Most years, many of us try to put “back to school” out of our minds as long as we can. 2020 isn’t “most years.” The return to school, or the shift to one of many different at-home learning models, has been at the forefront of most parents’ thoughts all summer.
No matter what back to school will look like for your family, it is definitely time to start shifting gears a bit. It’s important to get kids (and parents & teachers!) on a path to mental readiness for the return to school.
After a long time away from school, it can be hard to adjust to routines again in the fall. And the routines are likely to be very different from what we were accustomed to in previous years. I’ll share some tips on starting a smooth, gentle transition of the mindset.
Shifting the Mindset…with New School Supplies!
Most kids love starting fresh each school year with new school supplies. Discussing their needs, sorting through what you already have, making lists, and shopping for those necessities can be an easy way to start transitioning to a back-to-school frame of mind.
New supplies can also help children achieve a subtle shift in the way they view themselves and understand their place in the world. Progressing into a new grade means new levels of maturity, responsibility, and leadership. That might be reflected by choosing some cool pens in addition to the usual primary pencils. Maybe it means picking out a more grown-up looking backpack. Perhaps it’s time for a planner to keep track of projects and due dates.
Sharing communal supplies won’t be happening at school this year, so your child should have his or her own. Teachers may send a list home in the first days of school. But getting started early by shopping for the basics is a good idea.
If your family will be learning at home, the list of supplies may look a little different and could include math manipulatives and other learning supports. You can get creative!
And at the top of this year’s list if your kids are returning to in-school instruction: Name labels. Label everything! And using a large pencil case with compartments for organizing all the supplies in one place will reduce the likelihood of items being misplaced.
However you and your child choose to approach it, gathering up and organizing school supplies will give you opportunities to chat, plan, and reflect, hopefully making the impending school year less intimidating and more exciting.
Updating Your Approach to School Lunches
Back to school 2020 is so different in many ways, and that extends to lunches. It’s important to consider how lunches and snacks might have to change both for kids returning to class and those learning at home.
Lunch Planning
Waiting until the school year is underway means planning lunches when you’re busy with so many other back-to-school activities. Try to carve out some time now while things are less hectic and you have a little more time to think and plan.
A great way to approach lunch planning is to help your kids come up with ideas for new things they’d like to try, in addition to old favourites. Involve the kids in brainstorming or searching for ideas online. Buy the ingredients and help your kids make those new lunch recipes between now and the beginning of school. If they don’t like them as much as they expected, it’s better to know now rather than finding a full lunch bag at the end of the school day!
Check how easy it is to pull each recipe together quickly, give everything a taste test, and finalize a list of different foods that you are confident your kids will enjoy.
If kids are old enough to handle the responsibility, they should be involved in making their own lunches during the school week.
For kids returning to the classroom
Consider including a clean tea towel in their backpack to be laid out on the desk before eating. Without lunch helpers in the classroom and with teachers unable to help, kids more than ever need to be able to open their own lunch containers. Consider a bento box rather than individual containers if they’re a challenge. Before school starts, practice washing hands, laying out the towel, opening containers, and eating with a fork and spoon rather than fingers.
For kids learning at home
Lunches can be their own learning experience! Let kids take responsibility for planning a weekly lunch menu and preparing the meals themselves (depending on their age and skill level). You could consider a new lunch “curriculum” each month, trying out different cooking techniques or foods from different parts of the world, and learning more about nutrition and health.
Recipe inspiration
To help you get you started on finding new inspiration, here are some delicious and simple recipes for school snacks that incorporate essential oils:
- Granola Bars
- Cinnamon Apple Chips
- Avocado Hummus Taquitos
- Lazy Avocado Sushi
- Blueberry Lemon Muffins
- Banana Sushi
Organizing Your Home for the School Year
Summer is NOT over… but the faster pace of the school year is just around the corner, whether we like it or not! If you want to cut some of the stress this year, organizing a few key spots in your home before the first day of school can help you accomplish that. Here are some ideas that will help you keep everything running more smoothly!
Launching areas:
Places like entryways and mudrooms function as launching areas for school mornings and after-school activities. Designating a place for everything (coats, shoes, backpacks, sports equipment, etc.) and encouraging family members to store items in their proper places will cut down on random messes, lost items, and slow mornings. Add hooks to hang backpacks and jackets, and add a labeled or colour-coded basket for each family member’s smaller items. Once the habit of using these assigned spots is established, leaving the house becomes a little easier!
Laundry room:
If you’re behind on laundry, now is the time to catch up. An organized laundry room can help minimize school week chaos, so try implementing a new system now. Set up laundry hampers or baskets labeled for darks, colours, and lights, and ask family members to sort their dirty clothes into them at the end of each day. Having a separate basket for items that need extra care (for major food spills, grass stains, and who knows what else!) is also a good idea, so those items can receive the special treatment they need and get back into the rotation quickly. Save time by placing clean laundry in baskets labeled for each child and have them put away their own clothes. Even better: teach older kids how to wash, dry, and fold their own clothes!
Command centre:
Establishing a command centre in your kitchen or another central area of your home can help keep everyone on track. Keep a wall calendar, dry erase board, and bulletin board in this area, and clearly list the activities coming up for each day of the week. Everyone can add items to to-do lists and grocery lists, and paperwork and mail can be sorted here as well.
It’s a little hard to believe on these beautiful summer days that school is around the corner, but it’s coming! Whether that has you celebrating or feeling a little gloomy, there are some tasks that you can focus on during these last couple of weeks that will help ease your kids into a school mindset.
Resetting Bedtimes and Wakeups
Often kids are allowed later bedtimes and wake-up times during the summer, and it’s now time to start transitioning children back into their school routines. You can move bedtime up a bit each night until they are going to sleep at their regular school-night time. The same goes for morning wake-ups: Ease them back toward their normal time. I guarantee that this will be far easier than a sudden adjustment the night before school, and it will help your kids feel well-rested and ready to shine on that first day — no matter what school will look like for your family.
Resuming bedtime routines
In addition to resetting the timing, this is also a great opportunity to re-establish your school-year bedtime routines, which often take a backburner during the summer. Try resuming the bedtime rituals your family follows on a school night and get kids used to orderly, predictable bedtimes again!
Essential oils for bedtimes and sleep
As you get back into your routines, consider adding some calming, sleep-promoting essential oils as one of your nightly steps. Massaging essential oils onto your child’s feet or back, or running a diffuser at bedtime, can bring a greater sense of peace and tranquility. Some great options are Lavender, Calmer, Peace, and Serenity.
Getting Meals Back on Track
The more relaxed patterns of summer are so welcome, and sometimes that means kids are grazing rather than eating formal meals. Meal times can be off kilter, too, or even skipped altogether if kids sleep late or the day’s schedule is hectic. But flexible eating is no longer feasible once kids are back at school.
If kids are going back to the classroom, eating times are strictly regimented during the school day. Family meal times are often controlled by extracurricular activities and work schedules. Kids can’t just reach for a snack whenever they feel like it, and it’s important to ensure that they’re getting balanced nutrition to fuel their brains and bodies.
So that means this is the perfect time to start getting eating schedules back on track!
Resume your school-year meal schedule (typically breakfast, lunch and dinner) and keep snacking to a reasonable minimum. If possible, try to schedule meals and snacks so they coincide with eating times at your child’s school. This will get kids’ digestive systems adjusted to a regular eating pattern again, and will ensure that they’re ready to eat at meal times but not famished in between.
Reviewing Expectations & Responsibilities
School will look different for all kids this year, whether they’re learning at home or returning to school. Before things get too hectic, this is the ideal time to review your expectations for the school year.
Talk about kids’ individual responsibilities at home and outline the routines you expect them to follow. This not only reminds them of their daily tasks, but also reinforces the importance of completing them.
How much responsibility is appropriate?
The degree of responsibility that your children can handle is very age-dependent. Most young kids can handle only small, routine tasks: That could be getting dressed, putting their lunch in their backpack, or putting on their own shoes and jacket. Older children are capable of much more independence, from setting their own alarm and being responsible for getting out of bed on time, to making their own breakfast and lunch, brushing their teeth, or tidying up after themselves. Each family is different, and so is each child. Choose tasks that your child is ready to handle independently. Offer encouragement and boost your child’s confidence.
Predictability at home = Less stress
Talking about what the school year will look like from the home perspective can take some stress out of back-to-school time. 2020 is definitely a year when it is essential to establish a comforting, predictable home routine.
Calming School Anxieties
Returning to the classroom often brings a mix of excitement and nervousness. Even the most well-adjusted kids often feel some anxiety about the changes and the unknowns, and those who are more prone to worrying often experience a spike in negative feelings in the days before school resumes. 2020 brings even more concerns, and even kids who usually can’t wait for school may be feeling unsure this year.
Changes in school routines, masks, distancing… it’s a lot to take in.
If it’s also a year of big transitions, such as starting kindergarten or high school, worry is likely to be heightened. Even smaller changes can lead to increased anxiety, such as getting used to a new teacher or not being in class with a best friend. Separation anxiety can be part of the issue as well – kids who get anxious leaving their parents are likely to feel that far more intensely after 6 months spent at home.
Here are some ways to help your children manage their worries about school and start the year off on a positive note:
Listen to your child
Encourage your child to talk about school more generally, and it’s likely that the things that are worrying him will make their way to the surface. Casual conversations work better than long, intense ones. Listen carefully, and don’t dismiss his concerns. Nothing feels worse than being told “It’s nothing!” Acknowledge and validate the concerns; this will give your child a greater feeling of security. If your child asks for help with strategies or solutions, help him make a plan. If he doesn’t, leave it alone and express confidence that he has the skills to handle the things he’s worried about.
Arrange for some help
If you think your child will be reluctant to leave you on the first day, talk to the school staff ahead of time. The teacher is likely to be too busy to help much, but another staff member may be able to greet your child and walk her in. Arranging for a friend to meet her so they can walk in together may also work well. Once in the classroom, the teacher may be able to direct your child’s attention to a specific activity that will engage her and get her mind off the anxiety of the transition.
Address physical complaints
Many anxious kids complain of headaches or stomach aches in the hope that they’ll be able to stay home from school. If your child complains repeatedly of physical illness, talk to your doctor to ensure that you’re not missing a medical issue. If there’s nothing physical causing the complaints, anxiety is likely the trigger. The most important thing you can do in this situation is to send your child to school. It’s not a great feeling, but letting an anxious child stay home from school regularly or skip activities can reinforce in her mind that those situations are something to worry about. Try working with the teacher to find some supportive strategies.
More serious issues
The good news is that, for most kids, back-to-school anxiety goes away quickly. Kids tend to be remarkably resilient and are likely to adjust rapidly to the new routines. If anxiety persists beyond the first few weeks, though, it could be a sign of an anxiety disorder or another problem at school. It’s time to investigate whether there are issues at school (such as bullying), severe separation anxiety, an undiagnosed anxiety or learning disorder, or other challenges. Speak with your doctor as a first step.
You’ve Got This!
This return to school definitely feels more difficult and daunting than any that has come before. But whether your kids are going back to the classroom or you’re launching into learning at home in some way, believe this: You *can* handle it. You *will* get through it. Rising to challenges is what parents do, and you have the tools you need to cope with the changes and stressors. Focus on routines, keep things predictable, and lean on your essential oils for support. You’ve got this!
