Back to School & Enrollment Info

Enrollment Tips

• Have you registered with your school?
• Have you gotten all of your immunization shots?
• If your child is entering Kindergarten, have you scheduled an assessment with the school.
• Have you found out when the school will be having an orientation or open house?
• Do you have the information on doing an district transfer to another school?

Getting Ready For School

Make sure you have registered for school.

Visit the doctor for all your immunization shots.

Do your back to school shopping for: lunch boxes, school supplies, backpacks, clothes...

Put together a family calendar and keep it visible with everyones day to day activities and appointments.

Give each of your kids a drawer or box for them to put their school papers and homework each day when they get home from school. This makes it easier for parents to go through their things and locate school forms that may need to be signed, etc. Parents should sort through this once a week and file important papers and throw away things they don't need.

Set-up carpool arrangements if it is an option. Look into afterschool programs through your school.

Go over your expectations with your child (bedtime, amount of tv allowed, homework time each day, morning routine etc). Talk to your child about what their schedule will be like when school starts. Have your child take initiative with getting ready in the morning. It might help to lay clothes out the night before.

Parenting Tools for Back-to-School

Sometimes the first day of school can be overwhelming. Below are a few ideas from parents on how to prepare your child and get your household ready.

Get ready for school by setting up in advance a homework station or school supplies area in a corner of your house or kitchen. Use containers such as small baskets for crayons, pencilcases for pens, markers and colored pencils. Then store these along with extra paper, a dictionary, and any other school supplies all together inone place. When its homework time, you can avoid searching for whats needed, and the children can get started without any excuse for delay ontheir daily homework.

One other organizing tip for Back to school is: Prepare a place for storing the papers and correspondence that comes home in your childs backpack. There may be notices from the teacher, permission slips to be signed, announcements of special dates or events, volunteer sign-ups, someof which needs to be returned to the school, or put on the calendar. By using a basket or folder as a designated place to store these papers youcan avoid last minute searches.

A quick tip for getting the kids out the door in the morning:
Allow at least five minutes to load everyone and everything into the car. If it takes 15 minutes to get to where youre going, get going 20 minutes prior to allow for the five minutes of loading.

Preparing for the first day of school

Submitted by Don R. MacMannis, Ph.D. A psychologist specializing in the treatment of children and families for the past thirty years.

When summer is almost over, and its time to close down the lemonade stands and dust off the old backpacks you'll find the only thing constant in life is change. New school or not, this is an excellent time to provide children with social and emotional tools to do their best in the face of lifes inevitable transitions:

First, ask how your child is feeling. Some parents make the mistake of either filling their child with their own fears, or telling them not to be scared about the first day. First, simply listen to your child?s thoughts and feelings. If they appear or are acting upset, suggest that: Lots of children feel sad or scared. Are you feeling something like that??

Now reassure. Once the feelings are on the table and normalized, your child can more easily hear your words of encouragement and reassurance that everythings going to be okay.

Help them view the change as an opportunity. Even though it?s normal to have uncomfortable feelings of anticipation, the butterflies in their tummies can also playfully be viewed as excitement instead of just anxiety.

Program positive thinking. As much as possible, scout out the school, teacher or classmates ahead of time so your child can mentally rehearse what things will be like. Have them close their eyes at bedtime and imagine how their experience will be fun and positive.

Re-establish routines. Providing a sense of security gives children a firm foundation for tackling the unknown. Keep things loving and positive, but with a return to the predictable routine. Sleep is essential to reducing fears and irritability. Spend a few days before the first day of school getting your child back on the new sleep schedule.

Create a ritual of planning. Create a checklist of things to do ahead of time, including purchases, and make it a fun adventure around decision-making. You can also avoid last-minute panic by packing the backpack and laying out the first days ""special clothes"" the night before.

Talk about your own experiences around transitions. Its helpful for parents to teach by example. Share not only our childhood triumphs, but also times that, even as an adult, you overcame the butterflies and are happy you made a change.

Coach them to reach out. Children often wait for other kids to initiate contact with them rather than making the first move themselves. Encourage them to smile, say ""Hi"" to those they know, and reach out and introduce themselves to new kids.

Deal with your own feelings. Facing and constructively expressing your own feelings about your child's transition provides them with a great model for letting go, and also helps to clear some family tension that could otherwise affect them adversely.

Celebrate the day! How about a special healthy breakfast and end of the day celebration for their accomplishment? Give yourself a pat on the back as well!

Get Your Child Ready for a Successful School Year

--Submitted by Huntington Learning Center
For many students, going back to school is an exciting occasion – a chance to make new friends, embark on new extra-curricular activities and take on new responsibilities. For all students – including those who may have struggled through the last semester – it’s also a chance for a fresh start toward academic success. As the most important “coaches� in our children’s race to achieve, there are three key steps we can take to prepare them for the journey ahead.

Step One: Create a Learning Space: Studying is hard work, even more so amid the myriad distractions of television, technology and other factors that may get your child off-track. Establishing a quiet, neat, well-lit space for studying will help your child focus on homework, and significantly enhance his or her ability to retain material.

Step Two: Establish a Learning Schedule: The beginning of the school year is also a good time to set parameters that balance study time and leisure time. Setting aside a designated period of time after school or in the early evening that is to be used only for academic work (includes homework, but is not limited to it) is a strategy that has been proven effective for countless students.

Step Three: Set the Stage for Effective Parent-Teacher Communication: The beginning of the school year also marks a fresh opportunity for parents to establish the foundation for an ongoing, effective dialogue with teachers, guidance counselors and other school professionals. Speak forthrightly about your child’s particular strengths and interests, and areas in which he or she may need extra help. Make sure the teacher knows how to get in touch with you.

By establishing the right environment at home and a strong, positive connection to what’s happening at school, you can give your child a head start that will drive success all year long.

How Parents Can Support Teachers

Volunteer to help in the classroom. This helps the teacher but it also gives you a chance to get understand your child's school experience.

Help your kids with their reading and homework (don't do if for them). You will be helping your child by making sure your child is prepared for school each day.

Get your kids to school on time.

Send healthy lunches and snacks to school. Schools ask that parents don't send sugary items to school.

Read the notices and newsletters that are sent home so you stay infomed on what is going on both at the school and in your child's class.

Show respect for your child's teacher in front of the kids even if you do not always agree with them.