Welcome back to a brand new school year! The energy on campus here at St. Barnabas Episcopal School is palpable. As excited as our students and teachers are to be back together again, we always notice that it takes a little while for them to reacclimate to the natural routines of the school year. Your kids will learn a lot about routine on our campus, but some of their most important lessons are learned at home.
As we settle back into a new year, we thought sharing some parenting tips on how to create a smooth, peaceful after-school routine would be helpful. Here are some things you and your family can do to set your student up for success and make the transition back to school easier.
Make Time Management A Priority
Learning to manage your time is essential to success in school and, eventually, in adult life. Unfortunately, we are all overwhelmed with distractions these days, and it can be difficult to stay focused on the tasks that matter most. Students at St. Barnabas learn a lot about managing their time. These important life skills are taught right alongside your child’s academic subjects. One way to implement time management skills in your child’s life is within their after-school routine. Establish a step-by-step routine like this one:
- Put your backpack and shoes away.
- Grab an after-school snack.
- Sit down and work on your homework.
Yours may look different, but we know that the predictability of routines helps your kids feel confident, gives them autonomy, and ensures their work gets done in a timely manner.
Minimize Screen Time
Screens are a huge time waster. Most of us know the experience of sitting down to scroll through our phone or watch a television show and looking up an hour or two hours later, not realizing how much time has passed. Imagine dealing with the addictive nature of screens while also being a young person without the skills to effectively manage their time. We highly recommend limiting screen time after school until your child’s essential responsibilities are met.
Choose Quality Down Time
We all know the feeling of wanting to burn off some steam after a particularly stressful day. Our kids have the same feeling after a long day of school. However, we want to avoid sending them to their rooms to stare at their devices. Harness that energy and encourage them to lean into activities that engage their creativity and use their bodies. For some kids, that means playing basketball in the driveway or riding their skateboard around the neighborhood. For others, encourage an art project or an after-school extracurricular. Give your kids the opportunity to get bored and see what things they come up with to clear their heads.
Set Boundaries Around Your Time
Each family has to create systems that work for their kids. In many cases, we recommend the establishment of strong, understandable boundaries for your kids’ after-school routine. This may look like saying no to play dates and extracurricular activities until your child finishes their schoolwork. It may look like having no access to screens on weekdays. It will take some time for your family to decide what works best for you, but it’s important to remember that boundaries help our kids develop in a positive, well-rounded way. They may not like them now, but our job as parents is not to please the kids in front of us today but to nurture them into the adults we know they can be.
The first days and even weeks at the beginning of this school year can feel a little chaotic. If you’re feeling like that, you can rest assured, knowing you are not alone! Now is the time to begin establishing these foundational routines. We hope this information helps! If you’d like more parenting tips, check out more of our blog posts, and remember you can always contact us for more information about joining the St. Barnabas family too.
