By Renee, LSWA
We are in full school mode in our household. All of the supplies have been bought, my husband and I have completed the ream of paperwork that was sent home for our homework and we are getting used to our “school schedule.” As a working mom outside of the home and in the home, organization is critical to combating the chaos that can often surround the busyness of school and school activities. I know some of this may be common sense, but I thought I’d share how our family tries to keep our children thriving and learning and life up and running amidst our new schedules.
1. Set reasonable bedtimes. My kids can be growling bears in the morning if they don’t get enough sleep. This can make wake-up time stressful. There is nothing worse than having to pull your child out of bed, throw clothes on him and push him out the door to the bus stop all in 10 minutes! Not how I like to start my day and probably not the recipe for a successful day of learning. Now there is no magical formula for this. You know your child best but the recommended hours for children ages 6-9 is 10 hours of sleep, ages 10-12, 9 hours of sleep and 8-10 hours for adolescents. For more information go to Kids Health.
2. Prepare for the next day the night before. Have clothes laid out, book bags packed and lunches packed and ready to go. The morning goes much smoother if all your child has to do is get dressed, eat breakfast and take care of personal hygiene. Talk about the next day as part of your going to bed routine. My son looks forward to the next day if when he goes to sleep he knows exactly what the expectations are for the coming day.
3. Keep healthy snacks available. Kids are always hungry when they get home from school. We try to have healthy snack options available for them so they can get thru the rest of the day and homework time. I have found that sugar highs and homework just don’t mix. We have things like, string cheese, yogurt, fruit and nuts as options. Chips and cookies are okay once and a while but not every day.
4. Schedule homework time. You know what works best for your child. It may be immediately when they get home or may be after a 30 minute free time. Just be sure to set the expectation. In our family, homework gets done immediately after snack. We have found that it is harder to get the kids to come back to do homework once they have switched gears to play time! Getting homework out of the way opens up the evening for extracurricular activities and fun family time.
5. Keep supplies at home. We keep a “Homework Helpers” bin in our dining room that has pencils, scissors, calculators, rulers, crayons, flash cards, etc…anything that the kids may need to complete their homework successfully. Everybody knows where it is and can get to it easily. This lessens the excuse of “I didn’t have any ______ so I couldn’t finish my homework!”
6. Don’t over-commit yourself or your kids to activities. The rule in our house is one activity per child at a time. Outside activities are great and can be so much fun, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing! Kids need downtime and free time. They don’t have to be entertained every moment of the day. Over-commitment leads to busyness and that leads to stress. The last thing families need is more stress!