I thought I would share a very "timely" article that I read in the Montgomery News earlier this summer. I hope you find some of the information helpful, and I look forward to seeing everyone at Sneak-a-Peek on Thursday.
The Back to School Reset:Three easy ways to ease your child out of summer fun and into the school routine
Published: Monday, July 25, 2011
By Kerry Luksic
Spring forward? Fall back? Each year, millions of families reset their household clocks to adapt to these seasonal time changes. With school starting in just a few weeks, wouldn't life be wonderful if there was a third clock to reset - the back to school clock? Yes, it seems that by the time August rolls around, most kids are quite comfortable enjoying the lazy days of summer, appreciating their later bedtimes, sleeping in, and leisurely mornings in pajamas. Then - Bam! It's back to school - and often times - a shock to your child's system and your family's daily household operations.
Since there's no magic "back-to-school-reset" button to transform kids from "flip-flop wearing, let's-play-all-day-night-owls" to "sneaker wearing, eager-to-learn-early-birds," here are three steps to ease your child out of the relaxed pace of summer days and into the typical hectic school morning routines: 1) Review the challenges 2) Revamp the Routine 3) Recharge their brains
Review the challenges. One of the biggest challenges of back to school is sleepiness -especially for middle school and high school students. With most high schools and middle schools in the Greater Philadelphia area starting before 8 a.m., the back-to-school wake up hour is physically taxing on kids.
Back to school anxiety is another challenge for kids. Children often have a lot of questions about what the new school year will be like - but don't have a lot of answers. For instance, by mid-August, they most likely know who their teacher is, but may feel uncertain about the new classroom routine, the anticipated homework, and the new mix of students in the classroom.
"Kids can feel anxiety about new teachers, new classes, and sometimes new schools. And anxiety can rear its head in some unbecoming ways," says Mary Anne Llorin, mother of three and a high school math teacher.
Katie Cloutman, a third grade teacher, has seen kids struggle with many back to school routines. "Kids are getting up early, maintaining attention, engagement in learning tasks, and adhering to a schedule that lasts for many hours - this is a lot to adapt to," says Cloutman.
Revamp the Routine. In recognizing these back to school challenges, parent should revamp their child's routine before the first day of school. Llorin proactively starts waking her kids up earlier the week before school and/or gets them to use their alarm clocks again - often putting the clocks on the other side of the room so that her kids have to get out of bed to shut them off.
"I ask my kids for their input as to what time to be woken up as we begin the transition to the 6:15 a.m. wake-up time. As the week progresses - the wake up time gets earlier. By the time school begins, they are getting up at 6:30 a.m. This helps a lot,” says Llorin.
Experts from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) have similar recommendations for school routines. It's known that kids can't perform well in school if they don't feel well. To help your child have the best chance of doing well in school, AAP suggests that parents establish the following back to school habits:
• Set a bedtime that will give your child plenty of sleep
• Give your child a healthy breakfast each morning
• Remind your child that he or she is not the only student who is feeling uneasy about the first day of school.
• Point out the positive aspects of starting school. Your child will see old friends and meet new ones. Refresh his or her positive memories about previous years.
Recharge their brains. Another critical part of transitioning kids back to school is to “recharge” their brains. As parents, it's easy to let kids enjoy the summer fun and to let daily reading and math activities slide. But it's important to jump-start these activities before the first day of school.
Cloutman suggests that parents revert back to the typical school year evening schedule the week before school starts.
“Parents should try to have some school/homework related activities to reactivate the “school brains,” possibly some math flashcard practice and/or reading together or alone, and then early to bed,” says Cloutman.
Kids are often excited to be back at school, but the jolt to their schedule can be quite exhausting. Therefore, if parents start adding some learning activities before the school year starts, it can only help their children.
“If this transition doesn't happen, children can find the back to school change very difficult and this change can manifest itself in negative behavior,” adds Cloutman.
So heads up, parents! Now is the time to start slowly reeling the kids in from summer fun and planting the reminder seeds that the school year is near. By taking the time now to create a transitional plan for your child - reviewing the challenges, revamping their routine, and recharging their brains, your child will have a head start in adapting to their new classroom and you can look forward to a smooth first week of school mornings.
: ) Mrs. May
