The end of summer is near. In the Bay Area school will be starting in 3 short weeks and I feel like we just got out of school! I have really enjoyed this summer. My family has not done much but swim and play golf. My daughter's preschool actually just wrapped up last week so it has been nice to be able to keep her schedule going.
Being that I will finally have my own child in school, she is starting kindergarten, it is giving me a new perspective on the beginning of school. We just got the list of all the supplies she needs and MAN! I am broke just thinking about it. My daughter will be wearing a uniform to school and for that I am thrilled. Just having one thing completely decided for us each day will be a burden off my back. I am also trying to go back to work full time so there are a lot of changes in store.
I find that for students going into 3rd grade this year is a big jump. More homework, more independence come with moving up the ranks. Some kids really thrive on it and others are going to have a really tough time. Organization is key. My hope would be that your childs teacher hands out a homework helper each week to allow kids to write down what is due and when. Having this will really help visual learners so if your child's teacher doesn't do one, I would suggest creating one that your child can use. It makes it so easy to see what needs to get done each night.
My other BIG suggestion is stay on top of your children. Check their binders often, talk about school, drag details out of them if you must. You never want to open your child's binder only to find that you have to dump it out to start the organizing process over completely. That is a sure fire way to make your child feel unsuccessful.
Now is the time to start scaling back into a more reasonable bedtime. 10 p.m bedtimes in the summer can become the norm when on vacation and doing fun things. 10 p.m. is not a reasonable bedtime for an 8 year old. I will say it again. 10 pm. is NOT a reasonable bedtime for an 8 year old. I go to bed at that time and I am 36 (yep, I said it!). When your child is up around 6:30 a.m. during school going to bed around 8:30 p.m. is much more acceptable. I am not saying you need to switch bedtime 3 weeks before school starts but easing into will be much easier on everyone.
My family is heading out on our last big trip of the summer. When we return it will be time to prepare us all. I hope that it goes smoothy for all of us!
