It’s That Time: Back To School in Raleigh NC

Throughout the U.S.A and especially in the Raleigh, NC ares, August and September can be difficult months since school is starting up again. It’s hard for children to transition from summer to the school year but there are several ways that parents,  nannies and babysitters can start preparing them.

One really important step that we train our nannies and babysitters on is just communicating with the child about their school, friends and teacher(s). If they see that you are enthusiastic and comfortable about this upcoming change then they will feel more comfortable with it as well. Talk about all the fun activities that they will be participating in, the new and old friends that they will be able to see on a daily basis and tell them how excited their teacher is to have them in the classroom. If you can get your child excited about school then their first day will go more smoothly.

Another idea is to introduce them to their teachers. Many schools have an orientation close to school time where the parents and child can come in and see their classroom and meet their teacher. This is very important because it will increase their familiarity and comfort level. If they know exactly where to go and what to expect when they get into the classroom then they will feel less anxious. This is especially great if your child is going to school for the first time, but change of any kind can affect behavior and make a child nervous, so this is a good idea no matter what grade the child is starting. If it isn’t possible for them to spend time with their teacher, then consider setting up play dates with a few of their classmates towards the end of the summer. Having friends and a few familiar faces will definitely help with that transition!

It is also a great idea to start preparing their minds for school. Over the summer children often get out of the habit of learning and even lose some retention from previous years. You can prepare them for the upcoming school year by reading together, practicing flash cards and playing games that teach skills such as memory retention and repetition. Please see the previous blog titled Summer Fun for further suggestions.

The last step our nannies are working on is to start preparing their bodies as well as their spirits and minds for school. Often during the summer kids have a later bedtime and don’t have as strict of a nighttime routine. If this is the case, 2 or 3 weeks before school starts you can slowly push their bedtime back to the school time. Try putting them to bed 10 minutes earlier every night or every other night until they are on their normal routine. Also, start having dinner, bath time and any other nighttime activities at the same time that they will do them throughout the year. This will slowly allow their bodies to adjust to the change without throwing them off by suddenly having drastic changes. Hopefully that will help alleviate their fighting this change in schedule.

Summer is to a close and school will be starting before we know it.   At the Nanny Boutique we want to make sure our nannies in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill share these tips to  help prepare your children for a wonderful school year!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 1st, 2012 at 5:35 pm and is filed under Raleigh Nanny & Babysitting Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.