As a parent it may already seem like your job is never-ending! You must balance career and family obligations, ensuring that your child’s lunches are made and play dates arranged before focusing on yourself. If a new school year is looming on the horizon, the chores can start to multiply. Yet even young children can help out with these preparations. In fact, it does children a world of good to get involved with preparing for school. This teaches them to get more involved in their education, while helping ease any anxiety they may feel about the new academic year. The following are a few ways to get your children more involved.
Family Shopping Trips
A new year brings with it the need for some new school-related items. This includes school supplies and uniforms. You can let your children pick out a few items of their own, such as shoes or hats, to help them express their individuality. Put name tags UK on all clothing items and take a day to sort through their items from last year. Chances are, their old lunchboxes and stationery is sitting in the back corner of a closet somewhere. Go through these old items together to determine what can be restored and what needs to be purchased. Be sure to listen to your child’s input as you make these decisions, to keep them involved with school preparations.
Visit the Library for Study Aids
If your summer is filled with blockbuster movies and lounging around on the beach, your kids may be feeling a bit rusty. To ease the transition and get back into the study habit, it’s helpful to take a family trip to the library to get some study aids. Let your kids pick out some non-fiction books on subjects they like, whether it’s dinosaurs or space travel. Younger children can play with jigsaw puzzles and other learning tools, or attend story time to help acclimate to the demands of a school year.
Create a Meal Plan
It may already be a struggle to get your children to eat healthy food, but this can be amplified when you’re not there to watch what they’re eating. You’ll stand a better chance of your children eating what you pack for them if they have some hand in preparing their own school lunches. Let your child pick out his or her own lunchbox and decorate it with stickers and school name tags. You can create a menu to pick and choose from, with different categories for sandwich fillings, fruit, and side dishes. Older children can start preparing their own food, to help build independence.
These are just a few ways to get your children involved in the planning stages for a new school year. Not only does this help them feel more confident about the year to come, but it also eases the burden on you a bit as you allow them to take on more responsibility!
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