How to Get Kids Back to School Before Summer Ends
Lazy summer days are coming to an end, which means it’s time to start preparing your child for more scientific thinking. Here are some tips on how to get them out of lazy mode and make the transition easier for both of you.
It’s much less difficult to get back to school if we do it gradually, instead of suddenly realizing, “Oh shit, school tomorrow , lunch bag is nowhere to be found, and your child has not completed any of the three summer book reports. that were supposed to take place. day one. ”Even if you are anxious to finally get the kids out of the house and get on the school bus , a little preparation a week or two before school starts to get your family back on track.
Start setting up sleep schedule
My biggest concern is sleep in connection with this change. Throughout the summer, my daughter and I woke up without anxiety, because all summer the schedule was mostly open. If we extended this until the first day of school, my self-proclaimed owl daughter would either be five hours late for school (no alarm) or lose sleep for five hours (dragged out of bed and carried to school).
The simplest thing is to force your children – and yourself, if necessary – to go to bed and get up a little earlier each day. WebMD recommends gradually increasing your sleep and wake time in half hour increments:
So, at least a week before your summer break ends, start setting your alarms.
Start by waking up about an hour earlier than usual. For example, if your 6-year-old goes to bed at 9 p.m. during the summer and needs to be back by 8 p.m. before bed for school, start by waking her up at 7 a.m. instead of keeping her awake until 8. Then try rescheduling her bedtime the next night at 8:30 pm. On the second day, wake her up at 6:30 am and try to go to bed at 8 pm.
I use a short break before school to help with this. Waking up earlier is easier when there is something fun to wait for or to achieve (The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, here we are!), But you can use the fun activities at the end of your summer vacation in the same way. Plus, we hope they’ll get tired of the exercise and naturally fall asleep earlier.
Know how many hours your child needs to sleep and try to address any sleep issues so that the new school year starts as smoothly as possible.
There are other ways to get into the routine of getting ready for school , such as using checklists , family scheduling apps , or strictly following the school routine before starting school. But at the end of summer, I prefer a little relaxation in a new routine and I think that if you start sleeping, you will already be ahead of everyone else.
Tidy up school supplies and study area
Despite the fact that last year we spent about $ 60 on school supplies (not counting clothes and other similar accessories), for some reason we do not have a single pencil in our house. My child will have to use broken study crayons if we don’t start shopping. One good thing about school supplies shopping, though, is that you can take your kids with you (or ask them to shop online with you) and use that as a reminder that school is coming – and maybe even get them interested. Who doesn’t like sharpened pencil bouquets? Even choosing a new backpack (if needed) can be exciting.
If you don’t have a homework space yet or is occupied with toys, now is a good time to organize and personalize this space with your child. Hang up a bulletin board with a school calendar and space for other reminders, trays on your desk or folders to store your design work, and of course pencils and other writing utensils.
Organizational expert Elizabeth Mayhew at Today.com offers some tips to help your child get organized:
First, define your child’s organizational style. Like adults, most people fall into two categories: stackers (people who like to stack things) or fillers (people who like to keep things out of sight). Let your child make some decisions about how he or she wants to organize his or her things, and make sure you understand that your child may be differently arranged than you; what works for him or her may not work for you.
Also, don’t be too harsh. You may find that when they go to school, they need to change their systems. The goal is to empower them so they are more likely to keep order.
Peelers may prefer filing boxes or trays, while kid-friendly file folders should appeal to placeholders. Mayhew also recommends helping your child make a list of things to take to school every day of the week (such as books or soccer equipment) to check when they pack their backpacks in the morning. Keep these running lists in a prominent place in their work area.
Finally, let’s talk about clothes. The average school budget for clothing and footwear is over $ 350 . August is a great time to shop for baby clothes thanks to sales, but besides picking out outfits for the first week and checking out the right shoes, I prefer to spread out my clothing purchases throughout the year. If you and your kids enjoy shopping, new school clothes can also help set the tone. Whether you decide to buy new school clothes or not, now is the perfect time to clean up your toilet.
Work on home projects for the rest of the summer
Even if your child has been reading all summer or doing other educational activities (like math camp), make sure he or she doesn’t stop there in the past few days.
Many schools have reading lists and book reports that must be turned in on the first day of school. Working on them by the end of the summer can help them transition to school mode. If your school does not require it or reports have already been written, search your local library and other resources (such as Education.com , DIY.org, or Edutopia.org ) for projects you can do on a daily basis to reinforce this learning mode. While you don’t have to assign summer homework and kill the last few days of joy, there are plenty of fun ways to make kids learn more productively, even if it’s just fun video games.
One project I am working on with my daughter is organizing and analyzing her work in previous school years with a School Memory Bank like the one below from IHeartOrganizing . First, it helps clean up the clutter at school from last year that still exists, but more importantly, I think it helps her remember what she learned last year and maybe look forward to the next year. of the year.
Get ready to pack lunch again
One of the nicest things about the open timetable in the summer is that you don’t have to collect lunch bags. Well, back to making the snack bags, loading the juice boxes, and the rest of chopping up the lunch bag.
In the summer, I tried to get my daughter to cook her own meals, or at least help with them. For a long time, I also wanted her to help us put together a meal plan . Since starting school seems like a fresh start, this may be the best time to start: a) ask your child to cook dinner the night before (with or without you) and b) also help plan the weekly menu. Even the smallest children can help with packing a healthy lunch box . You also don’t have to stick with PB&J alone .
For all of the above, older children should have more independence and responsibility. Give them funds for school supplies and clothing so they can make their own budget, ask them to think about the extracurricular activities they are going to join, and talk to them about what they are looking forward to for the new school year and what their specific goals are. on him.
The most important thing is that the children – and you yourself – think and look forward to the new routine and school year, and not our natural tendency: to live in denial that summer is ending and it’s time to return to school.