Classroom Confidence

Lazy summer days can make kid's transition back into the classroom a hard one. So with just about one month left before the first day of school, how do you get your kid back into work mode? Mom.me checked in with the experts for tips on how to get your kid ready to head back to school with confidence.

One of the best way to get your kid ready for school? Involve them in back-to-school shopping. “The rituals help. Getting the backpack organized, buying school supplies, getting your notebooks and folders labeled,” says Kennedy-Moore. “It gets kids geared up for what’s to come, and presents a sense of order and organization. It also helps to talk with your child about what did and didn’t work last year about being organized and what they might do differently. If the kid feels like they’re coming up with the plan, they’ll stick with it longer. The more input they have, the better. So ask leading questions: ‘Well, what time do you think it’s best you start your homework?’”

Kids who don’t do any academic work over the summer can lose weeks of progress. “So if you have a child who can’t afford to lose any time at all, it’s important to have them working throughout the summer,” says Ann Dolin, author of Homework Made Simple. “Something is always better than nothing. … Four weeks before school starts, sit down with your kid and make a plan. If they can read at least two books during that time, they can make up for some of the lost time. … They read the book, they answer questions about it. Let the child drive the conversation."

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These days, there are plenty of online games and activities that are educational without being boring. “If your kid is a reluctant learner, there’s nothing worse than pulling out workbooks," Dolin says. "Those are the kids you really need to find something really engaging for.” So she suggests educator-created learning sites like FunBrain.com and CoolMath.com. “My kids—one’s in 9th, and the other is in 5th—love this one called Tractor Multiplication,” says Dolin.“It’s almost like they’re playing Xbox. These are fun, interactive activities that have your kids competing against others online—and they’re learning the whole time. They love it almost as much as Call of Duty.”

Play: Tractor Multiplication

A great way to get your kid back into a writing routine: “Have them start a dialogue journal in August,” says Dolin. “Go out and let them pick a notebook or journal they think is fun—something they’ll want to spend time with. Then, ask them a question every day to engage them and have them write out the response. Not like, ‘How was your day?’ Something that relates to that child and things they like. For example: ‘You played well in that soccer game—how did you know Mary was open to pass to her?’” Dolin notes that this isn’t about correcting grammar or spelling, it’s just to get them writing and engage them.

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Another interactive activity that gets kids writing? Have them do reviews of their favorite movies, video games, TV shows or books. “Kids love telling you what they think of things, so take advantage of that. There are sites like TeenReads.com where they can write and share reviews,” says Dolin. “It doesn’t feel like work, but they’re writing and so they’re learning.” As always, it’s wise to monitor your child’s online activity, especially for younger kids, but writing reviews is a fun way for them to sharpen that skill set.

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Most kids will have a summer reading assignment. A great way to make it more fun, suggests Dolin, is to start a book club. “If you have a group of kids reading the same book—summer reading assignment or otherwise—have them meet up with some fun food and discuss it,” says Dolin. If it’s not an assigned book, “pick something fun, like Lemonade Wars or Hunger Games for older kids, and have them meet up once a week for a few weeks to talk about it. Especially if you can pick a book that will be a movie and then they can see it as a treat. Anytime you’re talking with others about something, you’re going to retain more of it than you would on your own. And it will get their critical thinking muscles fired up again.”

If your children have been MIA from their in-school social scene, plan to reunite them with their pals before school starts. “Plan a get-together so that they can walk into school feeling confident and they know they have someone to talk to,” says Kennedy-Moore. By putting your kids on solid footing socially, they’ll have more time to focus on other new stimuli—like fractions. The book group could help here.

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If your kid is heading for a transition—a new school, a new building, or even just a new wing of his old digs, a tour is in order. “It boosts confidence to have a lay of the land before you head into any new situation,” says Kennedy-Moore. “And this is no different. If they know where their classroom is, where the bathroom is and what their schedule be, that will ease anxiety.”

Some of the stress kids feel about going back to school is internal, but other stressors can come from outside sources. “If you notice that your child is nervous, ask what they’re worried about,” says Kennedy-Moore. “There are a lot of tall tales about school: that the 8th graders always bully the 6th graders, that the history teacher is a nightmare. If you can put some of those worries to rest, that will help.” And if you can’t? “Make a plan for handling whatever it is. If you can face it head-on, you’ll eliminate a lot of first-day worries.”

And a week or two before school starts address the bedtime issue. Bedtimes tend to drift later over the course of the summer, which means, says Dr. Eileen Kennedy-Moore, “that your kid is starting the school year with a major jet lag of sorts.” But getting them back into a school-year sleep schedule is easier said than done. “This is a tough one, because no child is going to buy into 'sleep now, because you’ll be tired later,'” says Kennedy-Moore, a psychologist and co-author of Smart Parenting for Smart Kids: Nurturing Your Child’s True Potential. Try getting them up 10 minutes earlier each day for the week prior to school starting.

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