Healthy Back-to-School Habits

Are you back in the swing of the school year yet? For most parents, teachers, and students, the back-to-school season is a new year celebration of its own. This month, make a family commitment—a New (School) Year Resolution, if you will—to maintain healthy habits that will keep you focused on making this school year the best one yet.

Check out some simple habits you can build this year below:

Commit to Sleep

If your summer schedule consisted of lots of late nights and sleepy mornings, you aren’t alone! In fact, loosening up your family’s sleep schedule in the summer months is a fun way to enjoy the long days of the season. However, now that school is back in session, committing to getting enough sleep will make for less frantic mornings after everyone hits the snooze button too many times.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, school aged kids should be getting around 10 hours of sleep each night, while teens require approximately 9 hours. The best way to get your kids enough sleep is to model the behavior yourself. Have a family rhythm that encourages everyone to start calming down and relaxing an hour or so before set bedtimes. Shut off the screens and instead focus on reading or listening to music so that the whole family is more likely to get a solid night of sleep before starting back up in the morning.

Commit to Schedules

Speaking of schedules, bedtime isn’t the only time that students could benefit from solid routine. In your home, try to establish a school day routine that includes plenty of time for homework, dinner, extracurricular activities, and family time. It might sound overwhelming at first, but a bit of dedication and rearranging can help your family’s schedule work FOR you, not AGAINST you.

Commit to Communication

This year, commit to communicating with your child and your child’s teacher regularly about how things are going in the classroom. All too often, parents rely on the “no news is good news” frame of mind. This mindset can lead to problems popping up unexpectedly late in the term when solutions can seem more challenging. Stay in the loop with what is happening in the classroom by viewing teacher websites or classroom newsletters, as well as making it a point to shoot a quick email to your child’s teacher at least once per month.

Commit to Asking for Help

Finally, commit your family to knowing when to ask for help. If you aren’t able to help your child with their homework or study habits (for any of a number of reasons), don’t worry! Instead, give the tutors at Tutor Doctor.

“Sometimes, parents feel badly for not being able to give their child the type of attention that students needs to succeed. But each student learns differently, and many learn better under the direction of an encouraging third party like the tutors we work with.” – Nika Fouquet, Education Consultant at Tutor Doctor Santa Monica

“The tutors we work with are ready to work in the home of our clients, giving personalized attention to help meet their goals,” says Nika.

Happy New School Year to you and your family! Let’s work together to make this year the best one yet.