While it still feels like summer outside, store shelves are stocked with notebooks and pens, school crossing guards are directing traffic, and Facebook feeds are full of grinning kids happily headed off to school. Yes, Back-to-School Season has arrived!
Along with the scramble to find missing backpacks, use this time of year to review your family routines, tweaking them for your children’s new schedules. Also, consider how your children have matured since last year, and how they can show their increased maturity with new responsibilities.
It’s very important to communicate with your au pair any changes to her routine schedule and duties. Consider the following discussion topics for your weekly meeting:
- Au pair’s work schedule
- The children’s school and activity schedules (school holidays, teacher work days)
- School drop-off and pick-up (how does this work and who does it). Be sure to add your au pair to your list of people allowed to pick up the kids from school
- What to do if a child is staying home sick, late to school, dismissed early
- How to tell if school has been cancelled or delayed for bad weather
- What to pack for lunch
- After school routine (do they have free time before starting homework, what to give for snack, any chores, where do they put their backpacks & lunchboxes)
- How to communicate about what’s going on at school (Kids in Care Log Books are available upon request from APIA)
- Any other changes in routines, bedtimes, meals, and job duties.
You may find the following articles helpful in considering your plan for the school year:
- The American Academy of Pediatric’s Healthy Children
- Positive Parenting Solutions Blog