Kate Halim
Going back to school can be stressful for the whole family. The long holidays provides the needed break for everyone, however, with the lack of structure, it can wreak havoc when it comes back to returning to school.
The holiday schedule and routine tends to be more relaxed and carefree with traveling, shopping and family vacations. The different change in environment from holiday to school can be a challenging transition.
If you are stressed about the upcoming school year, check out these 10 back-to-school tips for parents and children:
Be prepared when transitioning back to school. Start your children’s back to school shopping ahead. Purchase their school supplies early, so you are not stressed as the holiday wraps up. Avoid scheduling activities during the latter part of the holidays, you do not want to be scrambling to get things done.
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 one to two weeks 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.
Provide information to your children. Let them know what is new and what is changing. If they are attending a new school, research the school and tell them important things about the school. You need to schedule a visit to get both you and your child or children familiar with the new environment.
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, primary school or secondary school for the first time.
Talk to them 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.
As the new school approaches, it is important to end bad holiday 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.
Mothers can start slowly to change their children’s bad habits; create a more structured meal plan and start incorporating healthier snacks to keep in the house, while purging the bad ones.
When it comes to back to school, parents are also concerned about the safety of their children while they are at school. Remember to talk about safety as your children resume school.
Be vigilant and review the safety protocols that the school has in place, ask questions if you don’t understand. Tell your children not to leave with strangers and not to be afraid to report suspicious persons to the school authority.
Have a conversation with your child about school safety protocols. The most important thing is to teach your children to be present and have a fun and successful school year.