Hendrick Health provides tips to building effective school routines

It’s time for earlier alarms, packed lunches and other schooltime tasks for children. Providing structure through routines for important times of the day can ease the summer-to-school transition and set the stage for a healthy school year for your youngsters.

Hendrick Health offers effective strategies for making the most of bedtime, morning and after-school routines.

Bedtime

Children used to late summer nights often need time to adjust to an earlier school-year bedtime. To help you and your child settle down earlier, try to stick to a simple and calming prebedtime routine.

These rituals may include:

• Bathing
• Brushing teeth
• Reading for a few minutes

Another helpful strategy is to lay out clothes and gather essentials the night before to save time in the morning.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends the following amounts of sleep each day for optimal health and well-being:

• Children ages 6 – 12 need nine to 12 hours.
• Teenagers need eight to 10 hours.
• Adult need seven or more hours.

Morning

Making sure to have a consistent wake-up time allows your child’s body to acclimate to the new weekly routine.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children start the day with a nutritious meal and hydrating with water.

If preparing nutritious breakfasts and lunches is a challenge in the morning for you or your child, consider the following:

• Meal prep in advance to have food ready to go for several days
• Have children help choose their food
• Include fresh fruits and vegetables for a variety of colors and textures

After school

For students, after school can often be a flurry of extracurricular activities, homework, free time, dinner and trying to find time to unwind. The following key points are helpful in guiding them to find balance between work and fun.

• Plan with your family a schedule for specific times for tasks to communicate to your child what’s expected of them.
• Help your children find a physical activity or sport to stay active and to help their body and mind release tension.
• Keep the schedule flexible to avoid children feeling overwhelmed or restricted.

Getting back into a routine takes time, but the results will be worth the effort.