Back To School Tips

It’s that time again when the too-fast days of summer dwindle and parents and teachers look forward to a new school year. Here are Back To School Tips to help prepare your children as they transition back to class.

Countdown to Class—Five to Seven Days Before Return

Returning to your family’s school routine starts the week before the big day: 

• Bedtimes return to your pre-summer break routine; wake-up and go-to-bed times are enforced again; Children should get themselves dressed, use the bathroom, eat, and prep for departure as if it were June; of course, they’re in play—rather than school—clothes; but, establishing the routine again is a piece of the puzzle of preparation.
• Plan to Shop and Shop to Plan; it’s important to empower your child with choices that they have chosen; perhaps more importantly, though, is to walk through this process with your child that we are both adults and must budget our money; in this way, the child learns that money does not grow on trees and decisions must be based on what our family can afford. In other words, we teach our kids to ‘buy into’ a larger set of responsibilities.
• Drive past the school and name your children’s teachers for familiarity.

The Night Before

Preparation is essential to help your child to embrace his or her maturity while creating lifelong habits.

• Let your children pick out their clothes for the morning.
• Parents prep all lunches in advance, including
• Prepping breakfast dishes and servings the night before, too.

The First Week

Much juggling and scheduling may be part of Week One. As a result: 

• Parents should review all take-home documents daily. Why? So WE don’t miss anything. 
• Put all papers in a designated place and read them. Our kids and teachers depend on us.
• Focus on what your child says to you—playing and learning with new friends, sharing, and the like; listening to your child’s emotions is key; they’ll be tired, too, but you can help them decompress with free time and play
• Perhaps you can schedule a playdate with new school friends during the first or second weekend
• Keep it together, mom! Expect the unexpected and you will not be disappointed. Remember, how we parents act when something goes wrong might be how our children respond when it goes wrong for them. So, be positive, be loving and be able to flick problems aside.
• Finally, for Heaven’s sake, let kids do for themselves!

Lifetime Montessori School in Santaluz, a suburb in mid-San Diego County, teaches children in toddler, preschool, and elementary programs in a loving, caring, and independent way by using the 110-year-old Montessori Method. We hope these Back To School Tips help prepare you and your children as they transition back to class.

We welcome you.