Back to School Success: Parenting Tips for a Smooth Academic Year
Supporting your children mentally and physically will help them, and you have a smooth school year. We hope the initial back-to-school stress is gone by now and you've settled into your new daily routine. Now, you can add some extra support and help your kiddos establish good habits so they can have a stellar academic year!
Here are a few tips to help your family have a successful, productive school year:
Day-to-Day
A family calendar is essential to keep track of all of the deadlines, extracurricular activities, and everyday plans. Post a large calendar where everyone can easily see it every day in order to keep everyone on the same page. The kitchen, dining room, and family room are usually pretty good spots to get everyone's attention. Use a large dry-erase calendar to make it easier for any last-minute plans or rescheduled practices. Depending on what works better for your bunch, use one or two months at a time or even post the whole year!
Don't forget to fill in all of your important dates, birthdays, anniversaries, and special outings, too, so you can be sure they don't conflict with schoolwork, sports, and important deadlines like assignments or tests. In order to keep everything organized, assign each family member a color and one for the whole family to make it easy to spot everyone's events.
Good Morning, Routine
Creating an established morning routine is one of the easiest ways to get everyone up and out of the house on time. Prep as much as you can the night before in order to make sure everyone has everything they need for the following day.
Make sure all of the kids' homework makes it into the backpack, pack lunches, and choose the next day's outfits. Then, put lunches inside their backpacks as soon as you get up to make sure they don't forget them!
Eat Up
Make sure they get well-balanced meals at roughly the same time every day to help them keep up with everyone's schedules. We know this isn't easy with those picky eaters!
So try this: play a game with them to find out what they like and make a list so you'll remember later. Ask them what they thought about Aunt Edna's potato salad, or remind them of recent meals and talk about what they liked and disliked. Create a menu you think they'll like (at least until their tastes change again!).
Good Night, Routine
A good afternoon and evening routine lowers stress and helps kids finish their homework on time. Create a distraction-free study retreat that's a quiet, clutter-free homework space. Build a routine to help kids manage their time so there are no more last-minute, late nights trying to pull a project together. It may also help to keep in touch with their teachers to see if your kiddos could use some hands-on learning at home.
Remember also to make time for physical activities and family fun. Take a walk outside or play ball after homework and dinner. Finally, put kids to bed at a regular time each night to help ensure they get the same amount of sleep.
Set up your family for success in a new home at Green Meadows. You'll be part of a supportive community that's close to all of the best Celina schools. Contact us today to start planning your stellar year in a new home!