FOR kids, going from a lazy holiday where the only thing they have to do is scratch a mosquito bite, having to rise with the sun, look remotely human, and pay attention all day can be a major shock. But there are ways you can make the back-to-school period go more smoothly.
Reset the body clock. Odds are, they have been playing games until late into the evening and then sleeping in. Easing kids back to a school-year schedule will ensure that they show up bright-eyed.
If a child sees going to bed as punishment, a child’s going to avoid it. But if they understand that sleep is good for them, just as exercise is, they may resist less.
Calculate the hour at which they’ll need to get up in order to get to school on time (allowing a generous cushion for chaos) and count backward nine or so hours. That’s their “falling-asleep time”. The bedtime might be 10 or 20 minutes before that.
On the night before school starts, your child might be too tightly wound to get to bed on time. This is normal.
Just as nature will reclaim an abandoned property by engulfing it in spooky trees and tall grass, your child’s desk, if you can even see it, is by now probably home to toys, discarded clothing.
Not exactly a place that encourages focus.
Looking for the best way to set up your child’s homework space? Let him do it, says Marcella Moran, an educational consultant and co-author of Organising the Disorganised Child. “Parents tend to organise their kids based on their own organisation style,” says Moran. “That works for you, but it may not work for your child.”
That doesn’t mean, though, that you can’t help your kid discover his perfect, intuitive workspace. After the desk is cleared, have him sit down at it. Ask him to close his eyes and name the essential items he needs to do his homework. (These may include pens, books, a calculator, a computer, and even a drink or snack) Place these essentials within easy reach.
Not least: please meet the teacher! In the week before school starts — after that, things will be madness — make contact either in person or via phone (whatever works for you) and introduce yourself. You can let the teacher know if your child has any particular sensitivities or if he or she needs special accommodations. Plus, it’ll start off your relationship on a positive note.
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