Hi, from the teacher! I hope you enjoyed your break. I am sure that you kept your kid in a reasonable bedtime routine and that you scheduled regular, well-balanced meals, and did not let them spend hours a day brain rotting on Fortnite. Right?
Well, then. Let’s get back to school and make 2026 the best year yet!
But seriously…if you’re wondering how to help your child get a fresh start back to school this new year, I’d love to share my favorite teacher tips. I doubt they will surprise you, but let me remind you that some simple changes outside of school have literally been proven to turn a child’s confidence, behavior, and feelings about learning completely around!
So here we go:
Read.
Every day. Read to them. Read with them. Listen to them read. Listen to an ebook read. I don’t care. Force them to sit their butts down (or roll around on the floor) and fill their minds with stories. Don’t make it about school or about AR points or about homework. Just make it fun!
We did our winter benchmark reading test last week and a little friend told me that she has started reading with her mom every single night for twenty minutes. Her reading score shot up 25%! You may not think it matters, but it does. And if you haven’t started, or if you’ve gotten lax about it, now is the perfect time to start over.
Play Games.
I mean it. Card games. Dice games. Board games. Mystery games. Silly games. I cannot tell you how many children I teach who do not have proper number skills and problem solving basics because they don’t play traditional games! Games are critical for school-aged children. And besides that, family time is priceless. Speaking of…
Family Time.
Redundant, I know. But please…please, please. Schedule family meals at home around the table as often as possible (there are studies about this, people). No screens. No TV. Just conversations. We have a practice called High/Low/Buffalo: high of the day, low of the day, a random thing that happened. We also love to use fun conversational/ice breaker type games (I find a lot of them on clearance at Kroger). We leave the box on the dinner table and grab a card or two during dinner.
I’ll tell you why this matters: Because one day when your teenager comes home from her first year of high school and acknowledges that she has a healthy home life…the dinner table will be where it started.
Limit…
I won’t say it, but we all know it. Some of you are great at it. Some of us are not. Let’s put it this way…if you can provide fun, family-oriented alternatives, then screen limits automatically happen. And limited screen time leads to better attention spans, more positive social interaction, and less stress at school. It’s fact now. Did you know that within just a few minutes of being off of screens, children are more emotionally regulated, and their cortisol levels begin to drop. Minutes. Give them those regulated minutes back, learning will return, too.
Also consider limiting…sports.
I know, I know. They love it. And I love sports! But folks…they only get one childhood. And while yes, well-rounded kids make great learners, children were not designed to push a 60-hour work week. (In fact, the stress epidemic in our society suggests the opposite.) So this new year, be their biggest fan not just by supporting their team, but by also prioritizing your family health over their future athletic careers. After all, only one of those things will last.
