Kids and School

Kids and School

It’s the middle of August, which means that most of us have already sent our kids back to school. If you haven’t, then it’s not too far off. It doesn’t matter whether you’re sending your kids to school for the first time (pre-K or Kindergarten) or if they’ve been in school for a while now…there is always an adjustment period for kids when school starts. As parents, it’s our job to help make this adjustment time easier for the kids. Below are some tips for how you can help your kids adjust to school.

• Talk about changes. Have a family meeting where you and your spouse are able to sit down with the kids and talk about the changes that will happen as a result of school starting back up. For example, my son is going to pre-K this year. One of the changes that we’ve discussed with him is his new bed time (8 pm). Children will adjust better to school and all of the changes that go with it, if they are given a “heads up” about the changes that are about to occur. As resilient as kids are, they don’t usually handle instant changes that well…so take the time to talk to them!
• Get into a routine fast. As mentioned above, kids don’t handle instant changes well. Therefore, it’s important that you get your kids into a routine as quickly as possible when school starts. For example, have a designated time for doing homework, taking showers, eating dinner and going to bed. If school hasn’t started for your kiddos yet, you may want to go ahead and start the new “school” routine now, before it starts. If it’s already started back up for the year, don’t hesitate to get a routine going.
• Give them something to look forward to. This one is mainly for those of you with young children. As I mentioned, my son is in pre-K. The first day of school was pretty scary for him because it was a new school, there were people he didn’t know and I was leaving him all day. So, I had to give him something to look forward to in order to help him make it through the day. I promised to take him to his favorite fruit and yogurt bar if he had fun and kept a good attitude at school that day. That got him through the day and he was all smiles when I picked him up on the first day. When sending young children off to school for the first time, it often helps to give them something to look forward to because it helps make the school day go by faster and it also reassures them that you’ll be coming back for them at the end of the day.