Simply Back to School
by Sue Gimpel
The lazy hazy crazy days of summer are nearly over. It’s back to alarm clocks, packing lunches and carpools. How can you keep some of the peaceful pace from the summer when school starts, instead of joining into the “Fall Rush?”
Getting out of the door each morning, on time, with shoes tied, lunches packed, and homework completed, is a success to be celebrated in and of itself! To ensure this can happen everyday, on time, requires a plan that starts the evening before. A crucial element of a successful morning routine, believe it or not, is an early and regular dinnertime. There needs to be enough time left in the evening so that the children can get enough sleep to rise happily in the morning and have an awake mind and body to get the most out of their schoolwork. Pre-schoolers thru seven year olds still need 11-12 hours of sleep each night. 8 to 12 year olds may well need 9-11 hours, and adolescence does not reduce the need for sleep, teens still need 8-9 hours of sleep, though often they’d like us to believe otherwise.
Keep in mind that school is the work of children, and comes with its own stressors; intellectually, socially, and physically. Your children may be tired at the end of the school day, so arrange for some downtime and healthy snack immediately after school. If you find yourself thinking, “Not my child, (s)he is totally wired and can’t sit still after school”, you may be seeing an overstimulated child who is actually in need of a calming activity, such as a creative project, gardening, imaginative free play, or reading. With this, your child can decompress and process the day so far, and re-orient towards being part of the family for the rest of the day. Downtime after school really helps cut down on pre-dinner meltdowns for the entire family!
Tips for smooth mornings and getting to school on time:
Wake-up time: Determine children(s) school day wake up time: allowing enough time for dressing, sitting at breakfast, and any morning chores.
Bedtime: Based on the wake up time, calculate the bedtime for the youngest member of the family to have the hours of necessary sleep each night.
Dinnertime: Based on the earliest bedtime, schedule dinner for two hours earlier. This way, there is enough time for dinner conversation, family clean up, and a bedtime routine that gets everyone to bed on time.
After Dinner: Create a regular routine that is followed each night without negotiation! For instance: Family members know in advance what their part is in clean-up; pack lunches for the next day; take time to finish up homework or practice music (afterwords placing backpacks and instruments at the door ready for am pick up!); lay out clothes for next day to avoid morning searches; get ready for bed; story time, and lights out!
Prepare Weekly Menus: Less than an hour of planning saves loads of time, energy and money. Plan for the entire week your breakfast, lunch and dinner menus. It’s really simple when you repeat the same menu each week, and have more variety on the weekends. “Mondays we have this.....” You can make one complete grocery list after preparing the menu, and stick to your budget, you won’t have to think twice about what to put in the lunch, or what to serve for breakfast, and everyone will already know the answer to the question: “what’s for dinner?” Think how much time and energy you save from negotiating with your children about what they should eat?
Those parents who prefer to sleep a little later, often like to pack lunches and set things up for breakfast the night before. Others, enjoy putting their kids to bed early so they can have some quiet time before hitting the sack, saving other jobs for the morning. Whatever suits you, it’s your choice. Just taking some time to plan in advance and trying the new routine out for a few weeks, will show you what’s helpful and what areas still need some tweaking.
Sue Gimpel, Simplicity Parenting Coach, helps families design and implement the changes they’d like to have in their home environment and family interactions. Sue also leads 7 session Simplicity Parenting workshops, based on the book of the same name by Kim John Payne, MEd., now available in paperback. She’d love to hear from you what steps help you to Simplify Your Home Life. How do you keep your sanity as a parent and stay connected with your family? Please send your comments to sue@simplicityparenting.com. For current workshop schedule visit: FamilyHomeCoach.org or simplicityparenting.com/suegimpel.html.
Getting out of the door each morning, on time, with shoes tied, lunches packed, and homework completed, is a success to be celebrated in and of itself! To ensure this can happen everyday, on time, requires a plan that starts the evening before. A crucial element of a successful morning routine, believe it or not, is an early and regular dinnertime. There needs to be enough time left in the evening so that the children can get enough sleep to rise happily in the morning and have an awake mind and body to get the most out of their schoolwork. Pre-schoolers thru seven year olds still need 11-12 hours of sleep each night. 8 to 12 year olds may well need 9-11 hours, and adolescence does not reduce the need for sleep, teens still need 8-9 hours of sleep, though often they’d like us to believe otherwise.
Keep in mind that school is the work of children, and comes with its own stressors; intellectually, socially, and physically. Your children may be tired at the end of the school day, so arrange for some downtime and healthy snack immediately after school. If you find yourself thinking, “Not my child, (s)he is totally wired and can’t sit still after school”, you may be seeing an overstimulated child who is actually in need of a calming activity, such as a creative project, gardening, imaginative free play, or reading. With this, your child can decompress and process the day so far, and re-orient towards being part of the family for the rest of the day. Downtime after school really helps cut down on pre-dinner meltdowns for the entire family!
Tips for smooth mornings and getting to school on time:
Wake-up time: Determine children(s) school day wake up time: allowing enough time for dressing, sitting at breakfast, and any morning chores.
Bedtime: Based on the wake up time, calculate the bedtime for the youngest member of the family to have the hours of necessary sleep each night.
Dinnertime: Based on the earliest bedtime, schedule dinner for two hours earlier. This way, there is enough time for dinner conversation, family clean up, and a bedtime routine that gets everyone to bed on time.
After Dinner: Create a regular routine that is followed each night without negotiation! For instance: Family members know in advance what their part is in clean-up; pack lunches for the next day; take time to finish up homework or practice music (afterwords placing backpacks and instruments at the door ready for am pick up!); lay out clothes for next day to avoid morning searches; get ready for bed; story time, and lights out!
Prepare Weekly Menus: Less than an hour of planning saves loads of time, energy and money. Plan for the entire week your breakfast, lunch and dinner menus. It’s really simple when you repeat the same menu each week, and have more variety on the weekends. “Mondays we have this.....” You can make one complete grocery list after preparing the menu, and stick to your budget, you won’t have to think twice about what to put in the lunch, or what to serve for breakfast, and everyone will already know the answer to the question: “what’s for dinner?” Think how much time and energy you save from negotiating with your children about what they should eat?
Those parents who prefer to sleep a little later, often like to pack lunches and set things up for breakfast the night before. Others, enjoy putting their kids to bed early so they can have some quiet time before hitting the sack, saving other jobs for the morning. Whatever suits you, it’s your choice. Just taking some time to plan in advance and trying the new routine out for a few weeks, will show you what’s helpful and what areas still need some tweaking.
Sue Gimpel, Simplicity Parenting Coach, helps families design and implement the changes they’d like to have in their home environment and family interactions. Sue also leads 7 session Simplicity Parenting workshops, based on the book of the same name by Kim John Payne, MEd., now available in paperback. She’d love to hear from you what steps help you to Simplify Your Home Life. How do you keep your sanity as a parent and stay connected with your family? Please send your comments to sue@simplicityparenting.com. For current workshop schedule visit: FamilyHomeCoach.org or simplicityparenting.com/suegimpel.html.
