Being school-ready
When the summer holidays start to wind-down, it’s time to start preparing for the new school year ahead. By preparing a few weeks in advance for the return to school, it will help the new school year countdown become a little easier.
• Familiarise yourself and your child with a routine
Summer holidays may have wreaked havoc on your existing school routines, especially maintaining a certain time to go to bed, have breakfast and get dressed. Make sure to familiarise yourself and child with a routine a few weeks before the school bell tolls.
Make sure to practice the routine of getting up early in the morning and getting dressed at the time you would when getting ready for school. Encourage your child to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at the times they would when at school – making sure that your child associates certain actions with certain times will help make the transition easier, especially if your child has been lounging in bed until 10am!
Remember to also include a bed-time schedule for your child which allows them to get an adequate amount of sleep. Children should be getting around 10 hours of sleep a night and this is especially important when attending school! Set a time which your child should aim to be in bed by and work your night time routine around this.
• Make a plan for when school starts
A couple of weeks before school starts, sit down with your child and make a school plan. Create a chart indicating what needs to be done before school (e.g. brush teeth, get dressed, eat breakfast) and what your child’s plans are after school (e.g. play, homework, clubs and classes). This will familiarise your child with their school plans and as they have discussed this with you and given input, it will create a sense of independence and encourage them to want to stick to their own special routine.
• Organise
Make sure that any specific pieces of school equipment have been purchased a few weeks before school starts. This may include stationary, school bags, school shoes, uniform, lunchboxes and any other pieces of equipment which the school has requested your child brings to school. Create a checklist of all the things which will be needed for the new school year well in advance and tick off as you buy. Designate an area in your child’s wardrobe for school clothing, a special place in the porch for their school shoes and an area for their bags. This will help to curb the infamous school-run scramble! Also, don’t forget those name tags!
• Ask your child how they feel
Make sure to ask your child how they feel before going back to school. If they are feeling anxious and nervous, make sure to calm them and reassure them that if there are any problems, you are there to support them. A good idea is to let your child see their friends before school starts. The sense of community will help your child adjust back into a school setting and be more comfortable around those he/she is familiar with.
Children often struggle with the back-to-school transition and a few little changes to existing routines may help to curb this. Most importantly, make sure your child is happy and content with their routine and going back to school. Make them aware that you are going to be thinking of them throughout the day and always be supportive.