For many children summer is coming to an end and the new school year will be here quickly. Buying new shoes, clothing, notebooks, pencils, backpacks, and other supplies should be the least of your worries. Reestablishing a solid wake and sleep cycle is crucial for a successful school year and you should begin enforcing betimes well before the new school year starts. Here are a few tips on preparing your children for the return of school.

Bedtime Routines

Most of us don’t allow our children to completely abandon their bedtime routine during the summer, but we do become more lax about the rules. We allow our children to stay up later watching television, playing games,  or reading, and then we let them sleep in the following morning. Two months of this and it can change a child’s sleeping pattern causing trouble when they have to get up early and function at school. To combat the new sleep cycle become stricter with your children concerning bedtime.

About two weeks prior to the start of school, provide your children with advanced warning. For example, on a Friday prior to staring the reprogramming, announce to your children that starting Sunday night their new bedtime will be eight o’clock (earlier or later depending on your child’s age and when they need to way up for school). Explain to them that they need to start preparing for school to begin, and enforce the bedtime each night until school starts. Also restrict playing video games or watching television late at night as this can contribute to an increased resistance to go to bed, create problems for your child to fall asleep, and may even create anxiety about sleep. You may want to set limits on reading while in bed and limit snacks too close to bedtime to help your child sleep better. Lights out mean just that, your children need to go to sleep once they are in bed to establish a proper sleep and wake cycle.

Increase Daytime Activity

After a week of getting your children to bed on time, the resistance should be minimal and the pattern should be taking shape. One way to encourage them to actually fall asleep when you put them to bed is providing adequate levels of activity during the day. Get your children up and moving if they are doing this less frequently than at the start of the summer. Take a hike at a local park, ride bikes, or go swimming. Anything that requires your child to exert energy. The increased level of exercise will help their bodies establish a new rhythm and the need for greater amounts of sleep.

Morning Routines

Finally, about one week prior to starting school, begin getting your children up at their scheduled times. If the bus picks your child up at 7 a.m. or you have to leave your house by a specific time, then give your child an hour to get ready. This means a 6 a.m. sunrise. Yes, that is early for a young child, but necessary to get them out the door on time (this can be adjusted to meet the needs of your child as the year progresses; more or less time may be required). During the practice mornings, treat them as if your child was really going to school. Establish your morning routine of getting up, getting dressed, brushing/fixing hair, eating breakfast, and brushing teeth. The first morning this may be difficult, but as the week goes, your child will become more accepting and possibly excited that school is getting ready to start.

Each morning, as time allows, encourage your children to read or practice skills for school. This may include math, writing, or a review of some of last year’s work. This will get their minds back in the learning mode and make the transition to school easier.

Establishing routines, both bedtime and morning, will help ease your child back into school regardless of age or grade. Reducing stress, encouraging healthy sleep, and providing a solid start to the year can make the process easier and happier for your children.

Do you have any tips on how you prepare for the start of the new school year? Our readers would love to hear from you and what you do to help your children. Please feel free to post questions or comments.