Child Health 411

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It’s that time again! Whether your child is getting on the bus for the first time or he’s starting his senior year, it’s exciting and stressful for parents and students alike.

Besides buying the coolest backpack and pencil holders, here are a few other things to add to your back-to-school checklist:

1. Self-discipline: Have a conversation about personal responsibility. As a parent, it’s our inclination to rescue our kids… which sometimes means making a special trip up to school to drop off the homework that got left on the kitchen table. But, school gives children an opportunity to practice their life skills in a safe environment. Let your child forget his homework and let him see the consequence of being disorganized. These are teaching moments.

2. Confidence: Talk about making good decisions and sticking to them. A child with good self-esteem will not cave to peer pressure. She will lead and not follow. Remember those words every exasperated parent has shouted, “If everyone else was jumping off of a bridge, would you?!” Make your child feel good about her reasoning and judgment. Then, you won’t have to worry that she will blindly follow others.

3. Exercise: If your child plays a sport, exercise time is automatically part of his schedule. But many tweens and teens don’t exercise on a regular basis if they aren’t involved in a team sport. Make physical activity part of your child’s daily routine. Kids spend several hours a day sitting in a desk, and then a few hours (or more) sitting down to do their homework. Make exercise a priority and a mental health break.

4. Set media limits: Twitter, Facebook, cell phones, text messaging, video games, TV shows, and surfing the web… need I go on? As if school, homework and after school activities aren’t enough, electronic communications and screen time can take up the rest of a child’s waking hours. Make a family plan to spend time together without disruption from a TV or a friend who is calling or texting your child during dinner. Turn off the electronics completely or set a curfew for them.

5. Sleep: Sleep is powerful and underrated. With so many things on your child’s plate, she may sacrifice sleep to cram for a math test or have a text conversation with her best friend. Remind your child how much better she will feel (and how much better she will perform on that math test) if she gets the sleep her body needs. Set a reasonable bedtime and try to enforce it as much as possible.

Happy school year!

What’s on your back-to-school checklist? How do you prepare your child for the start of the school year? Share your tips with the Parenting Community.