Top tips for back to school

Mon., Aug. 14, 2006

By Correspondents Paula Davenport and Maryanne Gaddy The Spokesman-Review

Parents have their own tips and tricks for getting kids and themselves ready for the school year. A couple of members of The Spokesman-Review's Parents' Council shared their suggestions via email:

Brush up on skills: "My daughter says it's important for a child to feel ready for school," wrote Laurie Rogers, who also runs a nonprofit information clearinghouse(www.saferchild.org) devoted to keeping kids safe. "If the child has not kept up with reading or writing skills, or needs a refresher on skills learned last year, my daughter says it might be helpful to brush up before the first day back."

Build routines: "Summer schedules tend to be more relaxed, and that's probably as it should be. During the school year, however, I think children function better under a framework of structure," Rogers wrote. "Children tend to worry when they don't know what's going to happen next, but many children are left pretty much to themselves to make things happen. Family structure doesn't have to be rigid or punishing, but when there is a set pattern for eating, sleeping, homework, chores and getting ready for school, the child doesn't have to reinvent the wheel every day."

Stephanie Regalado, a mom of three young children, agrees. "The week before school starts, we go back to our school schedule with the school bedtime, and even a quiet study time around dinner. We wake up to the alarm clock and get dressed and downstairs for breakfast by 8 (as we do for school). After breakfast we have some writing time, and then we do an activity followed by a little snack as we head outside for 'recess'. The kids come in for lunch and then have some time to read. Reading is followed by working in their little workbooks."

Be a team: "The bottom line is that school is a family project," Rogers wrote. "Children need their parents' active participation in all aspects of it to help make it work. And if a child's basic needs are not taken care of, the child will be less capable of learning. That failure ultimately affects everyone's future."

Make getting ready fun: Regalado says her family makes a big deal about getting school supplies and lunch boxes. Every year, they set aside a day to go shopping with cousins. "They spend the next two weeks organizing their supplies and packing their backpacks (over and over and over) for the much anticipated first day," she wrote.

Be excited with them: Regalado says dad always takes the morning of the first day of school off so everyone can go to school together. "It is exciting for all of us. The kids take a picture or card they have ever so carefully and thoughtfully decorated to their teacher on the first day telling them what they are excited about for the school year … they are a little shy handing it over, but also proud to offer their teacher a little something."

With only about three weeks left before the kids head back to school, it’s time to start gearing up. We talked to teachers, counselors, a principal and even a bus manager for tips on what needs to happen to get kids – and parents – ready for the school year.

Get on a school schedule

Start going to bed earlier and eating breakfast regularly, many teachers and counselors recommend.

Jennifer Chase, a science teacher at Shaw Middle School, says, “Middle schoolers stay up late all summer. They’re not ready to go to sleep earlier and get up earlier. It makes the school days a lot harder for them. It’s hard to go from the freedom of summer to being prepared for school. Kids can be really resistant to it.”

Read, read, read

Educators hope you’ve been reading to your kids or encouraging them to read by themselves all summer long. Still, it doesn’t hurt to put a little emphasis on reading in these waning days of summer vacation.

“Encourage kids to read over the summer: the newspaper, library books, anything, even if it’s only a few magazines the last few weeks before school starts,” Chase says.

Go over bus routes, safety

Check with your school district’s transportation department about bus routes and schedules, even if they tend to be the same year-to-year. Take a few minutes before the school year to remind children about bus etiquette and traffic safety. Most importantly, show them their bus stops so they know where they’ll get on and off the bus each day.

“A parent will take a child to school the first day or two and then (after that) they’re not there to put them on the bus. The most important thing is for those children to know how to get to and from their bus stops to their homes,” says Verna Landy, branch manager of Laidlaw Education Services, whose big yellow buses log 9,000 miles a day transporting Spokane children to and from 58 schools.

Bus drivers do their utmost to safely transport every child, Landy says, but be cognizant of the fact that your children are among the more than 6,800 for whom the bus company is responsible on any given school day. Teach your children to be responsible, savvy bus riders, she says. Laidlaw offers a free coloring book to remind kids about bus safety at www.laidlawschoolbus.com.

Get registered

If you have yet to register your child for school, don’t wait until the day before school starts. Call the school in the next few days and find out when open registration begins to get your child on the roster as soon as possible, recommends Sue Betts, a counselor at Spokane’s Balboa and Indian Trails elementary schools.

Get necessary supplies

Be sure students have the proper materials. Counselors recommend picking up a list of the specific schools supplies the teacher has recommended. Try to have all of those in hand the first week of school, says Betts.

But at the very least, send your child with a few basics.

“What you absolutely need is a whole lot less than what is available. They need a spiral notebook and a pen; something to write on and something to write with,” Chase says.

Families that need help providing school supplies can often receive help through any of several efforts; check with the school counselor.

Attend orientations

Make sure students attend orientation sessions, even if they say they don’t want to, suggests Peggy Haun-McEwen, guidance counselor at Spokane’s Gonzaga Preparatory School, a private Catholic high school. “Not only are there fun, social aspects at those events, students gain confidence finding out where their classrooms and lockers are,” she said.

Set up study areas at home

Help students set up quiet study spots where they can do homework uninterrupted by televisions and siblings, counselors said. Establish regular quiet study time at home.

Get to know the teacher

Get to know your child’s teachers as early as possible. Teachers are usually in the schools and available to parents beginning the week before school starts. Stop by and introduce yourself.

Have an established e-mail account and be sure your child’s teachers have it. “E-mail is an easy way to keep parents apprised of what is going on with their kids,” Chase says.

“A lot of parents are involved in elementary school but begin to stay away in middle school. That’s when they need it the most,” Chase says. “The more parents come in wanting to be involved, the easier it makes that relationship to establish.”

Guidance counselors agree, saying communicating with your child’s teacher and school is vital. They emphasize the importance of attending parent-teacher conferences and calling your child’s teacher or school if you have questions. And, by all means, let teachers know if there are special circumstances or events going on at home so they can help your child cope and thrive.

Be supportive

Phyllis Betts, principal at Adams Elementary in the Central Valley School District, said of elementary kids, “Most of the time kids this age are raring to go to school. And it’s nice for parents to build on that natural curiosity and enthusiasm.”

She suggests parents support and encourage their children to do their best in school. “The talks and the attitudes parents have set the tone for the kids. Tell them: ‘I can’t wait to meet your teacher. I know you’re going to be working hard this year. School is exciting.’ “

Counselors recommend that families set aside some time each day – a meal works well – to talk about school and things that happened that day. Research shows kids who regularly eat dinner with their families do better academically and on standardized

“Recognize that it is a transition and that it will be challenging,” Chase says. ” Be supportive of those first couple of weeks. Even if they’re not changing schools they’ve been resting and relaxing a long time.”

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