Ease The Transition: Back To School!

The start of a new school year can be a stressful, anxious time for both children and parents. Andrew Spires has some smart hacks and simple solutions Having gone through the rigmarole of tucking my two kids into bed and thinking I’d got them down, my youngest (7) snuck out into the living room. “Daddy, I’m scared.” She said. “Oh, Monkey, there’s nothing to be scared of,” I said. “There are no monsters in your room.” “I know, Dad. It’s not monsters I’m scared of,” she replied. “It’s school.” Yup. Whether you’re 7, 17 or 47, that Sunday evening, back-to-school feeling never leaves you. I tried in vain to explain that fear is simply the absence of experience, that once she’d got the first week back under her belt, she’d be settled in and making new friends, but until she can experience it, she can’t picture it. Luckily, there are other ways to put the OO back into school. A child without a routine is a nightmare. Kids thrive on the familiar. Unfortunately, the summer holidays are an entropic cooking pot, with late nights and irregular eating times which whilst fun for six weeks, are not conducive to a focused and eager learner. Here’s my advice: two weeks before the holidays end, start by gently reintroducing the school routine back into daily life. Shift bedtime back in 15-minute increments. This means less of a shock to the system and will avoid those “I could go to bed at 10pm yesterday” conversations. It’s generally recommended that kids aged between 7 and 10 should be tucked in by 8pm and asleep by 9pm latest. This routine not only helps the child fall asleep more easily but also helps in the child’s brain formation. Getting kids to do any meaningful work over the summer is a fruitless task, so don’t bother. You could all do with a break. Make sure they complete all their homework in the first week of the holidays, whilst they still have their academic cap on, and you’ll save a lot of back-to-school arguments. Around the last week of the holidays, to slip them back into work mode before school star ts, organise a few ‘educational’ trips to galleries and museums, sneaking knowledge into them surreptitiously whilst get ting their brains used to critical thinking in a fun way. Everything has a home. Everything. If you have an object that floats about, find it a home. If you can’t, throw it away. It’s a brilliant method for time saving, but also for ensuring you’re not running around looking for things come the end of the holidays. At the beginning of the summer, wash, iron and put away ‘in their place’ uniforms, homework, bags and all other school accoutrements. Make sure you’ve got everything ready, as if the next day were a school day. It’s a game-changer and saves so much time and stress the night before the first day back. Shopping is always high on the agenda the week before school starts and it can really lighten the mood. My kids love anything new. I bought a floor fan and it was like Christmas had come early. Getting new school kit is a great way to get kids excited about heading back to the alma mater. Physical shopping is much more effective than TaoBao. Think erasers in the shape of pandas, quirky pencil toppers and pencil cases with hidden compartments. Sham Sui Po is perfect for this, and whilst there, you can explore the old Roman-style reservoir up on Woh Chai Hill for an educational and fun addition to the shopping trip. Heading back to school after the holidays is going to be much easier for kids if you’ve at least tried to avoid the summer slide. Reading helps with this and whilst some kids enjoy reading more than others, the key is to find something they want to read. Any reading material is good, from What Car magazine to Stink and the Zombies. You could also try titles like Rosie Revere – Engineer by Andrea Beaty, which addresses anxiety through excellent and poignant rhyme. Consider summer camps not only to get the kids out of your hair, but to give them social interaction and to engage their brains. Tr y to find a camp (many run through August 22) that engages both physical and mental activities, such as Estelle Davies’ Living Ocean Education or Kim Doherty’s iGym. If finances won't allow for a camp, especially for two kids, set them a project to do. Give them a research topic and a strict set of guidelines to complete it. We were off to France this summer, so the kids had to discover 10 key facts about the country, then look up the best areas to travel to, things to do in those areas and possible places to stay. That not only engaged their brains and analytic skills for half a day, but also got them excited about the trip as they felt they had ownership. The summer holidays give the gift of time. Use this to give the kids more independence. They can practice cooking their own lunch and dinners, ironing (under supervision of course) or popping to the supermarket to get things on a given preprepared shopping list. It’s important to celebrate when the kids get things right. My daughter, 7, came back from Fusion with not only a complete list of items, but a few extras I’d forgotten to add as she’d taken it upon herself to check the fridge and the cupboards for bits and pieces we might be running out of. That work of independent thinking won her maximum respect points and a choice of treat from the treat box. She can also take these new skills back to school which will give her more confidence to learn independently. When it comes down to it, what you want is to get your kids excited about school. Talk with them about all the fun they’ll have with new kids in their class and different form tutors. If you’re children are older, approaching GCSE or A Levels, make time for a couple of big chats: encourage them to align their passions outside of school with the subject options offered. My dad used to work in the chemistry labs at Cambridge University and was adamant that I was to study chemistry at A Level, even though for the previous five years, I’d shown zero interest or ability. So for two more years, I studied chemistry and, well, you could spell xylophone with my results. It was a waste of time and I was miserable. I wanted to study photography and as luck would have it, I’m now paid to take photographs. Life finds a way. What’s the take-home here? Work with their strengths and you’ll have happy and confident kiddos. We’re all on a big spinning ball of rock hurtling through space. Appreciate this and don’t sweat the small stuff. Children are emotional sponges. They don’t listen to what you say so much as mimic what you do and feel. If you’re often moaning about stress in the office or projecting your own Sunday night, back-to-school blues, that’s going to manifest in your kids. Astronaut Chris Hadfield said life is like flying a plane – keep your attitude (the pitch of the nose of the plane) up and your plane will soar, and it's the same for people. Keep your head up, stay positive, and the world and school become a brighter place.