back to school foundations

By now we're all Back to School.
I've started to get a few emails from parents
asking for support about school transitions.

Here's some Back to School Foundation ideas
for smooth sailing all year long.
(If you homeschool, 
or have little ones still at home,
these foundations are for you too.)

Let's start with a little quiz!
(Hey, if the kids have to do it...)

What is the #1 most important requirement
for your child to be able to excel
academically and socially at school this year?
Guesses?

Children need to feel good about themselves at school.
(Or at home, if you homeschool).

Children should, for the most part,
be relaxed at school.
They should feel like they can be themselves,
and that their teachers likes them.

Now let's be honest.
Life is stressful,
and school can be too at times.

But if your child truly protests about going to school,
seems upset or nervous when they're there,
is being bullied,
or if you observe that the teacher is not emotionally-attuned to them
--- your child will have a hard time learning.

And any academic learning that does happen may be at a cost 
to their emotionally well-being and learning.

Children deserve to feel good at school.

What to do if your child is stressed about school?
* Talk to the teacher, right away.
* Seek out the guidance counselor.
* If neither of these people are helpful,
look for the person at school who your child feels 
most connected to--- and talk to them.
* Seeking out a counselor,
who is up-to-date on the latest brain science.
* Contact me to learn more about my Back to School Support Packages.

Let's eat!
Growing bodies and brains need high-quality food.
This is another non-negotiable.
I worry when children eat boxed cereal for breakfast,
eat all their snack food at school,
and only take two bites out of their sandwich 
or other main entree for lunch.

Then they come from school,
or are in aftercare,
and have goldfish and those fruit juicy snacks
for an after school snack.

Now it's 5 or 6 pm,
and these kids haven't had a real meal all day.

Growing bodies and brains need high-quality food.

What can you do?
* Serve breakfast for dinner.
Left-over dinner from the night before is easiest.
Chicken, fish, hot dogs with broccoli and rice or quiona
are common breakfasts in our house.
Other families serve breakfast burritos.

I know it can be busy in the morning,
and your child may not have the palate 
for left-over dinner first thing in the am.

* If that is the case, think high protein
however you can get it.
Growing brains need protein.

Other ideas?
* Ask the teacher or lunchroom person
to do a check-in with your child
about their lunch.
These adults can offer Encouragement
(no forcing!)
to try, eat, or finish their main lunch entree.
* Saving snack food for after your child
eats the the main entree 
is another idea.
* Serve a high-protein, meal-like after school snack.
Do what works best for your family.
If the family sit down dinner
when everyone gets home
from school/work
​is important in your family,
wonderful.
But do feed your child substantial nourishment
right after school, if you know
they're not eating much of their lunch at school.

Quality Time with you
I know life can get crazy hectic. 
But quality time with you is 
sssssooo important.
Families are way over-scheduled these days.
But quality time with you is even more important
than extra-curricular activities.

Quality Time with you is essential 
to your child's academic and social success,
as well as their emotional health.

So schedule in 10 minutes of child-led
quality time activities everyday
(or 30 minutes weekly for older children)
to fill up your children's emotional cups.
This is a top priority,
and can be hard to make happen.
Click here for a Positive Discipline
article about Quality Time with kids,
and this one about Spending Quality Time
with teens.

There's my Top 3 Back to School Foundations for a happy and healthy school year.
What are your top Back to School Foundations?
Leave a comment below.