It’s hard to believe that summer is almost over. Are you looking for a few tips to ease the transition back to school, or to make your child’s first experience with school a bit less stressful? If so, read on!
Visit the School
- Attend every open house (bring their school supplies at the summer open house)
- Visit the school during special events (look up your child’s future schools – you can get them familiar with the buildings many years ahead of time)
- Play on the playground during the summer – this is especially helpful for younger kids (Thanks Ashley!)
Streamline Mornings
- Have a few easy breakfast options
- If your child’s bedroom is on a different level from the kitchen, have them bring their school clothes downstairs with them (some kids even like to pick out their clothes the night before)
- Set a timer for when they need to start getting ready (leave lots of extra time the first week)
- Get their backpack packed (minus lunch) the night before
Drop-off or Busing
- Make sure your child understands how they will get to and from school and role-play what they should do if an adult or another child tells them to do the wrong thing
- If your child is younger and is going to ride the bus, you can write their bus number on their hand (Thanks Carissa!) or tie a tag to their backpack (car rider, bus rider with bus #, etc.)
The First Day
- Let your child pick out a special food – their favorite dinner, snack or breakfast food
- If your child is nervous about their first day of school, you could try asking them if they want to have a “happy goodbye” (smiling, hugging, calm) or a “sad goodbye” (crying, clinging, upset)
- Help your child find something to wear that makes them feel brave or confident (Thanks Allison!)
Product suggestions
One of our favorite books before my daughter started 4K:
Our leakproof lunchbox solution: