School Smart: Your Guide to Back-to-School Success

Back-to-school can be a fun and exciting time for kids and parents alike, but it can also cause a lot of anxiety and be overwhelming. As caregivers there are some things we can do to help our kids have success starts to their school years. Here are some tools to help make the school year a success!​

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Establish Routines:
Besides creating a morning routine, there are other routines that are necessary to establish during the school year. Some of these could include waking up, meals, homework, and bedtime. 

• Waking Up - How does your child prefer to wake up in the morning? Does she take medication? Finding a wake up routine that works for you and your child is key. Some kids may need to wake up gradually or be given time for their medication to take effect. For kids who like to shower in the morning, maybe consider starting the shower and having that be their cue to hop out of bed. Perhaps your child is at the age he can start waking up on his own - I recommend a simple alarm clock whose only purpose is to go off at a given time, so he can set and practice waking up to. 
  
  
• Meals - Having a predictable time for breakfast, snacks and dinner help provide a stable and safe environment. If they have snacks at school, these will be at a consistent time each day, and the kids can trust that it will happen. The same is true at home. Having a window of time in which you almost always eat breakfast and dinner gives structure and reduces anxiety.
  
  
• Homework - Most likely they will not come home from school the first day or two with homework but try starting out the school year with consistency in a homework routine. For younger students, it may be reading a certain number of minutes with an older sibling or parent or working on math facts. This is also a time that can provide accountability - if your kid was able to get his work done at school, he can show it all to you during this time. Giving this support is especially helpful for our kids who struggle with executive functioning skills.
  
  
• Bedtime - Having a set bedtime routine will begin to signal to your child’s body that it can begin to slow down and get ready to sleep. Some things to try would be avoiding screens an hour before bedtime, taking a bath or shower, reading alone or with a parent, or meditation.

Be Involved:

• ​Communicate with Teachers - Effective communication with your children’s teachers helps bridge the gap between school and home. You are able to talk about their progress and where they may need additional support. 
• Attend Events - Find opportunities to support your children by attending their Parent/Teacher Conferences, volunteering in their classrooms or on a field trip, going to concerts or graduations. All of these will build connections with your children and let them know that you support them academically.

Create a Study Space: 
For your child to be as successful as possible while she does her homework, create a space that is quiet, well-lit, and distraction-free. It could be a desk in your home office or at the kitchen table, where the supplies needed are available.

Promote Organization: 
The beginning of the school year is a great time to try new things. Keeping an update calendar is a great way to keep track of due dates, test dates, and activities. One family I know keeps a master calendar of everyone’s events by the garage door. A dry erase weekly calendar is on the fridge and is the most up-to-date. Each family member has their own marker color to easily distinguish between who has things going on on a given day. Depending on your children, they may need help organizing their backpack, school supplies or binder. Color coding different subjects, maybe based on what they used in the previous year, can help them remember to grab a certain color notebook/folder if they have math homework. Or maybe you help them set up a system of keeping incomplete homework on the right side of the folder. Whatever you choose to do, communicate with your children - what works best for you may not work best for them. 

Encourage Healthy Habits:
Our children’s bodies and minds thrive on being well rested, hydrated and fueled by a well-balanced diet. Find healthy snacks and meals that cover multiple food groups that will keep your child satiated. Have a water bottle readily available for your kid to use whenever he is home and encourage him to drink water when he’s thirsty. One healthy habit we can focus on early in the school year is setting screen time limits, such as a daily amount of time as well as when screen time ends. Finally, helping our children to get enough sleep each night will help them be well rested and ready to go in the morning. A quick Google search can help you figure out how many hours your children need each night. Establishing healthy habits in the areas of meals, snacks, hydration, screen time, and sleep are imperative to having successful academic years. 

I hope you feel empowered with practical ways to help your children have successful school years. I offer a webinar if you’d like more helpful information on making this school year successful for your child. Be sure to check it out on my website. If there’s something you’d like specific help with, please let me know - I’d love to support you!