Starting A Routine To Set Up For Success This School Year
The first day of school is right around the corner and some families may be concerned about settling into a routine, feeling prepared and well rested for the first days, weeks and months of school. Here are a few quick tips to try implementing now to build confidence in yourself and your children for the back to school routine.
Start each day with family sensory input.
Whether it’s a quick walk around the neighborhood, listening to music, some jumping jacks, a few yoga poses, or even a dance party! Try to begin the day with some form of sensory input. Providing the body with sensory experiences early in the day helps alert the body while also calming it to better handle any challenges the day may hold. Incorporating these things into your routine now can create a consistent, predictable, engaging activity for the family each morning. Plan to continue sensory activities over to school days to help ease any first day jitters, anxieties or concerns. Try your best to complete these sensory activities with your child or family to help start the day with some face-to-face interaction that doesn’t involve the scramble of getting ready for the day and out the door. If there truly is not time in the morning for a little movement, consider using these strategies when your child gets home from school to reset after a long day. If time allows, completing sensory movement together before school and then again after school is an amazing way to keep bodies regulated and spend quality time.
Try to eat one meal or snack together with as many members of the family as possible each day.
Fall can bring on extracurricular activities that often interfere with dinner time, making family dinners difficult during the week. Try to get at least one meal or even a snack together seated at the table or maybe outside while the weather is still nice with no distractions. Incorporating as many members of the family as feasible during this meal or snack can help create some quality time together and provides opportunities for the older members of the family to model eating different foods and using proper manners while eating. Increasing the number of people at the table also helps prepare children for eating around their peers during meals at school. If your child is working on integrating new foods in their diet or your concerned about picky eating habits, encourage them to place one piece or small portion of each food offered on their plate without the pressure of eating it. Encourage children to clean up their plate and discard food scraps when finished. Maybe even encourage them to wipe down their spot to increase that added accountability and responsibility that they will have for their materials and space once they go to school. If your child gives push back regarding cleaning up, the use of a spray bottle filled with water works wonders for cooperation during clean up activities. The novelty of being allowed to spray the bottle increases their motivation and an added bonus, squeezing the lever works on grip strengthening for little hands!
Encourage as much accountability as possible when it comes to managing their routines and possessions.
Begin encouraging your child to hang up their backpack and manage their school supplies, lunchbox, pencil boxes, folders, etc. Require children to keep backpacks in a designated spot where it can always be found. Encourage children to pack their own backpacks the night before school. If your child packs a lunch, request their help. Have them pick out their snacks and put them in their lunchbox. If they’re old enough, consider having them pack their entire lunch (with your supervision if concerned about the food choices they’ll make.) Ensure your child's backpack is a weight they can comfortably lift above their head to hang onto a hook at school. For younger children or first time backpack users, practice placing/removing their water bottles in the elastic side pockets of the backpack if it has one. Practicing with their materials and possessions at home increases their independence and decreases the likelihood they’ll forget or lose objects at school.
Try going to bed and waking up at a consistent time to help the body prepare for early wake up times.
We’ve all heard that going to bed at the same time every day helps improve the quality of sleep. If your child indicates they aren’t tired at bedtime, encourage reading in bed until they become tired or consider reading to them in bed. This is a great way to sneak in extra quality time as well as work on their auditory processing skills, imagination, and visualization. Picking a book you’re both interested in can help add something in the nighttime routine that you can both look forward to at the end of a long day. One of my favorite memories was my mom reading the Happy Potter series to me when I was not at that reading level yet but old enough to be interested in and understand the storyline
Wishing you and your family a relaxing last few weeks of summer and a great start to a school year filled with loads of fun and enthusiasm for learning!