With summer coming to an end it is time to start thinking about heading back to school. This transition can provoke students to have a range of emotions from excitement to anxiety. With these 7 tips, you can help set your child up for success, ease the transition, and create a productive and positive school year. This back-to-school period is an opportunity to foster growth, learning, and resilience and with the right preparation, they can thrive emotionally, socially, and academically.

Seven things to help your children have a successful start to the new school year:

1. Establishing a Routine: A consistent routine is important for creating a sense of security and control. Developing a daily healthy routine can alleviate feelings of anxiety. The busy school/extracurricular routine will soon be upon us, and the best way to prepare is to lay the foundation of a daily routine now. Over summer break, sleeping schedules become more relaxed, and days tend to be less structured. Over the next few weeks gradually adjusting bedtimes and wake-up times to align with the school schedule will allow their bodies to adapt to the changes. Establishing routines for meals, homework, and extracurricular activities will also help create a sense of predictability and reduce stress. Once school is in full swing I also recommend that you eat dinner as a family either right before or after study time. This helps to reinforce a healthy family atmosphere.
2. 8 Hours of Sleep: You can help your child prepare for the adjustment to early mornings by fostering healthy sleep habits by creating a bedtime routine, creating consistency around sleep and wake times every day, avoiding naps, and shutting down electronics at least an hour before bedtime.
3. Foster Social Skills: Social skills are crucial for your child to build confidence, form meaningful friendships, and create a positive school experience this year. Going back to school means interactions with their peers and teachers. A great way to prep for this within the last few weeks of the summer is to encourage your child to participate in social activities by having playdates or spending time with friends, joining a summer camp, getting involved in an extracurricular, and limiting electronic usage.
4. Model Adaptive Coping Skills: Your kids watch you closely, which I am sure you know. They look to you for a sense of security and safety. If you model effective strategies for coping with anxiety, they will learn from you.
5. Converse That You Care: When they come home or get into the car engage them in conversation. “How did your day go?”, “Did you learn anything new?”, and “Do you have any homework or test coming up?” By implementing these steps you are creating a narrative for your children that school is important and needs to be taken seriously. By showing them how much you care and are invested, you are giving your child additional reasons to care. This is also a great time to process your child’s feelings and emotions based on what happened at school that day and can be a great time to implement adaptive coping skills in some of these situations.
6. Communicate Your Expectations: Before the school year begins, hold a meeting with each of your children present. Communicate to them the expectations you have of them this year and allow for open dialogue to hear their expectations for themselves as well. This is a great way to assess your child’s mindset prior to school beginning.

Celebrate Your Child’s Achievements: Positive reinforcement is a must! But, it is crucial to remember that kids need our support and encouragement all the time. Not just when they have accomplished something worthy of praise. While praise is beneficial kids need to know they have your support even in times when they are feeling lost, angry, or overwhelmed. So finding ways to encourage your kids when they have failed not just when they have succeeded will make a vital difference in their upcoming school year.

Seek professional mental health counseling in North Port to support your child’s emotional well-being during the back-to-school transition. Empower them with coping skills, establish routines, and foster open communication to ensure a successful start to the new school year