September – the most important month of the year?
The start of the new academic year is always an exciting time – never more so than this year with children back to school looking more like we know it than it has for some 18 months. Setting the tone for September can give you a head start for the year – here we look at some quick tips for the coming month.
Establishing a routine
After the summer holiday a return to routine can be a relief to many and the opportunity to bring in small subtle changes to help your family life and child. In the first couple of weeks you may find your child does not have as much homework as they will have in the coming weeks, if this is the case do still look at setting the time aside for them to do some academic work – we obviously recommend RocketLearn! – we’ve also got a list of free games in a previous blog which you might find useful – if you are looking for something for them to do. If they can get into the routine of doing homework, even if it’s just ten minutes each day, this will make life a lot easier when work does start to come home.
Using the journey time wisely
Journeys to and from school, or indeed after school activities can take up a considerable chunk of your time. Try and use the time constructively - it can be a great time to practice spellings or throw out mental maths questions. It can also be a good time to have a conversation – we all know that the monosyllabic responses can be “fine” or “nothing”. A good tactic can be to ask specifics – “Did you do fractions today?” this will often illicit an indignant response about how you are wrong and also an elaboration on what they did do. More effective than the generic “What did you do today?”
Be patient
One Headteacher famously asked that the first two weeks of term be treated like a school trip! What he meant by this was as parents be patient – children take time to adjust to being back at school and may be more tired, less organised to begin with, not to mention they may find their new class and teachers take some getting used to. Try not to worry in the first couple of weeks – establish your own routine at home and let your child find their rhythm with school. There are often teething problems in the first couple of weeks with friendship groups, teachers, lunches etc – and most settle down quickly.
Keep Informed
The plethora of information from school at the start of term can be overwhelming, try and set aside some time to extract the information that matters to you e.g what day the PE bag is needed, any homework deadlines, any teacher parent evenings, topics being covered. Do not be afraid to email the teacher if you want an update on your child’s progress. If your child isn’t working or is struggling you don’t want to wait until parents’ evening or reports to find this out – you need to know as soon as so you can intervene – so do let the teacher know this.
Remember September is a great time for new beginnings, full of promise and excitement for the year ahead!
We wish you all well and would love you to join us – RocketLearn is only £10/wk giving the best of online learning and teacher intervention – flexible, cost-effective and individually tailored to your child. If your child is aged 7-13 do have a look here for further info.