Back-to-School Tips for Parents of Preschoolers

It’s that time of the year when parents are anxious and children go through varied emotions as well—it is back to school! Some children are super excited at the idea of meeting their friends again while others are sad, with long faces and gloomy expressions. For almost two months, both parents and the children were relaxed in the mornings as there were no timelines to meet, no squabbles over finishing breakfast on time. However, with summer break nearing its end and schools about to re-open in Western and Southern parts of India, the going back to school frenzy is catching up big time.

7 Back-to-School Tips to Make Transition Easier for You & Child

Here we bring you some pointers on how to make it easier:

• Plan Ahead: Plan everything from the uniform, meals your children will have every morning to what they will take in their lunch boxes. You can start a week in advance. Check all the stationery, the water-bottles, lunch boxes, bags and uniforms and shop for things that your child would need when the school reopens.
• Interesting Meals: Plan the entire week’s menu in advance and be ready for when the school reopens. So if the child takes whatever the entire family eats then plan the menu for the entire family. Also, figure out your own routine in all this—for example, take time out to do all the chopping and cutting the night before. For curries, you may make a ginger-garlic paste, tomato puree and sauté the onions and refrigerate them. Or if you have a house help who does the cooking, ensure your set her timings to match the school timings. [Check - Tips to Make Meal Plan Interesting For Child]
• Stock Pencils, Pens, Erasers, and Sharpeners: It is quite necessary that you keep a stock of all the basic stationery so that there is no end minute rush during school days. This also includes any craft items your child will need in the first week of the school. 
• Wake Your Child Up in The Morning As per School-timings: Since during vacations most children tend to get up late in the morning, you may need to get your child’s sleep cycle back on track. Start at least a week before so that they get used to the habit of waking up early in the morning. Also, gradually steer them to sleep on time at night as well.
• Check with school staff for bus timings: A day before, call up the school to reconfirm what time the bus will be picking your child up. You don’t want to be in for any surprises right in the morning.

[Also Read - Back to School Checklist After Long Summer-break]

• Help your child wind down: Vacations are a time when your child is possibly at his hyper energy best—playing cricket in the park till late nights or hanging around with friends every other day, etc. At least a week before, start monitoring his activities and explain to the child to cut back on them. The same holds true for any hobby classes your little one maybe participating in.
• Make it an event to look forward to: It is not unusual for a child to start looking gloomy just at the mention of school. So, ensure you start building excitement in her for back-to-school. Let her pack her own bag for next day, involve her in deciding the menu on what she would like to carry in her tiffin, polish shoes together, call up a friend or two to reconnect, or even call up the teachers (ask them to say some encouraging and loving words to your child). For the very young ones, there are quite a few back-to-school books that will make this job easier for you.

With these 7 back-to-school ideas we do hope that you will have no frayed nerves or a cranky child on your hands on the day the school reopens.