Getting off to a Good Start

How many of you have an idea about how you want your school year to look but see it disintegrating before the end of the first week? How can you prepare yourself as a family for the change in routine? Believe it or not there are some simple strategies to function as a team that you might want to consider.

1. Sit down as a family and briefly talk about what worked well in the last year and what seemed to cause stress and disruptions (anger, argument, or defiance). Allow everyone to openly talk and have input into this process which means no finger pointing and disrespect.

2. Come up with a plan for which nights (and or times) TV will be allowed to be on in the house. This is especially helpful if you have students that struggle with focus and completion challenges. How about outside time for walking pets or for running some of the negative energy off that comes from sitting all day long. Have you thought about a game night playing a board game or something that involves movement (badminton, frisbee, playing with pets)?

3. Since this is the beginning of a new year, it can be a perfect time to make new study spaces. With phones and laptops becoming everyday tools for students, there needs to be boundaries that allow students time to study, sleep, and just think. Yes, believe it or not, lying on the bed and studying a poster on the ceiling is healthy.

4. Most teens are so involved in their screen social life that this can be a challenge. They will feel more peaceful, better rested, and ready to handle everyday challenges if he/she is not sleep deprived. With that being said, computers should not be in the bedrooms. Phones should not be in the bedrooms. They can be charged in a common place.

5. The beginning of the school year is a perfect time to say, “I would like to take back our home” from the constant barrage of consumerism, commercialism, and being told what our kids need in order to live a perfect life. Sitting down as a family and talking about some of the changes you’d like to see will encourage participation instead of changes being seen as punitive. There is a way to assist your children in maintaining boundaries and still feel like a teen without making them feel “freakish” and they might call it.