Getting your child ready for school in the morning can be stressful – school lunches, forgotten permission slips, packing schoolbags – but it doesn’t have to be. Here are 5 tips to help you and your child get a great start to the day!
Early to bed, ready to rise
When your child gets enough sleep, they are more likely to wake up cheerful, energetic and ready to learn at school. If you have to drag your child out of bed in the morning, they might not be getting enough sleep. Check out the Raising Children Network’s great information about sleep for children.
Encourage your child to get themselves ready as much as possible. Instead of doing everything yourself, teach your child to do tasks like brushing their teeth and hair, packing their bag and making their bed. They may not be as fast or as good as you at the beginning, but keep encouraging their independence and responsibility – it will free up time for you to do other things!
Take the pressure out of the morning routine by getting prepared the night before. Anything that doesn’t need to be done in the morning can be done the night before – for example, making lunches, packing bags and reading/signing notes. Remember to encourage your kids to do some of these tasks independently too, such as packing their schoolbag and getting their clothes and shoes ready before they go to bed.
Keep it simple
Try to keep your morning routine as simple as possible on school days. Save non-essential tasks and chores for evenings and weekends when you have more time – folding the laundry and mopping the floor can wait! Try to keep breakfast simple too – quick nutritious options like wholegrain cereals, fruit and yoghurt are great. If the breakfast things are in easy reach, you can encourage your kids to make their own breakfast (and even clean up afterwards!).
Make a plan
Some families find it helpful to develop a morning schedule that puts all these ideas together. It often works well if you involve your children in making the schedule –making a list of the morning tasks, who needs to do what, and what time things need to be done.
Turning your schedule into a chart can help keep your child focused on the things they need to do and encourage them to feel responsible for getting to school on time. You can make your own chart together, or download one from the internet. Once your child gets into the swing of things, you should find you’ll need to remind less, and praise a lot more – a much more pleasant start to the school day!