Make a healthy transition back to school

Wow! Where did the summer go? It seems that each year May rolls around, school is out and our schedules go by the wayside. Then all of a sudden (much too fast for many and not fast enough for others), we turn around and it is time to go back to school and attempt to get the kids back on schedule.

The laid-back, less scheduled and structured time of summer is quickly over and we need to readjust our schedules and routines for the school year. I have to disclose that this is the first year that my family will have to undertake this monumental task. My oldest children (twin boys) are entering pre-K , which means we need to be up, dressed, fed and out the door at a specific time (not determined by the kids). Like many other families, this will certainly be an adjustment. How can this transition be accomplished in a healthy and minimally resistant way?

The first thing that I would like to address is a sleep schedule. Kids tend to go to bed later in the summer months and, in turn, get up later. Back to school means kids will need to adjust this sleep pattern and get to bed at an earlier time. It is recommended by many reputable researchers and websites, such as yahoo.com to start a week or two before the first day of school and gradually push bedtime up.

If your child has been going to bed at 9 but during the school year needs to be in bed by 8, move bedtime up by 10-15 minutes a night until you reach 8 p.m. This new bedtime will allow kids to get the adequate amount of sleep needed to have a productive day at school. This adjustment will hopefully allow more time to get up, dressed and have a healthy breakfast in the morning before the kids are off to school.

Once your kids are on the way to a good night