Back to School Prep

Optimize this School Year

By Katrina McDowell on Sep 2, 2024 in News

Have you spotted those yellow buses yet? As students return to school this fall, let’s delve into back-to-school preparations for parents and children.

Kickstart mornings. Some are early birds, and some are night owls, but regardless of which category one falls into, it is important to have a solid morning routine. Some strategies for creating a stress-free morning routine include preparing clothes and lunches the night before, setting alarms earlier and having a checklist for everything needed that day. If you must drive kids to school, always allow plenty of time to get there since morning traffic will be busy. Nobody needs to start their mornings off with road rage. Music soothes the soul! Play relaxing music in the car to have a happy and relaxed mind frame. Essential oils have many benefits. Diffuse various blends for each time of the day. Have some orange or lemon balm blends for the morning to get an energetic start. Then, in the afternoon, diffuse a cinnamon blend during homework time for another energy boost. Enjoy lavender and vanilla oils in the evening for a relaxing feel before bed.

Study habits. Everyone needs to form some time management throughout the day. Effective study techniques like the Pomodoro technique are effective for students and those learning more skills.

Create a designated homework space and provide healthy after-school snacks such as nut butter and apples. The sugar in the apple will give them a quick stimulant, and nut butter is a good protein and fat source that won’t ruin dinner.

Use planners or apps to stay organized. Unfortunately, paper planners are becoming obsolete in our digital world. Any.do is an app that’s an aesthetically pleasing to-do list. It prioritizes tasks, adds subtasks, and organizes things into categories. Another app is Stayfocusd, a Google Chrome extension that blocks time-wasting sites after a person spends a preset amount of time on them. It snaps you out of the internet rabbit hole and forces you to return to task. To change the settings, Stayfocusd provides a grammatically complicated paragraph requiring you to type a copy of—word by painstaking word. Every typo erases the progress and sends you back to the beginning, which, even for adults, is annoying.

Healthy lunches. It is easy to get caught up in just throwing in some chips or Lunchables for children’s lunches, but those are not the healthiest options. Instead, prioritize nutritious and easy-to-make lunches that kids will love. Create lunchboxes and make various ones, such as a taco lunchbox or a pizza roll-up bento lunchbox, that includes fresh fruit, vegetables and olives. Instead of a basic sandwich, make a wrap with chicken or tuna salad or create turkey and cheese pinwheels. Add protein energy bites with rolled oats, nut butter, and mini chocolate chips for a sweet treat. This will make your children feel nourished throughout the school day.

Parent-teacher alliances. Forming a constructive parent-teacher relationship by establishing an excellent positive relationship early is vital to staying engaged with children’s education throughout the school year. Everyone is in this together, and raising children can be challenging. Teachers are important in helping parents raise kind, respectful and happy children. For many children, the most significant adult in their lives on a day-to-day basis is their teacher. Teachers provide guidance and direction through their words and actions. Hence, it’s most logical that how these adults interact, relate and communicate with each other and the student impacts their experiences and learning.

“Building partnerships between families and schools is an effective strategy to address opportunity gaps, especially for those who have been historically underserved,” said Iheoma Iruka, co-principal investigator of early learning networks at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln team and chief research innovation officer and director of the Center for Early Education Research & Evaluation at HighScope Educational Research Foundation. “Strong partnerships support children’s learning and ability to develop lifelong skills and networks while also strengthening parents’ capacity to be engaged in their child’s school experience.”

Incorporate the three C’s to form a constructive parent-teacher relationship—communication, consistency and collaboration.

• Communication is key and is a two-way street to stay apprised of what is happening at school and to let teachers know important things about the student.
• Consistency creates routines and provides opportunities to enhance the child’s learning at home, reinforcing that parents and teachers work together to support the student.
• Collaboration involves planning and problem-solving to develop specific, positive strategies to help children achieve their highest potential.

Get techy. In today’s technology world, kids have many gadgets for school. Most kids will already have a smartphone by age nine, but beyond a smartphone, what other tech essentials are needed for students? Everyone has their preferred way of taking notes, either writing by hand or typing on the computer or smart tablet. But now, a reusable digital notebook brings the best of both worlds. Students can write the notes using a special pen provided and scan them all using an app. The pages are optimized and digitized to search for specific words like typed text. Another nifty tech gadget is an anti-theft laptop bag with a USB port. This bag has a USB charging port to keep phones powered up on the go and the option to lock the main compartment with a passcode for added security. It is also water-resistant. Embracing these tech essentials will make parents and children feel prepared and up-to-date for the modern education system.

We hope everyone has a safe and healthy 2024-2025 school year!