Is It Too Early To Begin Planning For The New School Year?

Posted on June 25, 2011 by viviankirkfield

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I know that summer has just begun. Many of us are thinking of poolside parties and frozen pops and Fourth of July parades.

But if your child is starting school in August, or if there were problems adjusting to the classroom routine last year, it’s not too early to think about how you can insure a smooth transition from home to school. This holds true for older children as well as for those of preschool age.

What can parents do during the summer to prepare for the new school year?

1. Have an upbeat, matter-of-fact, positive attitude about school.

2. If your child has not been there yet, arrange for a visit before school starts.

3. Connect with parents of other children in the class and have play dates with your child’s classmates…children feel more at ease when they see friendly faces in the classroom.

4. If you don’t have a routine in place for bedtime and getting-ready-for-the-day-in-the-morning time, put them in place now. Make it a habit to discuss plans for the next day in the evening and lay out clothes and anything else needed the night before. When school starts, your child will be used to getting things ready and you won’t have that last minute rush in the morning to find the missing shoe or backpack. Regarding bedtime, please make sure you are allowing plenty of time for your child to get ready (brush teeth, wash, lay out clothes and necessary items, story-time, etc.) and still be getting to bed at a reasonable hour. I know that it is tempting to let young children stay up later, especially in the summer, but when school starts, it will be a difficult habit to break…and young children need more than 10 hours of sleep at night.

5. Make sure your child is eating a good breakfast in the morning…when school starts, this will be even more important. And what is a good breakfast? My younger son loved pizza for breakfast. Some children might prefer eggs and toast, cereal with fruit and milk, French toast and bacon or pancakes with fruit toppings. How about peanut butter and banana on whole wheat bread for a highly nutritious breakfast?

Do you have some super breakfast menus that your children love? Please share! We all need fresh ideas.

Many times, children who are fussy eaters become better eaters when you let them help out in the kitchen. If you are looking for some easy child-friendly recipes, Show Me How! has one hundred of them and teams each cooking activity with a picture book suggestion and an easy eco-friendly arts and crafts project. Head on over to my website to take advantage of the Jump Into Summer Special…50% off the cover price. The book makes a great gift for any parent, grandparent, expectant parent, babysitter, nanny, daycare provider, preschool teacher…and there is an additional discount if you buy two copies…only $20 per copy! You will be getting two copies for less than the cover price of one! And, if you order by June 30^th, we are including a bonus sheet of self-stick gold stars that can be used on goal charts and more!

Studies show that the quality time you spend with your young children now has a positive impact on their school performance in later years. This is a great opportunity to get a wonderful resource you can use on a daily basis, year after year. Show Me Howis an award-winning book endorsed by parents, teachers and national organizations such as the JDRF. To be in your children’s memories tomorrow, you need to be in their lives today. This is a book that makes it easy and fun to be in your children’s lives today! It is the ONLY book you will need to buy to plan educational, self-esteem building activities for your preschoolers. Don’t put it off until tomorrow!

Reading with Mom Can Boost Kindergarten Readiness (nlm.nih.gov)
Computers in Preschool: Hurting or Helping? (education.com)
Reconciling our 3c’s with the German education system (americanauslander.wordpress.com)
Bullying in Preschool: What Parents Need to Know (education.com)

Why I LOVED the start of school

Posted on September 6, 2010 by viviankirkfield

I know that many parents are anxious about their child starting school. I’ve addressed that in previous posts as well as how to help a child who is anxious about going to school. I began thinking about how I felt when my children started school: EXCITED, EAGER and HAPPY, and how my children felt about going to school: as far as I know they were EXCITED, EAGER, and HAPPY. And, even though it was a very LONG time ago, I can still remember how EXCITED, EAGER, and HAPPY I was when I started school.

So what did my mother do all those years ago to help me and my sister look forward to going to school with eager anticipation? I know that I tried to copy her winning formula when it came time to send my own children to school.

My mother had a matter-of-fact, upbeat and positive attitude about us going to school. I never heard her say anything negative about the school or our teachers. Children are so very sensitive to our emotions…if we are tense and anxious about something, they probably will be also.
We went to a neighborhood school, so we knew many of the children in our classes. Try to make sure that your child has visited the school before the first day…you can also try to connect with other parents of his classmates and arrange playdates so that your child will feel more comfortable with the other children.
We got a new pair of SCHOOL shoes and a new outfit to wear on the first day. And, when we got home from school each day, we took off our school clothes and put on play clothes. Somehow, that made “school” a very special place. Encourage your child to lay out his clothes the night before each school day…this will help lessen the last-minute rush in the morning.
My mother encouraged us to bring friends home after school (she was a stay-at-home mom…as were most moms in those days). Whether you have a career or not, try to set aside some time, perhaps on the weekend, to enable your child to get together with some of her classmates. Maybe you can form a group with several parents and alternate having a little monthly party to celebrate one of the children’s birthdays, a holiday or whatever you wish.
She loved hearing about our day at school…she was a great listener…what we did was important to her and she was happy to help us with homework or studying. In the early grades, I can remember sitting at the kitchen table and having her help me cut and glue magazine pictures. When I was in high school (and even in my college years), I can remember sitting on the floor at her feet, pad of paper and pen in hand, asking her, “Mom, how can I start this paper?”…and she would throw out several ideas and off I would go, scribbling like a maniac. Often, I would wind up changing the beginning that she had suggested, but her encouragement and willingness to help gave me the courage to trust my own inspiration and creativity. Try to be there for your child…always be ready to listen.
As the school year progressed, my parents attended as many school functions as they could, whether it was a meeting with the teacher or a play we were in. This showed me that what happened at school was important to my parents, and therefore, to me. Do your best to fit school functions into your schedule…if you are not able to attend an event, make sure there is someone else there to represent you so that your child doesn’t feel you don’t care…because then he might not either.

So why did I love the start of school: I believed my parents loved it also, I had new clothes and new shiny shoes, I was going to spend the day with friends, I knew my parents loved me, and I felt that school (and learning) was IMPORTANT. When my children were ready to attend school, I tried to recreate what my mother had done for me. And I hope that my children will do the same for their children.

Great ideas for end-of-summer fun!

Posted on August 22, 2010 by viviankirkfield

We just got back from a five-day vacation in the mountains of Colorado. The weather was perfect. The fishing was great. The cabin was outfitted with everything you could need…even a flat-screen TV which we never turned on because we were too busy during the day having fun outdoors and too tired at night to even want to watch anything. Cell phones don’t work there and we didn’t bring the computer. And I began to realize how life was like in the days before TV and computers and phones. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the technology that allows each of us to know what is going on in the world the moment it happens. But it made me more aware of how much closer a family could be if they were more isolated from all that is happening out there or if they made an effort to spend time together without the distractions that usually keep us going in different directions.

So here’s a list of a few great ideas for end-of-summer fun that might possibly bring your family closer together and won’t cost a fortune:

Go camping…even for the day…but overnight, if possible. Rent equipment or borrow it from friends if you don’t already have what you would need.
Check out local parks, museums and art galleries. Some are free and many have special deals for families. You might even purchase a museum membership that entitles your family to special museum privileges during the year.
Have an end-of-summer get-together. If your child is going to school (or nursery school or daycare) this year, see if you can find out who will be in his/her class or group. Invite the children and their parents…what an awesome way to help your child start the year already knowing some of his classmates. The get-together can be a pot-luck with everyone bringing something to eat so that the burden of food is not all on you. Also, have each family bring a favorite game…there will certainly be plenty to do. Take lots of pictures and have your child help you make a collage or album of this special day. He/she can bring it to school for show-and-tell…great for a child who is anxious about the first day of school…something like BILLY AND THE BIG NEW SCHOOL by Laurence and Catherine Anholt.
Plan to have dinner together as a family, if possible. And please, turn the TV off and don’t answer the phone if it rings 🙂

That’s it…just a few simple suggestions…hope they help you end the summer on a high note and begin the school year in a positive way.