6 Tips for Going Back to School

Our two little boys started school last week, they were super cute on their first day of school at settling each others nerves - I dropped Sebastian to his new classroom in the middle school first then took Xavier to his on the junior side. A few minutes later as Seb popped up at Xav's classroom, they ran to each other and toddled off together. I love that they watch out for each other! What hasn't been so smooth are the mornings getting ready for school, the My Big Moments share the following 6 tips for going back to school that you might find helpful if you're having similar troubles.

1. Get back into your usual routine for going to bed and getting up in the morning during the holidays.
2. Make a visual checklist together so your child[ren] can remember what needs to happen on school mornings.
3. Get familiar with any new policies and procedures put in place at school. Make a plan for managing transitions at drop-off and pick-up with your child that is consistent and predictable. Talk about going to school and what might be different as we take precautions that help to keep ourselves and others safe.
4. Remind them of the positive things to look forward to like seeing their friends, meeting new friends and getting to do lots of activities again.
5. Be aware of non-verbal signals of worry, eg. stalling tactics or fussing over insignificant details. Explore and acknowledge your child's feelings so they know they are heard and validated. Kids can pick up on our sense of apprehension, so if you notice they're showing signs of worry find some quite one-one-one time to explore what's going on for them
6. Plan a daily catch-up at a time when your child is ready to talk and you can give them your full focus so you can check in with them as they integrate and adjust to new and changing circumstances. Lying down with them at bed time is a good opportunity for them do do a 'worry dump' and offload things that are on their mind so they can get off to sleep peacefully.

Want a bit more help? We have a trio of books available from My Big Moments including 'Ready for School' which helps kids to prepare for school, preschool, or transitioning to a new school environment with confidence.

Eli, our teenager [how on earth do I have a teenager] starts high school tomorrow and I think there's a high change I will cry. I will have to report back on how that transitions goes.

Ren. X

*the information in this post has been adapted from the Weleda website + the original post can be read HERE