Students who attend a traditional school will be getting ready to head back to the classroom in the next few weeks. On the other hand, students who attend year-round schools may already be back in session. Regardless of a child’s classroom schedule there are ways to make their back to school experience a good one. Transitioning from summer break to the classroom environment is one of the most challenging transitions a child will endure because it takes a lot of self-discipline and requires them to adjust to a strict schedule of learning.
Ease into the transition
Students who have had unstructured play during the summer or who have spent much of their day with physical activities such as sports, may struggle to adjust to sitting and listening for a large portion of their week. One way to help kids adjust is to ease them into this transition. For example, in the week or two leading up to the first day of school, students may want to spend an hour or two in the afternoon reading a book or working on an academic activity to help them get used to the idea of being back in the classroom.
Get back on a schedule
Students can also benefit by slowly adjusting to the schedule they will have once they start school again. Getting up at the same time every morning, eating meals at the same time each day, and being aware of where they need to be at a certain time will help young students adjust to a classroom schedule more easily.
Leave room for social time
Once students start school, they will have a lot less unstructured social opportunities than they did during the summer. This can be a huge adjustment for kids and can make it harder for them to focus on their work. Setting aside some time during the weekend for students to enjoy unstructured social opportunities can help them ease back into the school mindset without too much disruption.
Prepare for academic assignments
Some schools ask kids to be prepared for a few assignments before the first day of class. Usually this takes the form of a summer reading list. If there are books or other texts that students still need to read and understand before the first day of school, now is the time to get started so that each student feels confident on day one.
