Ease Your Kids Back Into a School Frame of Mind

School is just around the corner. Maybe you dread the alarm going off and the hustle bustle of the school year, or maybe you’re relieved that summer days are nearly over. Whatever the case, here are a few tips to consider as you ease your kids back into a “time to go to school” frame of mind.

Sleep routine

I don’t know about your house, but we have a very relaxed bedtime routine in the summer. So that means we have to start about 2 weeks before school starts to ease back into our normal bedtime routine. The same goes for our morning routine. What typically happens is one week before school starts, I begin waking up the kids 30 minutes earlier every day until by the last few days we are waking up at our normal school hour. The same goes for our bedtime routine. Start your kids back to bed 30 minutes earlier than the previous day until you have returned them to their normal bedtime schedule.

If they object? Start reading books again at bedtime. Pull out some old classics and have them read a page and then you read a page. If they say they’re too grown up for a bedtime story, remind them that you are never too old for a bedtime story! Then ask if they want to read a book on their own at bedtime. Reading not only winds them down for bed, but also moves them back into the reading mode of school.

Check out our suggestions for books to help get your children ready for the school year.

Other school prep

Consider one last arts and crafts project before school starts. Have the kids make their very own “GETTING READY FOR SCHOOL” chart. If morning time is a battle for you and your kids, make some charts. Make them any way they would like. But the most important thing is put down four or five things they have to do on their own before school starts every morning. This activity not only gets them in the frame of mind for school, but it might help you from not losing your mind once school does begin.

Try some fun “refresher” activities to jump-start your child’s brain ahead of the school year. Spelling tests, math facts or science facts – let them decide. Here are a few websites to check out. Think back to what they were learning the last couple of months before summer vacation and print those activities.

• Khan Academy offers online math tutorials for kindergartners through High School. It’s really an incredible resource where your child can work through lessons. The website also offers science and engineering, grammar, computing, arts and humanities, economics and finance, and other subjects.
• Spelling sheets at http://www.tlsbooks.com/spellingworksheets.htm – lists 1-50 are provided, but scroll down and there are lists 51-200 if the first 50 aren’t what you need.
• Worksheets at http://www.tlsbooks.com – look to the left hand column and just click on what grade your child was in last year.
• http://www.abcteach.com – scroll down for what subjects you would like and the possibilities are endless.

The goal here is just a refresher course. No need to stress the kids out! Have fun with it. Encourage them to do more worksheets so they can get back into the swing of things. Before they know it, they will have remembered everything again and just in time for school!

Submitted by Springfield Mom and frequent contributor Allison Klint.