What should you do to get your child ready for school?
Look ahead with the year in mind! You can either have a family meeting, depending upon your child's age, or you can think about the following ideas, and plan accordingly.
I reflect upon the year ahead of us with the family. Since my sons are old enough, we have a meeting that includes their ideas. A Family Meeting! These are the things we address.
1. Appropriate bed time. For all students, this is so IMPORTANT. Students need more than 8 hours of sleep; students need 10-12 hours. We talk about a firm bed time, and then we count backwards: bath or shower time, reading before bed, and we chose a time to start the bedtime process. Ours usually begins at 7:30 pm with lights out at 8:30 (I have a 10 year old and an 8 year old). I give them an hour, to leave time to have our bed time discussions....do you like this book I am reading to you? What was the good thing about your day at school? Was there anything that made you laugh? Bedtime discussions are my "check in" times with my kids. Usually they are quieter and calmer, and are ready to talk about their day.
2. School routines. If you do not know your child's school schedule, that is okay, but it is important to figure out all the necessary things like how the kids get to school, who picks them up, do they have to take a lunch, and so forth. You need to establish a wake up time, how breakfast will be organized, the packing of knapsacks, lunches, is it a Physical Education day and the kids need appropriate attire? Is there a fieldtrip? Are any notices due? It can be extremely overwhelming, but it is good to establish who does what and when.
For example, this year, my kids are responsible for:
1. homework done
2. knapsacks packed
3. coats and shoes ready
4. teeth brushed
5. knowledge of whether or not they need to bring gym strip that day, and have it packed in knapsack.
My husband or I will make breakfast and their lunches, but our goal for our sons is to learn to be more independent and responsible.
Now, if you have younger children, you will have to figure out and plan "getting ready" for school. Thinking through it all, and having a plan makes the mornings much more easy and smooth.
3. Computers, social media, gaming systems. As the year begins, make decisions about television time, computer use, and gaming time. Will you allow television during the week? How about surfing the web....is there a time limit? Or Playstation or DS or Wii? Can your child play these games during the week?
It is important to have clear guidelines from the beginning. For our family, we don't have cable (yah!!!) so we don't have the TV to worry about, but we have Netflix and Apple TV, so our goal is to establish if and when there is any movie watching during the week.
As well, with computer use, establish if you will allow this and when. What can your kids view? Where is the computer and are there parental controls? For our family, the rule is that the computer is in a room with adult supervision, and we allow a bit of free time after homework is done. We haven't put any parental controls on our computers, as we are experimenting with the kids deciding what is appropriate or not, and having conversations about this.
Finally, with gaming systems, establish when or if your child will be able to use during the week. With the Playstation, we don't allow gaming during the school week; only on Friday afternoon and Saturday after we have outdoor and personal interactive time.
4. Homework. Some students have it and others don't. My kids have homework usually Mon-Thurs. I have them do their homework after school before dinner. Usually they come home, have a snack, and read for 30 minutes, and then begin their homework. Reading is mandatory, so either it is done after school or before bed.
Having set routines and guidelines established will help avoid arguments, and will let your child know that there are clear expectations for learning and how the school year will unfold.
No comments:
Post a Comment