Whatever school’s going to look like for 2021—it’s back in session or soon will be. I’ve heard from a lot of moms that this is one of the transitions in their homes that can be tough to juggle.
Kind of like daylight savings time—it can throw you for a loop.
BEDTIMES
Coming off of summer and family vacations, getting back into a regular, reasonable sleep routine can be a struggle. (See: podcast from Aug 16, how sleep helps us and our kids! Memory/learning….).
BEST if you kept close to your normal bedtimes all summer, but if you didn’t…. start backing up the time your kids go to bed by 30 min each night until you reach the amount of sleep they need. How to calculate this? If it’s an Act of Congress to get them out of bed in time to get ready for school, they need to go to bed earlier.
SCHOOL SUPPLIES
This was my kids’ favorite part of back-to-school. After that first back to school/meet the teacher night, they loved the Target/Walmart run to gather all the fresh notebooks, pens, and paper from the classroom lists. Here in TN, we have almost a 10% sales tax, so it’s nice if you can time the back-to-school shopping for clothing & supplies with the tax-free weekends we’re granted! (esp when you have to get those darn higher math calculators-$$)
Don’t forget the teacher wish-lists. In our kids’ schools, the teachers gave out wish lists for their classrooms since most teachers furnish their classrooms from their own pockets. This might be things like tissues, Clorox wipes, dry erase markers, tennis balls (to put on chair legs) etc. If your kid’s teacher doesn’t have one of these and you’re feeling generous & are able, ask if you can contribute something to the classroom.
Same goes for school supply drives for families who may not be able to bring something shiny & new every year. Gets your kids in on the giving & helps them see not everyone starts from the same place. A good reminder to be kind and compassionate.
Homeschool: Order books in timely fashion. Starting tutorials without the books required puts your child behind. Outline the educational and physical, social, and spiritual goals for the school year. Freshen up that space for learning and work.
Every homeschool student needs a consistent area that can be their place of learning and work. You may have a different place for art, science experiments, and messy projects (like the basement), but overall, your child needs one place to complete projects and study. It does not need to be an office (kitchen tables are fine), but ideally, the best place for learning is one free from distractions.
Your student also should have easy access to books and supplies they need, as well as ways to keep their subjects and projects organized. When you have your curriculum and outline done, it will be much easier to know what supplies you need and arrange things in a way that will make the commonly used items most accessible.
NOT ALL ACADEMICS
While you’re at it, the start of a new year is a good time to remind/reinforce kindness in general. Have you ever been the new kid at a new school? Remember that feeling and pay it forward.
This year (coming off last year) in particular, I know a lot of kids may be struggling with uncertainty and the anxiety that brings. Do we wear masks/do we not? Do we go in person/do we not? Can I hug my friends or eat lunch with them?
It’s important to let kids express their feelings and feel understood. You can empathize and let them know you’ll get through this TOGETHER and you & their teacher will be there to help. A lot of kids, I think, have a touch of PTSD about 2020—it was rough. Going back to school, even if it may be kind of hybrid at first, can feel a little traumatic to some temperaments. FACTOR THIS IN if your kid comes home from school in a bad mood, withdrawn, or exhausted.
START THE DAY RIGHT
How about a prayer the night before and the morning of each school day? Doesn’t have to be an entire catholic mass—just a short petition to remember WHO’s got this and to cover your kids with God’s grace.
Do you take your kids to school? A lot of times, my kids’ dad did this on his way to work and those 15-20 min of commute became their special time to connect before their day began. They might play a fun song, do a quick icebreaker question, a short prayer/scripture verse. Try to make it a screen free time for some fun, faith, and connection.
Do take into consideration your kid’s temperament here. Are they a morning person? Chatterbox or no?
–Same goes for pick up after school. Remember to allow those introverts a mental break from all the people in their day before peppering them with questions: who’d you sit with at lunch? What was your favorite subject? Did you talk to your friend?….. Moms can be aggressive question askers!
Homeschool: Let them initially do fun things in the morning after they wake up to help them embrace the routine. Then gradually introduce different aspects of how their day will function during the school year.
Routines are helpful for kids of all ages. They also are helpful for parents, especially those new to homeschooling.
ORGANIZATION
A BIG part of school for kids is learning time management & organization. Set them up for success here and try not to rescue them when they forget things (homework, lunch, band instrument, uniform…)!
For some kids, a calendar, daily chart or white board for tasks is a huge visual help. Others may need just a few reminders. Some just seem to live in LaLa Land forever and ever and will need some extra time to get there. Ok, so they’ll just take longer to learn organization.
The idea of a big family white board is something friends of ours did & was genius. Helped their family know what was going on with everyone else at a glance. When projects were due, orthodontist/doctor appointments, soccer practice, etc. All in one spot so there’s no guessing and less conflict. With some families, you know you’ll have to add PT/OT, speech therapy, etc. etc to the agenda which makes for an even busier day when you’re juggling other kids’ stuff too.
One easy way to get your kids to start taking ownership of their STUFF and their SCHEDULES is to ask them DO YOU HAVE THE FREEDOM…???
If your morning routine is insane and you want to calm things down, ask them THE NIGHT BEFORE if they have the freedom to go to bed yet. That will get THEM thinking about what they’ll need to have ready to go the next morning. You may have to walk them thru this several times.
If they come down to breakfast—BEFORE they eat—ask if they have the freedom to eat breakfast yet. What you’re asking is: is everything ready to go? Do you know where your shoes are? Is your backpack ready? Do you have your papers signed? Do you need anything extra? Have you fed the dog?
But YOU’RE not having to constantly ask the same questions (remind them). THEY’RE taking that monkey off you. It’s THEIR monkey.
Typically, they will mentally run down the list of what they know they need to do (the things you used to remind them of) so they can tell you YES I’m ready to eat breakfast.
If they miss a task, they may need to have an earlier bedtime to be sure they can handle the next morning.
Homeschool: Every parent-teacher needs a teaching center. This is a place for your books, lesson plans, school materials, forms, administrative paperwork, project lists, and a calendar of each day’s activities.
Make sure everyone in your home can view your weekly calendar with lessons, activities, appointments, and outings. This will help your children learn to budget their time and help everyone in the family be prepared and on time.
For the start of your homeschool year, plan out meals and easy-to-make snacks. Encourage your kids to take ownership of feeding themselves well. Once you start learning with your children, you will be surprised at how quickly the day goes by. Before you know it, it’s dinner time. Encourage your children to help with meal planning, recipe selection, and age-appropriate kitchen and cooking tasks.
AFTER SCHOOL
Same is true here. Do you have the freedom to…… gets them thinking: did I throw away my lunch remains? Did I put my papers out for mom to sign? Do I need to tell mom NOW about the cupcakes I need tomorrow or should I wait until 9 pm?
Don’t be quick to dive right into homework. A lot of times, especially the first few weeks of readjusting, my kids would be wiped out. They needed some downtime and SNACKS.
An hour of this and then you can start tackling some homework while you’re making dinner. The after school hours seem to SPEED by… by the time you get home, do homework, go to practice or after school activities, eat dinner, and then bath/bed it’s a lot to cram in to a short time. Give them a minute to go outside, take a quick walk around the block after dinner, something to give them a rest.
You can also combine activities—maybe work on spelling words while you’re on a bike ride or driving back from practice. Multi-task!
CONNECT
Highs/lows (what did God teach you today), best part of your day? You have what it takes, Remember who you are; prayer. Do this on a short walk, at dinner, or just before bed.
PREP
As much as possible, get ready for the next day the night before. Settle on outfit (esp if this is an issue with your kid), make lunches, have shoes/stuff by door to cut down on early morning scramble.
This can be as much a mom/dad issue as it is a kid issue. YOU’RE TIRED TOO. But it’ll make your morning SO MUCH better to do things the night before.
Homeschool: If you aren’t great at curriculum planning or just don’t enjoy it, get a pre-packaged plan with everything laid out. Preparation doesn’t have to take lots of time when you buy high quality materials like Sonlight.
Here’s to an awesome school year!