Ease Your Kids Back Into School

It's that time of year again...Where commercials start advertising back to school shopping and school supplies. How did this happen and where did Summer go? I know it's only the first full week of August, but as parents, now is the time to start thinking about how to ease your kids back into school routines.

Summer is a time to relax and let loose and in doing this you typically lose some of that school year structure and routine. That's what summer is for to some degree, but on the other hand, this makes the dive back into school a bit rougher for our kids. After late night BBQ's, travel, and summer fun we don't want to just rip the rug out from under our kids and jump straight into school and routines. This will not go smoothly and your kids will be sure to let you know how unhappy they are about the whole thing!

How Do You Ease Your Kids Back Into School Routines

To ease your kids back into school and avoid the harsh carpet rip, you will want to start in the next week making small changes. Begin with:

• Avoiding late night activities 2 weeks before school starts to allow proper wind down time in the evenings
• Start re-creating your bedtime routines by following school year bedtime routines.
• Make charts to help your kids know what needs to be done each evening. For example: brush teeth, put on jammies, read books.

Ease Your Kids Back Into A Regular Bedtime

Sleep is the biggest problem parents face with back to school. They have often allowed their kids to stay up later due to the sun staying out longer, more friends and family time, or just because! These changes to your kid's schedule are okay from time to time, but over the course of the summer they can really begin to reek havoc. As you begin to get the ready for school, your kids may dig their heels in to stay up later when school starts because that's what they have been doing all summer. This is what you are trying to avoid by easing them back to normalcy. Start adjusting your kids for school sleep and routines early. 

Here's Your Sleep Plan

To do this you will need to begin two weeks before the start of school. You must begin bumping back their bedtime bit by bit. Little by little you will move their bedtime routine to begin around 10-15 minutes earlier. Let's say your child usually has lights out by 7:30 pm, but over the summer they are closing their lids around 9:00pm. There is no way you can just plop them in bed at 7:30 pm the night before school and expect them to sleep. So, what I want you to do is give yourself two full weeks to make this happen. Bump bedtime back by 10-15  minutes every two night and within two weeks your kids will be back on track without even knowing it happened! If you follow these steps and begin in advance your kids will be happier and so will you. Your teachers will be thanking you for your bright eyed and ready to learn kiddies as they hop into the next school year eager, rested and ready to learn! To learn more simple steps to help your kids get September School Ready keep rummaging around my site! There are lots of amazing parenting tools in each and every article! Let's Start Talking - I can help you with all your parenting struggles from sleep, creating routines and beyond!