8 steps to prepare for back to school

Prepare beforehand to get children excited to return to school.

Returning to school can be difficult and stressful for both parents and children! But it doesn’t have to be with a little preparation, organization and encouragement.

1. Start keeping your school schedule. Go to bed on time. Get up on time. Limit technology and especially video game time.
2. Plan for the first day. What will you need? What school supplies still need to be purchased? Are all of the supplies ready in one place? Do you have a special school outfit?
3. Set up your portable homework station.
4. Always speak positively about returning to school -highlighting all of the wonderful experiences from prior years.
5. Attend back to school night or registration events. This will give your child the opportunity to get into the school and become familiar (or re-familiarize them) to the learning environment.
6. Put the school schedule together and post it in a family place for easy accessibility. Things to consider: Do you have after school events? Clubs? Sports? Family events? Is homework time worked into your schedule?
7. Ensure you have both before and after school child-care arranged, if needed.
8. With younger children, encourage school role playing. Pull out old worksheets or workbooks and let your child work through them with no corrections or pressure. Let them teach someone else something they enjoy. Let them enjoy the role of teacher as well as student.

By Tracy Harrington-Atkinson

Tracy Harrington-Atkinson, mother of six, lives in the Midwest with her husband. She is a teacher, having taught elementary school to higher education, holding degrees in elementary education, a master’s in higher education and continued on to a PhD in curriculum design. She has published several titles, including Calais: The Annals of the Hidden, Lemosa: The Annals of the Hidden, Book Two, Rachel’s 8 and Securing Your Tent. She is currently working on a non-fiction text exploring the attributes of self-directed learners: The Five Characteristics of Self-directed Learners.