Prepping for a Great School Year in 3 Easy Steps
Are you gearing up, have you been geared up or are you clutching to the last bit of summer before you have to start the school season again? Whatever stage you are in, this will be a good resource to make this school year amazing.
Have a schedule in place.
Some of us love the lazy summer days when we wake up when we want, eat when we want and sleep when we want. I am one who when given the opportunity will fully embrace the “Slug Summer”. I work hard and relax hard core. Some of you can relate and getting back into a regular schedule can be hard. So first, write it out. Have everyone’s input into what the schedule needs to look like from morning routine until evening. Even if this is not written in stone, it will help to get the brain on board for the needed changes.
Some of you had busy summers and stayed on a scheduled, for you just tweaking a bit will help and you can even go a little deeper and schedule not just the daily needs but what are some of the needs and wants in the monthly plan. What do we want to add next month to make sure we are on track with some goals?
You can start out this schedule on your own, but don’t finalize it in your mind until it has all family input. Even if that input is a shrug, at least they know you asked and they will have it in their mind to process and come back with any changes later.
Have expectations in place.
Who will be responsible for what? In this process try to give as much responsibility to your children as possible. For example they can make lunch the night before and have it ready to go, lay their clothes out, and put their book bag by the front door.
Make a check off list of morning and evening routines so they don’t forget all that includes. For young kids you can make a picture set of their routine. When my girls were little, we took pictures of them doing each task and then printed them and put them in a little envelope holder on the wall. This allowed them to look through the pictures and do each task before either of them could read.
Also set other kinds of guidelines. What is your exception for homework and projects? What time commitment do you expect from them for after school activities or chores? Who is responsible for getting new events on the family calendar? What is the procedure for handling scheduling conflicts? What will the expectations be for having friends over? How far in advance do you want them to ask you? How often are you comfortable with? How much conflict resolution do you expect them to handle on their own with siblings and friends based on their age and ability level? Remember kids are a lot more capable than we typically give them credit for and can handle responsibility as long as we give them expectations.
Why is this so important? As you work these details out with your kids – out loud, you allow them to see how they can process through the many decisions that come our way. You help them to understand the thinking process and they will get better and better at it as you model for them. They also understand the expectations ahead of time and this will avoid the many potential frustrations that happen when we don’t communicate those needs.
Connect with the school and its community.
Hopefully, you have been very intentional about where your child will spend 100 days and countless hours in the next few months. Finding the right school for your child and family is critical and we have never had so much access to various schooling options before. Do your homework and then commit to being a part of that community.
Learn everything you can. Go to the parent orientation, and even if you know everything that is going to happen, choose to make this an opportunity to connect with new families at orientation. If you are seasoned, look for ways to be of service and encouragement to new folks trying to figure out the ropes. If you are new and have lots of questions, ask a fellow parent and offer to figure it out together. Make a parent friend and see how you can support one another. As an introvert or extrovert who doesn’t want to put yourself out there, just do it. Whatever you do, don’t just go through the motions.
Get to know the teacher. Even if you are super familiar with the teacher, dive deeper. Find out what her biggest goal for the year is. Assess what you think might be a need in the class and offer a specific solution. It’s not always the most helpful to say, “Let me know if you need any help.” Period. Did you see that period? That statement means, I want to seem helpful but want you to figure out for me what I would be good at, what I would enjoy, and each step of what that looks like. Ummm, not so helpful. Be the one to solve a problem with your unique skills and talents and offer that complete solution to the teacher. Also send encouraging messages, be their advocate. Teachers, no matter what school they are in, are there to serve the children and not in it for a paycheck. Show the love and watch it returned with a community that thrives and your child benefits from.
So there you have it, 3 easy steps to make this a great school year. You can do those, you were made for this!