With 6 weeks off school and no consistent school routine for over 18 months, the return to school from the summer holidays may be harder than previous years. We’ve put together some tried and tested ideas to help you get out the door on time and be as organised as possible to help you get into a good back to school routine.
Set out for the next morning
This might not be the first thing you think of to get everyone out of the door on time, but setting out school uniforms, school bags and the breakfast table the night before saves so much time. There’s no arguing about what they are wearing, who is sitting where and what they need to take with them if everything is prepared.
Use the last couple of weeks before they return to school to start practising a routine so when they do go back to school it won’t be a brand new idea to them.
Take 5 minutes before you go to bed to set out their clothes (including socks and underwear) and set the breakfast table. Layout the cereal boxes, put bowls on everyone’s placemat and even put the teabag in your favourite mug to get your morning brew as quickly as possible, this even helps you!
Get practising
Get your kids into a routine before they get back to school as we all know summer holidays can play havoc with sleep times and the routine they used to have. Start setting an alarm for the time they will be getting up for school, this means that it won’t come with too much of a shock in September, especially if they are now prone to sleeping later.
Make sure they’re getting dressed and cleaning their teeth on a morning instead of playing with their toys to ensure they know what they are doing in a week or two’s time. If they’re up and ready they can play with their toys after and it’s important to let them know that.
Get to bed on time
As parents, we all know it’s easy to let kids go to bed later in the summer, especially with the light nights, but as back to school routine is approaching, kids need to be in bed at a time that works for their morning get uptime. We all know the importance of sleep to children, so make sure you are getting them tucked up in bed with the required amount of sleep they need.
Once they’ve had tea, allow them some downtime before a bath and a bedtime story and don’t be swayed from these timings, otherwise, you might have quite the grumpy and sleepy child the next morning.
Do you have any great tips to make the back to school routine prep any easier? We’d love to hear them. You can get in touch with our team on all of our social media platforms, using our online webchat, email or give us a call.