Your kids have been out of the classroom environment for what feels like forever, especially with the homeschooling that went on during the pandemic. But now summer is almost over and school is just around the corner. If you’re planning on sending your kids back to school it might be time to start subtly getting them back into the swing of things. Look no more, here is the answer to “how to get your kids ready for back to school”!
How do I prepare my kids for back to school?
1| Bring them back to school routine
Going back to a routine is challenging for both children and parents. It helps easing getting your children ready for back to school. Before starting school, set a similar routine for your children so they would get used to it. This will make waking up early, getting dressed, preparing lunches, and everything else much easier. Talk to them about after school activities and how they should be aligned with doing their homework. This will ensure they start school off on the right foot and maintain and enhance their school performance.
Check out How to Get Back into a Routine After the Summer Break for more tips.
2| Early Mornings
I think the first thing parents have trouble dealing with is the early wake up call.
Your children may have been allowed to sleep in over the summer, but now that school is starting, it’s time to start their days early!
Don’t wait till the day of school to get your kids up in the morning. Chances are they’ll be tired from having slept late the night before. Instead, get them into the habit of waking up early a week before school starts. This way you’ll have their sleeping schedule back on track in no time!
3| Homework
Yes it’s technically still summer, and maybe not really fair to assign your kids homework BUT it’s not going to be a smooth transition from all-day play to sudden school work! There are a ton of educational games, books and toys you can use to ease your child back into academics! It’ll also get them excited to go back to learning about the things they love and helps getting them ready for back to school!
Here are some products that might do just the trick!
4| Exercise!
If your child has spent the past few weeks lounging around watching NETFLIX, then it’s definitely time for some outdoor family fun! It’s good to them moving, they’ll have a lot more energy and exercise has been shown to affect academic performance positively so win win!
5| Time Management
Start re-programming your child’s afternoon activities. Instead of coming back home from school and throwing a tantrum over wanting to play, they will already know what is expected of them. They can’t be spending their days leading up to school watching their favorite movies all evening!
6| Joint-Shopping Trip
Shopping for school supplies is sure to build up the excitement for back to school! Have your child pick their favorite back-pack color or lunchbox design, and even the supplies they think they might need! Your little scholar won’t be able to wait to use everything they’ve ordered!
7| Use everything you can to enhance their school performance
After almost two years of virtual learning, children might be bored or resistant to go back to school. They have been surrounded by many electronic gadgets that encouraged them to learn and engage with school. With face to face learning, they might be less encouraged. Your children might even be counting hours till school ends so they would go back home and play video games and use their electronics.
We recommend using their favorite things, be it toys or video games, as a reinforcement tool to enhance their school performance. Let them earn their screen time by finishing their school work and other chores. This reward and punishment system works very well and keeps children on track and makes even more ready for back to school.
Read more on How to Use Video Games to Enhance School Performance?
8| Prepare their lunch meals
It’s been going around that not all schools will have the cafeterias ready to serve food for children due to Covid-19. That will fall upon parents to take care of in order to ensure their children’s safety. Here is what you should do: buy them special lunchboxes, whether personalized or with their favorite characters on it. And make them special lunches every day. To make things easy for you, plan their week lunches and go grocery shopping for everything you need. Keep in mind health prepacked snacks too to make things more easy.
9| Reach out to your children and always talk to them
There are many reasons why children refuse to go back to school. Be it boredom, disinterest, or even more serious issues like anxiety or bullying. Such issues may not appear when school starts, that is why it is very important to always talk to your children and ask them if they are facing any kind of trouble. Also, always keeping in touch with their school and teachers help you understand issues more and thus solving them soon and well.
Check out 5 Steps to Prepare for Back to School
