Does anybody remember this ad? It’s that time of year again…the most wonderful time of the year for parents who have tons to get done and kiddos with too much energy!
Getting my kids prepared to go anywhere can be a challenge – Even though they’re younger, I want to make sure that they’re ready for whatever they might be learning and help them as much as possible at home so that they will be successful in the classroom.We’re a pretty busy, active family so we try to do some lessons at home and get out to museums and parks for learning in action. I can handle teaching them the basics, but once it’s actually time to pack up their pencils for elementary school, I get a bit sentimental.
More than anything, I want my children to be able to learn how to be independent learners who are confident in the classroom. I want them to take an interest in learning and feel comfortable asking questions. While I can provide guidance and assistance in some areas, I understand that school provides a complete learning experience, both educationally and socially.
When preparing for the first day of school, here are a few things our family does:
- Purchase all the school supplies early. I hate waiting to the last minute and fighting with other parents for that last eraser at Target.
- Continually build my children’s wardrobe. Even though my children grow quickly, I like to buy their clothes through out the summer.
- Complete Summer reading. We help “motivate” our children with summer reading so that their brain keeps working at some level through the summer months
- Start early bed-times a few weeks early. There is nothing worse than fighting your children the night before the first day of school about if it’s time to go to sleep or not.
One of the things I’ve thought about doing this year is bringing in a tutor for a few hours to give my children a “boost” session. Maybe for just an hour or so to see if they’re really ready for school, or at a minimum to help me see where I should spend time with them the first month or so of school. The DC area has a number of tutoring services that each have their own unique approach. For example, I remember seeing on the news details about a tutoring company, Ashley Tutors, providing specific in-home services to residence in the DC area.
I think this year we’ll work on a few topics before school starts and see how the children react to it. We may call in the re-enforcements later in the year if they struggle to listen to mom and dad’s advice.
