Are you nervous about trying to get your kids back on a schedule once summer ends? Have your children been living their best lives, sleeping in, eating when and what they want, enjoying the opportunity for more time on electronics or hanging out with friends? Is it a struggle every year to wrangle them back into a routine?
Maybe your child feels anxious about transitioning to a new school or grade level. They might have experienced social struggles during the past school year. Or, they find school to be just plain difficult.
Here are 6 tips to help get your kids back into a school routine:
- Transition sleep schedules gradually. Move bedtime back by 10-15 minutes every few days.
- If your family usually sits down for meals together during the school year but everyone eats on the fly during the summer, start implementing family meal time again now, at least on most evenings.
- When your kids have had unlimited access to electronics during the summer, begin the process of cutting back their screen time. Again, do this incrementally by 10-15 minutes every few days.
- Enlist your children as much as possible in preparing the night before. Laying out clothes, readying breakfast, making lunches, and packing backpacks in the evening can help mitigate last-minute scrambling and battling in the morning.
- Be realistic about how much time your child takes to get ready in the mornings. Most kids don’t bounce out of bed, ready to go. Plan accordingly when yours needs three alarms, or dawdles over breakfast.
- When your child has struggled with anxiety, depression, social issues, or academic difficulties in recent years, line up support services now rather than waiting to see if a problem develops. This way, you will know who your helpers are if they are needed. Connecting with a mental health professional, pediatrician, school guidance counselor, or tutor now may help you get a quicker appointment if needed once school is in session.
By making some changes now instead of waiting until the first day of school, your family might ‘fall’ into a smoother routine.