Going back to school can be stressful for the whole family. Summer provides a needed break for everyone, however, with the lack of structure, it can wreak havoc when it comes back to returning to school.
The summer schedule and routine tends to be more relaxed and carefree with traveling, camps, and family vacations. The different change in environment from summer to school can be a challenging transition.
Here are 10 ways to prepare your kids and yourself for the transition from summer to back-to-school.
10 Back-to-School Tips for Parents and Kids
1. Be Prepared When Transitioning Back-to-School
Start your back to school shopping ahead. Purchased your school supplies early, so you are not stressed as the summer wraps up.
Avoid scheduling camps and activities during the latter part of the summer, you do not want to be scrambling to get things done.
2. Schedule Your Days
It will be quite challenging to go from going to sleep late and waking up mid-day, to suddenly shifting into school mood.
Implement a schedule a 1-2weeks before school starts to get your children back into the habit of going to sleep at a designated time and waking up earlier. The goal is to help them readjust their evening and morning routine.
3. Provide Information to Your Child
Let your child know what is new and what is changing. If you are attending a new school, research the school.
You may want to schedule a summer visit to get both you and your child familiar with the new environment.
4. Open Communication with Your Child
To help ease the anxiety of the unknown have a family meeting about how the new school year is going to look like. You may have children entering kindergarten, middle school or high school for the first time.
Talk to your kids about when the school day will start and end, and the expectations for them for the first week. Allow your children an opportunity to voice their concerns about school.
5. Do Not Panic About School Starting
You may feel overwhelmed about school starting, do not panic. Be optimistic about the upcoming change. Remember, the first week of school is always an adjustment period for everyone.
During the first week, both the school and home environment will require some tweaking and modifications. So, if you feel some anxiety about it, remember you have an additional week after school starts.
6. End Lousy Summer Habits
It is easy to get into bad habits and hard to break out of them. Patterns such as staying up late, to unhealthy eating can be complicated to break.
Start slowly, create a more structured meal plan and start incorporating healthier snacks to keep in the house, while purging the bad ones.
7. Complete Summer Homework
Wrap up with the summer reading list and add an additional book or learning activity to that list.
Encourage your child to complete the reading list, so you’re not stressing the upcoming fall. Get their brain in the routine of acquiring information again.
8. Screen Time
Decrease your screen time slowly before school starts, also have a conversation about how the rules are different, and they may not even have an allotted time for screens during the school week.
9. Do Not Overcommit
Each year, offer the opportunity for children to learn from the previous mistake.
If your child was struggling to complete home and extracurricular activity last year, do not commit them to more activities. Give children time to adjust to the new school term, before adding on additional tasks.
10. Remember to Talk About Safety
When it comes to back to school, parents are also concern about the safety of their children while they are at school. Be vigilant and review the safety protocols that the school has in place, ask questions if you don’t understand.
Have a conversation with your child about school safety protocols. Remember to remain calm when you are having this conversation.
The most important thing is to remember to be present and have a fun and successful school year.
