Sending your children off to school each day can be filled with both excitement and anxiety. As a parent, you want your kids to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. While you can’t control everything that happens once they leave the house each morning, there are steps you can take to set them up for success.
Establish a Routine
Having a predictable morning and evening routine can go a long way in making kids feel secure and prepared. Try to stick to regular times for waking up, eating breakfast, and getting ready. Build in time for things like brushing teeth, getting dressed, packing backpacks, and double-checking homework. Clear routines take the guesswork out of the morning rush.
Prioritise Sleep
Make sure your children get enough high-quality sleep each night. Most sleep specialists recommend 9-12 hours for primary school-aged kids and 8-10 hours for secondary schoolers. Establish a regular bedtime and relaxing pre-bed routine. Limit screen time before bed, which can negatively impact sleep. With adequate rest, kids will be more focused and better behaved at school.
Offer a Healthy Breakfast
Fuel up kids with a nutritious breakfast every morning. This gives them the energy to tackle the day ahead. Quick, healthy breakfast ideas include yoghurt with fruit, whole grain cereal or porridge, toast with peanut butter, boiled eggs, and avocado on toast. You can prepare grab-and-go options like breakfast burritos, overnight oats, and smoothies. Offer balanced options from multiple food groups like protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats.
Teach Organisational Skills
Help kids stay on top of schoolwork by teaching organisational skills. Make sure they have a system for keeping track of assignments and packing what they need the night before. Provide an easily accessible workspace for completing homework. Check agendas and online portals daily to stay up-to-date with schoolwork and activities. Celebrate when they show responsibility in keeping track of their obligations.
Foster Positive Communication
Maintain open communication with your kids about school. Ask them each day about what they learned, who they played with at lunch, and what they’re excited or nervous about. Listen attentively to both the ups and downs. Provide empathy when they struggle with a subject or have a disagreement with a friend. Share in their pride over achievements like a good test score or making the basketball team. Letting them share both worries and wins helps you guide them.
Ask Your School to Provide Canine Assisted Learning
Research shows that having dogs in schools provides a wealth of benefits for kids. Called canine assisted learning, this involves highly trained dogs, like the ones from The Dog Mentor, working with students under a teacher’s supervision. Interacting with dogs cultivates empathy, teaches responsibility, reduces stress and anxiety, and is thought to improve academic engagement. If your school doesn’t have a dog integration programme, ask them to consider it. Explain the well-documented advantages and offer to connect them with reputable training providers. Seeing the far-reaching positive impacts dogs can have will help them say yes to bringing these paw-some classroom companions on board!
The key to school success is supporting your kids’ overall health, well-being and organisational skills. Establishing routines, fostering communication, and keeping them active gives them the tools to thrive academically, socially and emotionally.
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