It is time to send our little summer animals back to a life of learning and structure. But the switch can be much more difficult than our routine based adult brains can comprehend. So in order to start the school year off on the right foot- try these back to school tips.
Anxiety.
Going back to school can have a mixture of emotions. Not surprisingly anxiety can be one of these for both you and your student. Address anxieties head on. By having open and honest conversations about anxiety, you can create real plans for success in coping and understanding of self. As the parent, it is okay to have anxiety about your student going back to school. Again, be honest and mask it or pretend it doesn’t exist. This just teaches our kids it is not okay to voice these emotions.
Schedule.
Summer can get a little out of hand with bedtimes and routine. Start bringing routine back before school starts so that you have room for ‘the learning curve’. If you reintroduce the routine right as they are starting school it can become overwhelming. This creates unneeded stresses and success is less likely. It is just as important for you as the parent to get back into the routine, as it is for your kids. It will help in everyone feeling prepared for the new school year.
Meals.
Meals and snacks are often very different over the summer. Most the time kids will just eat snacks when they want and meals vary depending on what activity is happening. This can be difficult because school lunch and/or snack may be at very different times. Your student may feel that they are not hungry and not eat or that they are starving when lunch finally comes around. Find out when lunch roughly is and start having that time be lunch at your home.
Bonding Time.
Change can charge insecurities in relationships. With all the change coming up for your student, it is important that you establish the security of your relationship with them. Make sure they know that you are a support and that they are important to you. As a parent, you can create this by having one on one time with each one of your children. School preparation such as school clothes shopping can be helpful to do one on one so that they can feel like a team with you. Plus, it can be an opportunity to voice concern or fears.
Preparation Time.
Your children should be part of the school preparation time and have opinions. If they want to use folders instead of a binder for example, they should be able to make decisions about how their school year is set up. This helps with having them be responsible for their school year and that they have some control of their upcoming life.
Goals.
Finally, both parents and students need to set goals for the school year. This can be insightful to what our kids feel is important and what drives them. These goals should have rough time frames and steps for succeeding with the goal. Goals should be reassessed throughout the year to see if they are on track or if the goal has changed altogether. These goals can include amount of missed school days, skill development, reading/math level, or even social/communication. The key is making sure that everyone is seen as a team trying to help each other with the individual goals.
Think positive.
No matter how rough past school years have been, try to think positive. Having a positive mindset is important to the confidence of your student and general success throughout the year.
My Challenge to you: Go through this list and add any additional concepts to it in order to set up the year right. Address concerns and anxieties that come up throughout the process with clear and supportive communication. But most important is staying positive about your amazing school year to come.
Happy back to school friends!
– Jessie the Therapist
Photo by:kyo azuma
