Tips to Ease Your Child’s Transition Back to School After a Long Break

If you and your family have been enjoying a well-earned break from the hustle and bustle of school mornings, and your usual routines have all gone out of the window, you may be wondering how to transition your kids back into school mode without having to resort to dragging them kicking and screaming from their beds. We’ve put together a few helpful tips that you can help ease the transition back to school.

Gradually Adjust Sleep Patterns

For most families, the summer school holidays mean a relaxing of bedtimes. We allow our kids to stay up later at night, and sleep in longer in the mornings. Of course, this is all well and good until it comes time to switch back to setting an alarm to wake up early and getting to bed at a set time. Tired, grumpy kids do not make for a pleasant start to the first day or week back at school as they readjust to the old schedule.

Instead of imposing an early night on your child the day before school starts and expecting them to fall asleep effortlessly and wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed, start adjusting their sleep schedule 1-2 weeks before. By gradually moving bedtime and wake up time earlier to align with school hours, you’ll help them to transition back into school mode more easily.

Ease Back into Routines

Long, lazy mornings watching cartoons in your PJ’s are fun, but if parents want their mornings to go to plan when their kids are back at school it pays to reintroduce structure by practicing morning and evening routines in the weeks before school starts. Consider things like setting alarms, laying out clothes at night for the next day, eating breakfast together at a set time, etc. Consistent routines help kids to adapt faster.

Refresh Learning Skills

Help your child to not feel overwhelmed on their first day returning to school by incorporating light academic activities such as light reading, solving puzzles and playing educational games.

Organise School Supplies Together

Create a sense of excitement and readiness to return to school by taking them shopping for new supplies, e.g. backpack, lunchbox, pencils, notebooks, etc, and label everything together.

Reconnect with School Friends

If possible, arrange a playdate with one of your child’s classmates in the weeks prior to their first day back. This can help them to rebuild social connections and ease any possibly anxiety by knowing there will be some familiar faces there to greet them.

Be Positive

Whether you’re counting down the days until the new school year begins or are sad that the summer break has reached its end, be sure to talk to your child positively about school. Focus on the exciting parts such as seeing their friends, learning new things, and a return to fun extra curricula activities, so that they can start to look forward to going back.

We hope these tips help you to ease your kids back into school mode so they can start their academic year feeling confident and prepared!