Ready, Set, School!

Here we go…. another year on the horizon. For most kids, school will begin in less than two weeks. As you scramble around trying to get things together, there are things that you could be doing now that will make those first couple days of school a whole lot smoother.

Before I get into what some of those are, I would like to encourage you to take a look at your IEP and know the services that are on there like the back of your hand. The schools are not supposed to start speech therapy two weeks after the school year begins; they’re not supposed to go three days without a paraprofessional inside your child’s regular education classroom if that’s what they need; they’re not supposed to tell you that there’s not enough money in the budget to implement your child’s plan; and they’re not supposed to keep you from seeing the curriculum and the instructional materials that they’re using in the classroom. No matter what school your child goes to, as long as it’s a public school, they are required to meet the needs of your child and you with the information that you need so that you can be a more meaningful contributor towards his or her education.

Keeping the above in mind, here’s a few ideas of the things that you can do to help your child prepare for the big transition day that’s coming up:

Talk about it. For many parents of kids with disabilities, we tend to think that our kids won’t understand what we’re talking about if we sit down and have a conversation with them about what school is going to be like. But don’t make that assumption. Talk to your kids about what to expect. Tell them about the books that they’re going to read and how they’re going to learn how to write and the exciting things that they will learn in social studies and science. Most of all, tell them how proud you are of them and all the friends that they are going to make this new school year.

Reestablish mealtimes. For lots of families, during the summer we tend to get off the normal schedule of when we have breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Sometimes, even the food we eat is different during the summertime. The next two weeks would be a great time to get your mealtimes back on schedule and feed your kids what you expect them to eat during school lunchtimes. If you have a child who is normally on a special diet, such as the gluten free diet, and you allowed them to eat foods off the diet during the summertime, you are very likely to experience pushback when they get back into school and those foods are no longer accessible. Plan for that.

Sleep on it. Growing children need between 8 and 10 hours of sleep a night for their brains to regenerate for the next day. If your child is off their normal sleep schedule, set up a timer and a posted bedtime routine on your refrigerator, and get them back into the swing of things when it comes to bedtime schedules. None of us perform at our best when we are overtired, and this is especially true for children who may have a difficult time focusing and attending anyway.

Plan ahead for changes in routines. If you have a child in middle or high school that will be on an alternating schedule, meaning that they will have certain classes on A-day and certain classes on B-day, it might be a good idea to have two backpacks. That way your child knows that on A-days they use the blue backpack and it has all the things in it that go along with A-days, and vice versa. If you have young children, laying out their clothes at night and reviewing the morning schedule with them during the evening, should help prevent hectic mornings. In my house, we always set things up the evening before and now seeing my son as an adult, he thrives on preparing his things for work the day before. It makes the morning routines SO much easier!

Obtain necessary medical documentation. Many kids have health conditions that require medical treatment. This could be asthma, allergies, seizures, etc, all of which can be life threatening. Now is the time to contact the school and your doctor’s office to make sure that your school has all the updated medical forms so that there won’t be any issues that first week of school in relation to securing the necessary medication in the school office. If the school does not have the proper documentation, they will not store or dispense your child’s medication, even in a time of emergency.

Most of all, take time over the next two weeks to take your kids to a park or local museum, go see a movie, sit on the couch, and read a book. The one thing that we most definitely do not get back in life is time, but if we are intentional, we can make the most of the time that we have with our children. Don’t miss out 😊

Warmest wishes for a successful school year,

Stacey