No matter what school year your child is entering, going back to school takes some thought and preparation. Here's our handy checklist (and tips) to help this run smoothly.
School supplies
Making a list of the supplies your child needs for their school term will help you plan your back to school shopping and make sure nothing gets forgotten. Involving our child in this preparation process will also help them get their head around going back to school and what it might involve.
Your list might include:
Uniform/Sports kit
Shoes
Winter coat
School bag
Name labels
Stationery
Maths Kit
Revision guides
Lunch bag and water bottle
Leaving this to the last minute may well mean the shops are sold out of some of your school essentials and then it is a huge panic. Do give yourself at least a few weeks before school starts to tick off your back to school list.
Don’t forget haircuts too - It’s amazing how busy hairdressers get the week before schools go back!
Back into routine
The summer holidays are long and new habits around sleeping in and playing all day will probably have become established. Meal times have probably become more relaxed too and mornings will have become a lot slower. It’s going to be a bit of a shock to the system to be back into the school routine – for all of us!
To lessen the impact of going back to school it is useful to get bed and mealtimes back on track the week before, as well as getting up early and ready to the face the day. This will make the transition to going back to school much easier.
Feeling confident
Some children get anxious about going back to school; facing new teachers, new friends, harder work and in some cases even a new school. Building up their confidence around this is important. Reflecting with them on how they coped before with new teachers and new friends should help them remember they can do this. Remind them how important enthusiasm and friendliness are both in and out of the classroom. Remind them too how much you believe in them.
Running through a typical school day with them will also help them know what to expect. This can include how they will be getting to school, lunch times, break times, arrangements for pick up and when the next lot of holidays are! We often hold this information without sharing it with our kids and it really does help them to know what is going to happen.
Friendships at school are hugely important to children and having a few playdates over the last few weeks with future classmates can really help raise your child’s confidence. We all like an ally!
Most importantly your positivity will impact theirs, so your being enthusiastic about their new teachers and the new school year will have a bigger impact than you can probably imagine. Talk it up not down – and your confidence will become theirs.
This article has been written by parenting author and blogger Becky Goddard-Hill.