In the next few weeks, summer holiday will be over and a new academic session will begin. Dear parents, I hope you are getting ready for the task ahead, like payment of school fees and sundry expenditures, waking up very early to prepare the children for school, including making food for them, regular washing of their school uniforms, supervising their assignments and inspecting their notebooks, and not forgetting the school closing time as a result of your busy day and having to quickly rush out with a scream. O my God!
Dad and Mum, the work you do is not an easy one. Be encouraged, the Lord is your strength, and your labour will never be in vain.
As parents, please use the remaining days of the holiday to go through your kids’ books and do some revisions on the key subjects to refresh their memories.
Engage them in discussion, especially the teenagers, to find out if they have any challenges or concerns they will like to share with you before they go back to school, particularly for those in the boarding house.
For the younger ones, a careful observation concerning their development can be communicated to their teachers and also let them know your expectations and willingness in making efforts to foster change.
Ensure your child connects with teachers, classmates and school environment if it is a new school. This will help their learning process. And if there is room for an orientation day, make out time and take your child on a tour in the school. This will go a long way to help the child in settling into the school environment properly.
For the children, this will signal the sudden end of unhindered fun and activities, at least until another holiday. Some adjustments will need to be made. An article on www.kyshi.co, “Resumption Tips for Students”, sets out the following points that, this column reckons, will go a long way in helping the pupils as they get ready for school.
1. Adjust some holiday habits like sleep times, screen times and play times.
The holiday can be quite relaxing, your bedtime routine is flexible. So switching back to school mode after a long holiday isn’t very easy, and you don’t want to struggle adjusting how much time you spend on your screen, playing hours, bedtime routine, and other personal activities.
2. Gather your school supplies early enough.
Don’t wait till the back-to-school rush begins before you gather your supplies. So you have to get all the items you need ready before resumption.
3. Always check your mail and community groups for updates and schedules.
Academic institutions use emails and online platforms/communities to disseminate important information on new features, schedules, etc to students. To adequately prepare for the new school session, you would need to check these outlets regularly. You can also raise concerns and get answers through these communities.
4. Ensure that you are at optimal health.
The holiday can be overwhelming with its own turnaround of events. People often get sick or unhealthy without being aware, and there’s no best time in the term to get sick or take a long break from school work. This is why you should ensure to go for medical check up and be certified healthy before you resume for the new school session.
5. Review your past performance and spot your weaknesses.
Rome was not built in one day, and mistakes are vital events for humans. According to Nikki Giovanni, mistakes are part of life’s facts, however, it’s our response to errors that matters. One effective way to grow is to honestly review one’s self and tackle weaknesses. So you need to take your time studying what the previous study period had been like for you and devise new strategies to get better.
6. Start setting academic goals.
Goal setting is an essential practice of every student. It is an effective way for students to achieve optimal result with speed. So you can start setting your goals for the new school resumption and ensure to work towards them as much as you can.
On a final note, dear parents, I hope you made wonderful memories with your kids this holiday irrespective of the stress accompanied with having them around for this long. And for the students, it is normal to have mixed feelings getting back to school after a long break. But you just have to resume and hit your academic goals right. Start working with sticky notes and writing out your schedules to help you adequately prepare for school.
Make your weekend count and see you again next week.
