3 Practical Things You Can Do to Get Your Child’s Brain Ready for School
The back-to-school season is filled with stress, planning, and adjustments for your family. You spend time making sure school supply lists are checked off, sports are registered, wardrobes are filled… and it may feel like adding even one more thing to your family’s plate is too much. Even taking the last lingering days of summer to make some simple adjustments to your child’s routines can set them up for an easier transition. Supporting your child’s brain with these simple things can help make sure it is fueled up and ready for a strong start to the school year:
#1: Prioritize Sleep
Summer routines often include later nights. As kids get used to this schedule, the early morning wake-ups for school seem harder and often result in decreased sleep. The brain relies on adequate sleep to function efficiently. School-age kids need 9-12 hours of sleep and teens need 8-10 hours, so it’s important to adjust bedtimes to accommodate this window. Spending the last week or 2 of summer slowly reorienting to this
#2: Stick to Specific Times for Eating
If your kids have resorted to eating on the go or snacking through the day, the transition back to school with its set times for eating can be challenging. As you prepare, try to mimic their school eating routine at home. Stick to nutritious meals (with brain foods like these) and limit snacks since they won’t always be available at school.
What you eat fuels your brain, and blood sugar instability could lead to a lack of focus and energy when your kids get back in the classroom.
#3: Start Building Up Their Sustained Mental Effort
When school starts, kids will need to engage their brain for long hours. After the relaxation of the summer, sometimes this can be a shock. Spending a little bit of time in the last weeks of summer helping your child build up some sustained mental energy can help make the transition easier.
This doesn’t have to be worksheets or boring workbooks… Some ideas for helping your child’s brain get ready for school could be:
- Reading (even “fun” books count!)
- Journaling (get some ideas here)
- Doing puzzles, word searches, crosswords, logic games, etc.
- Family game nights with brain-boosting games like these (here are lists that can help build reading, attention, working memory, or math skills)
This doesn’t have to take all day. Even building your kids up to sustaining attention on something for 15, 30, 45, or 60 minutes will help them transition more easily.
A Way to Identify Issues Before They Start
If your child has struggled ins school before, you may be wondering if this year is going to be more of the same. If you want an inside look into the way your child’s brain works, a cognitive skills assessment is a great tool!
This test takes a look at the skills that are strong (and weak) and identifies the why behind your child’s struggles with reading, learning, focusing, test-taking, and more.
Getting this assessment at the beginning of a school year is a great way to set your family up for success by knowing where to focus your efforts!
