We hope you have had a fantastic Chinese New Year holiday and we’re sure
the kids have enjoyed the break from school and have probably got used to later
bed times, lie ins and just hanging out with friends.
The prospect of returning to a more structured school day might be a bit
shocking to some families and whilst some kids might be looking forward to
seeing their school friends again, there are probably just as many who are
dreading the start of school. So what can you do to prepare your children to
get them back into the swing of kindergarten or school after the holidays?
First and foremost, you’ll need to get them back into a sleeping routine
that they will have next week i.e. school bed times and waking up early enough
to get ready for school in a calm fashion. There’s nothing worse than having to
wake your child up before they naturally wake up and have just 20 minutes to
get dressed and wolf down breakfast before you run out the door. It just sets
everyone up for a terrible day!
Don’t overload them the weekend before school restarts. Have a quiet
couple of days to wind down from all the excitement of the holiday week. Make
sure they’ve completed any homework that might be due and perhaps sit down with
them to do some more structured activities that resemble school work. If you
can get them to enjoy doing some reading, writing or number games that they
will actually be chomping at the bit to return to school to learn some more!
If your child is nervous or anxious about returning to school, reassure
them that this is quite normal and that chances are their friends are feeling
the same. Spin it around and talk about all the positive things that will
happen next week. Perhaps there’s a school trip scheduled that they will be
excited about, or a bake sale, and of course, get them talking about their
school friends.
The night before the first day back at school have your child pack his
or her own school bag and lay out their clothes for the next morning. Make the
task feel special and give them the responsibility of doing it. Maybe have them
lay up the breakfast table as well so that there is an air of excitement and
change about the following day.
Of course, it’s not just the kids who might be feeling sad about the end
of the holidays. Hopefully you have also enjoyed spending some quality time
with the children and you’re also sad that everything will be returning to
normal. Why not do something really special on the day before school starts
just to end the holiday on a high. Ask the kids what they think they’d like to
do and give them a few options to pick from.
Ultimately, we want our children to enjoy school and generally speaking
kids thrive in a structured environment so any trepidation will have disappeared
completely within minutes of arriving at school! We hope it goes well! Good
luck!
Getting Kids Back in to the Swing of School After CNY!