How to Get Kids Back into the School Routine

I’m sure many of you have already sent your children back to school after the holidays, but today was my son’s first day back to school. I have to say that I was pretty nervous when I picked him up. You know how routines go out-the-window when the holidays roll around and school is out. Well, we had no routine for those two weeks and it was very probable that my son would get in trouble today due our lack of routine.



Luckily, he had a great day and his first day back went just fine. That doesn’t necessarily mean we are “out of the woods” because it’s only the first day! I know that if I want his school days to go by without incident that it’s going to take work on my part. So, I did a little research looking for tips to help me get my son back into the school routine and thought I would share what I found with you.

• Plan out the week. The first thing you should do is sit down and plan out the first week back to school. Write down everything that has to be done (for each member of the family) then combine all the “to-dos” on a master calendar and go over it with the family. If you can have a plan in place when the kids go back to school…and they’re familiar with it, it will help the week go more smoothly. You just have to stick to the plan.
• Prepare wholesome meals. If your Christmas Break was like ours, you had several family holiday gatherings to attend, which meant lots of food…and lots of “grazing.” While this is fine during the holidays, it isn’t good when the kids go back to school. When school starts back up, so should the regular well-rounded meals. Your kids should be getting adequate portions of fruit, vegetables and meat (or some other form of protein) at meal times. If you can eat at the same time every night, that’s also good.
• Implement the “old” bed and bath schedule. Most of us with kids had a routine for when baths occurred and when the kids went to bed on school nights, before the holiday break. It’s time to get that back on track now that school is back in session. It’s important for kids to go to bed at roughly the same time every night to ensure they get enough rest before school the next day. Taking a bath or shower before bed (at the same time each night) helps the kids wind down and mentally prepares them for bed.
• Don’t do a lot outside the home for the first week. If you truly want to get your children back into the school routine after Christmas Break, don’t do a lot of extracurricular activities (unless required) outside of the home the first week back. Do everything you can to stay organized and on schedule. The first week will be rough, but if you can stay on schedule, the kids should be back into the school routine by the end of the week!