Helping your child get 'Back to School' ready

A few top tips to help your child get Back To School ready this summer from Surlender Pendress of LoveWritingCo.

From all things mindset to activities to help ease them back into school life - or even getting your child ready to start school.

1.Be positive!

Encourage your children to focus on the positives about going back to school. Some excited things they can be positive about are:

• Shopping for cool new stationery - Check out our stationery at www.lovewritingco.com from pencils, to erasable colour pencils and eraser-sharpeners, they are the perfect pencil case additions. When using the Love Writing Co. range classroom studies show faster, improved writing ability and improved grip and control.
• Getting to see how much they have grown when buying brand new school uniforms (A growing ruler chart is always good fun for this!)
• Getting to see all of their friends back at school
• Making new friends
• Getting to play together with their friends  

2. Re-establish the routine or create a routine

A few weeks prior to school starting, try to reestablish their morning routine to prevent stress and irritation on the first day back. 

Make routine easier for yourself and for your child by packing their school bag the night before and make lunch together the night before. Making lunch together is a great way to get children involved in their day-to-day business and by allowing them to choose what they would like to eat for lunch, makes it more engaging for them. PLUS you don’t get those ‘I don’t like my lunch’ or ‘ I don't want to eat that’ tears (We have all been there, don’t worry!) 

Try laying out uniform neatly on the night before school too, not only does this allow for a tidy, prepared environment, but also  really eliminates that morning panic - this means you can start the school year on a positive note! 

You can effectively manage your time with a free monthly, weekly or daily planner offered by BBC Bitesize. Print out and complete together with your child, this will increase independence and organizational skills. Check it out here https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zn3497h

2. Develop a sleep routine 

Getting enough sleep is important for a child to do well at school. Children who do not get enough sleep have difficulty concentrating and learning so sleep is critical!

Set a routine bedtime for your child and try keep to it every night. Having a consistent bedtime routine will help your child settle down and have a restful sleep.

Pre-bedtime routines may involve a bath/shower, reading with them, and tucking them in and saying good-night to them.

Have your child turn off electronic devices well before bedtime and try to have the home as quiet and calm as possible when younger children are trying to fall asleep.

4. Healthy eating during the school day

What a child eats throughout their school day, can have a detrimental effect on their learning and brain function throughout the day. Studies show that children who eat a nutritious breakfast function better, they have better concentration, energy and generally do better in school. 

Skipping breakfast can often make kids feel tired and irritated. In the morning, after 8 to 12 hours of sleep, their bodies need to refuel for the day ahead. Ensure to have a nutritious breakfast in the morning to boost attention span, concentration, and memory. 

Check out https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/breakfast.html for some ideas. 

For lunch, try to pack lots of healthy yummy snacks that your child like throughout the day - fruit and veg is always a great idea to keep energy levels up throughout the day. 

Also, don’t forget to keep your children hydrated throughout the school day, if they aren’t really a big fan of water, try to introduce it slowly before they return to school.

Here’s some fab healthy recipe ideas to try out: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/diets/healthy 

5. Eliminate anxiety and stress

Returning to school has taken on a new meaning for the whole family over the last 18 months. With the missed teaching time that children have experienced, schools must now balance the educational, social and emotional needs of their students along with the health and safety of students and staff.

Always remind your child know that they can talk to you about anything and remind them that returning to school is a wonderful chance for them to enjoy learning/time with their friends. 

Talk with and check on your child periodically, acknowledge that this is a difficult time and try to be as available and prepared as possible, also ensuring to explain guidelines and encourage frequent hand washing.

Here at Love Writing Co we offer a fun FREE hand washing guide to help encourage your child's hygiene skills.  

For those with anxious little ones, don’t worry there is a lot of help available for you as the parent and for your child. Childline offers a ‘Calm Zone’ where they provide breathing exercises, activities, games and videos to help them let go of stress - https://www.childline.org.uk/toolbox/calm-zone/.

6. Do a trial run

After months of fun at home, going back to school might feel a little intimidating to your child. But it’s okay, we are here to help you to ease that separation anxiety as effectively as possible. 

Consider a School Day Trial Run and call it some fun like the ‘Day out at school’ game! Making it fun and interactive makes it something they will want to be a part of. 

• Start the day by putting an early alarm on for the same time you would wake before going to school. 
• Incorporate a good morning stretch and warm up to get those muscles and brain activated for the day
• Have a good healthy, nutritious breakfast 
• You can either pretend your living room is a classroom for the day or you can actually get dressed and drive to your child’s school and explain the journey you will go on and this is where they will end up with their friends and teachers. 
• If you want to get out and about, go to a local library and grab a small area to be your classroom for the day
• If you want to physically go to your child’s school, try walking around the outside and discuss that this is their special learning place where they can have lots of fun. Remember to be as reassuring as possible about their experience and ask if they have any questions about school

7- Label, Label, Label 

One of the best tips we can give is to put your child’s name on absolutely everything! Try to put them somewhere where they’re easy to find and show your child where they are so they can look for them. 

If you don’t like sewing, you can get iron-on or stick-on labels or you could just write their name on the clothing labels with a marker pen. 

8. Be as truthful as possible about their school experience:

Explain that you understand they may miss being home sometimes, but they will always come home at the end of a fun day. 

Start the day with positive affirmations of how brave they are going to school and how amazing they will do at school. 

You can try our FREE positive affirmation cards over at https://lovewritingco.com/pages/downloadables and see why so many children have them as a part of their morning routines. 

9. Find a 'brave button' for your child: 

A lovely way of maintaining a connection through the school day is allowing your child a memento to hold onto. A great idea is a ‘’brave button’’ badge or sticker (for slightly older children small charm bracelets you could wear together). Any time they want to feel connected to you, they can press their brave button and you can talk about all the times you felt their connection throughout the day.

Visit www.lovewritingco.com for more blogs on all things learning, parenting, kids and fun whilst learning! Follow us on socials, @lovewritingco for hints, tips and all things inspiring.