Helping Your Child Thrive in School

I'll admit it, I love the start of a new school year.  I mean who doesn't love shopping for school supplies and new clothes.  It's like my Christmas!!!! 

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here's also something about "back to school" that makes us want to be super organized and ready.  We have BIG plans.  But the new school year brings many challenges as well - challenges like going from 3 day a week kindergarten to Grade 1 and five days a week.  Or how about making the move from elementary school to middle school.  Both challenges that we will be facing tomorrow.  Strangely enough, the child NOT switching schools is the nervous one. 



Helping our children thrive in school is completely dependant on the child themselves.  For some (like my children) school and learning comes easy.  But this isn't the case for a lot of kids, and as parents, we have to be ready to help them no matter what.   


So how can you, as a parent, help your child thrive in school?  Check out these 5 tips!


SET GOALS
I'm a huge fan of goal setting.  Tonight, I will be sitting down with my kids and asking them to set the following goals:
- A healthy living goal
- A learning goal
- A school life goal (ie: related to extracurricular activities)


ACADEMIC CHECK INS
Look at how grades (if applicable) are shaping up.  Ask the kids what they feel they need to work on, or think about when it comes to school.  You as the parent can determine at what frequency you want to check in.


LIMIT SCREEN TIME
Okay, I'll admit it, this is a hard one in our house.....  Mostly because I struggle with telling the kids they can't be on their electronics when I'm working on the computer trying to build a business.  Our new rule this year, is iPads and computers go away minimum 1 hour before bed!


But the reality is, it's important to limit (and stick to those limits) screen time.  Not only does spending your evenings in front of a screen affect family quality time, it can also affect sleep.  And we all know how important sleep is!


CREATE A FAMILY PLAN
Your entire family deserves to thrive and a plan can help reduce the chaos and stress when everyone knows what's going on or needs to be done in a given time frame.  Example:  We have a dry-erase calendar on the fridge, and everyone's activities and appointments go on that calendar.  That way, anyone (or at least those of us that can read, sorry D) can look at the calendar and know what we're doing that week. 


CELEBRATE
Celebrate the wins!  Regardless of how small or seemingly insignificant they are!  Got dressed and out the door on time?  Celebrate it!  Make a new friend at school?  You guessed it, celebrate! Whatever it is, find the good and acknowledge it!  Too often we only focus on the negative. 




xo
Carrie