter how old your children are, there are bound to be some jitters when the first day
of school rolls around. Let the day be an exciting one, but not a scary or negative
experience. Remind your children that teachers are a little nervous on the first day of
school as well. How can they be an encouragement to others on that first day? The first
day of school is like a nice, clean sheet of paper. Do all you can to be sure the writing
done on day one spells out the beginning of a wonderful year.
