Getting Back into the School Routine at the End of Christmas Break
As
Christmas Break comes to a close many households will be challenged
with getting back into the normal school year routine. It's going to
take some planning to re-establish the school year routine after a week
or two of being on the vacation schedule of hanging out and staying up
late. Here are some tips:
Have a plan for the night before the first day back.
Talk about preparing your child's backpack, planning for lunch (if
bringing lunch or snack), and getting to bed on time. If your child has
been staying up past the school bedtime, start tucking them in close to
the school bedtime now and re-establish this routine bedtime, so it is
not difficult the night before the first day back to school.
Eliminate the “I don’t want to go to school.”
Some kids are reluctant to go back to school after a long break. If you
experience this, talk to your child about how exciting it will be to
see their teachers and friends again. Discuss some of the highlights of
your child’s year so far and any upcoming fun activities that will
take place.
- Have a playdate with a special friend over
break. This will help your child maintain a positive connection with
school and friends and will help make returning to school more
exciting.
- Help your child pick out a special item connected
to winter break to bring in for show in tell. This will give your child
something fun to look forward to doing at school and will get your
child thinking about school.
Help your child be well-prepared.
To reduce stress in the morning, and help your child get out of the
door on time, encourage them to prepare the backpack the night. Going
forward, set aside a specific time, maybe after dinner or just before
bed, to prepare the backpack on a daily basis.
Prepare for a
healthy start. In order to make their first day back as happy and
healthy as possible, make sure your child gets plenty of sleep, and
starts the day with a good breakfast.
For more tips on
establishing routines for your kids, read our article of the month,
Organizing Family Life: Establishing Routines for Your Children.
Caryn
Forbes is a licensed school psychologist who provides high-quality,
comprehensive psychoeducational assessment and evaluation services,
conveniently located in the Tyson's Corner area of Virginia. Mrs.
Forbes provides assistance to students in need of a school entrance
battery, struggling with academics, or experiencing attention and
memory issues in school. Assessment and evaluation services include
tests of cognitive ability (intelligence tests), achievement (reading,
math and writing), executive functioning, attention and information
processing, as well as recommendations for school intervention to
maximize learning potential. For further information, please contact
Caryn Forbes:
Tel: 703-786-1398
Email: Caryn.Forbes@gmail.com
Address: 8618 Westwood Center Drive, Suite 430, Vienna, VA 22182
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