It's almost time to go back-to-school: Tips for Getting Prepared and back into routine!

Wow, here we are near the end of August!

As back-to-school is just around the corner, the last few weeks of August are a good time to take steps towards getting back into a routine and to talk about school so we start to pre-imagine it. Besides going back-to-school shopping, routines are important to practice to ease your child into the back-to-school transition.
 
September can be a particularly demanding time for some children as they might be transitioning to kindergarten, starting at a new school, changing classrooms and teachers, etc. Children (and all of us) tend feel more secure and regulated when things are predictable. Having some established and predictable routines in place supports children to handle the transition to school and new activities with less stress. 

Routines can help develop a child's executive functioning skills such as:

• time awareness and management
• initiation (starting tasks)
• planning and organization
• self-regulation to ease nervousness

What are Executive Functions and Self Regulation:
https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/executive-function/

Having a routine can also take the hassles out of morning, after-school transitions and evenings for both your child and yourself! 
 
It can be extremely overwhelming to jump right into a full schedule right when school starts. We recommend a gradual introduction of a week to two weeks of re-establishing routines.

Here are some tips for what your family can do this week to start easing back into a routine:

• Talk about (and validate feelings) about back-to-school:
  • ​Discuss with your child how they are feeling about the start of school and that feeling nervous is normal for children and adults. Even teachers have back-to-school jitters!
  • Find books about going back to school - if you can't get the book, look for titles and see if you can find a read-aloud on You-Tube (you can turn down the volume and pause and read to/with your child).  Click here for one list of back-to-school books.
  • Some books from this list that we enjoy are:​
    • "The Pigeon Has to Go to School" by Mo Willems 
    • "If you Take a Mouse to School" by Laura Joffe Numeroff
    • "How do Dinosaurs Go to School?" by Jane Yolen
• Visualize It: Get to know what school will look like
  • Visit the school
  • Practice the walk, drive, bike ride, or bus ride to school 
  • Take pictures of the school and grounds. Find pictures of classrooms online.
• Practice getting ready in the morning:
  • Waking up slightly earlier each day - use an alarm!
  • Getting dressed/washed before breakfast 
  • Picking out clothes for the next day 
• Practice the after school routines:
  • Plan after school down time
  • Plan snack times and snacks together - include your child in picking well-balance snacks (and some treats)
  • Organize a homework space & time
  • Put after school activities on the family calendar or on a whiteboard calendar for your child. Write down the time you need to leave to get there to get there on time
  • Take a picture of your child with all the things they need to take to an after school activity or sport.  Help them to "match" the picture when they are getting ready (move towards them doing this independently)
• Ease into evening routines:
  • Consider making a visual calendar or schedule - to count the days until school starts, for bedtime and meal times, or for school break travel plans
  • Go to bed slightly earlier each day

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We like this blog post about supporting your child's Executive Functioning and Back to School by our colleagues in Burnaby Schools:  http://blogs.sd41.bc.ca/slp/topic/executive-functions/

Here are some other helpful webpages on this topic:

• https://executivefunctioningsuccess.com/10-back-to-school-tips-for-executive-functions/
• https://blog.cincinnatichildrens.org/384/back-to-school-how-to-help-build-executive-functioning-skills

Enjoy the last beautiful days of summer - go out and play together!

- Grow Speech & Language Therapy Team 

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