But, that means my son started school last
week. And, as we were told repeatedly during parents’ night, it’s time for our
children to be more independent. Which is why I probably shouldn’t have spent
most of one evening on the phone with another parent in his class trying to get
him registered for Kahn Academy.
But this is not a blog post on Kahn; I will
write one at some time, but as of right now, the need to complete lessons on
Kahn interferes with just about everything else. So, here some pieces of advice
for starting the school year—you know most of them, but they serve as good
reminders (maybe Emery will offer some of his own).
1.
Reinstall a good
sleep routine. I’m very strict on bedtimes, even in the summer, Emery kept his
school sleep hours—with very few exceptions. At this age, what’s a kid doing
out of bed after 8 anyway? (We don’t have much of a social life). It makes transitioning
to back to school hours so much easier.
2.
Keep outside
commitments during the first week to a minimum. Okay, I broke this rule this
year as Emery is in a local Playmakers' production of Seussical: The Musical and has had rehearsals every night from 5-8 (which has interfered
with his 8 o’clock bedtime).
3.
Clean off that
study area and set up for the school year. Yep, we’re in the process of
clearing off the desk in our kitchen to set up the homework station—pens,
pencils, books, calculator, stapler, tape, etc.
4.
As a former
teacher, I think it’s important for a parent to always be aware of what’s going
on at school—what will your child be reading and/ or studying this year? Then,
maybe read one of the books they read (I just read The Lemonade War—Emery’s first independent book for the year—I was
able to read it in one sitting), rent a movie on the topic from your library,
tell them how you learned to divide double digit numbers. I don’t know yet if
these conversations work, but it’s fun to learn about the Mayans again.
5.
I’m a firm
believer in car conversations as I’ve heard these tend to be the places our
children open to us. Albeit, sometimes I have to interrupt Emery in mid-thought
to navigate construction.
I asked my husband for his advice, and it once
again reveals my bad tendencies as a mom to focus more on the extracurricular
than the curricular.
Victor’s advice: Don’t let your wife jam a
bunch of other stuff in your kid’s life when you should be focused on grades.
Emery’s side: last week was the first week of
school for us kids , and one of my least favorite weeks. I hate getting ready for school. Plus mom broke rule 2!!! (more than you know.) I
also get giant binders that barely fit in my back pack. While I write this I wonder.
Will I be able to switch costumes
quick enough?
What advice do you have for a successful back
to school endeavor?
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