How to get kids ready....

[hopesmommy]

to go back to school.

With school right around the corner, what do you do to get your kids ready for the routine of school with al little trauma as possible?

My DD will be starting 1st grade. When she was starting Kinder, we got up early and walked to and from school (about 1/2 mile), but that is all. I am thinking this year start giving her lunch closer to the time she will eat at school (11am) and nothing else until she would be home from school (3:30) and set up her homework area and have her work there in silence for about 30 minutes.

Is this too much? We have been reading and writing throughout the summer, but not in an organized fashion or on a regular basis.

TIA!

 

[madmom1030]

Most of 1st grade homework is reading and going over spelling words. I do these together with my first grader ( we started school 2 weeks ago) so I don't think the silence thing is that important. Just have her read a couple books to you each day around the time you would have her do during the school year. If they have never done all day school before they will be tired at first. My first grader is way to tired before bed to read to me and gets really upset, so we read as soon as she gets home from school.

Erin

 

[imthatgirl]

sitting in silence wouldnt be the direction i would go. they wont be sitting silent for a half hour at a time in first grade. there will always be things going on around them, even if they arent talking.
maybe you could have her read to you.
honestly ive never done anythhing special to get them ready. we read every night anyway.
well i guess a week before ill reinstate the 7:30 bed time.
i dont know really what you mean by trauma? just keep talking to her about what will be expected of her in school, but dont act like its going to be a tragic event. keep it light and happy. kids at this age will reflect whatever emotions you have for a situation. so if you act like this is just normal and exciting,l thats how she will take it.
of course she will be tired after school, but thats normal for all kids.

 

[carj]

We push bedtime back a little in the summer and are more relaxed about it. It is still fairly close to their school year bedtime so that is not a huge issue. I have to go back a week and a half before school starts. The kids will stay with my mom while I work that week and a half so they get back into the routine of getting up early.

We go shopping for school supplies, clothes, etc... and I make sure that each kid gets one last summer fun activity. They get to pick their own must-do. (I can already tell you that they will conspire with each other to maximize their choices!

 

[nessz79]

We push bedtime back a little in the summer and are more relaxed about it. It is still fairly close to their school year bedtime so that is not a huge issue. I have to go back a week and a half before school starts. The kids will stay with my mom while I work that week and a half so they get back into the routine of getting up early.

We go shopping for school supplies, clothes, etc... and I make sure that each kid gets one last summer fun activity. They get to pick their own must-do. (I can already tell you that they will conspire with each other to maximize their choices!

This is pretty much us exactly. We're teachers so we go back to work one week before our kids. DH's mom watches them during that week. During that week, we'll be getting them up around their school wake-up time, getting them ready like it's school (minus the bookbags of course) and taking them to their grandma's house. That way, when school starts, they'll already be into the routine.

We're taking a quick trip to Disney this coming week (we live 3.5 hours away) as our last hurrah and then we will be keeping things pretty calm around here until school.

 

[hopesmommy]

Thanks for the input. It sounds like mainly the only thing that changes is bedtime.

I would like to clarify the "trauma" I mentioned before was not meant to imply a tragic event. It is just the schedule of school is soooo different than what she has right now. Getting up when she wants, eating breakfast, then eats lunch when she gets hungry (sometimes even as late as 2), having a snack and/or more fruit before dinner, then going to bed later.

During school she has to get up by 6:30 and leave by 7:30, eat lunch at 11, come home, have a snack, do homework, eat dinner, bathe, and in bed all by 8pm at the latest.

As for doing some work in silence, maybe I will turn on the radio and have her concentrate on writing or coloring for a few minutes. We had a "staying on task" issue most of last year.