The number one thing I would do if I had school age children again?
Read on, friend....
I cannot believe I'm going to say this….but we are almost at the half-way mark of summer vacation…at least here in the northeast of the US.
Not gonna lie, I’m a bit stunned.
How is time going by so quickly??
If you and your kids are still waking up slowly (I love this!) and enjoying every second of these magical, long and sunny days I am absolutely thrilled for you.
This is the way summers should be. Long, full of potential, sunshine, swimming holes, books read outside, lawn games, bicycles, mosquito bites, campfires (smores!), fireflies (just magical!) and then falling into a deep sleep as soon as our head hits the pillow - dreaming of the adventures that await us tomorrow.
This is what I remember of my childhood summers and my own childrens’. We all grew up in the country. Your summer days might be filled with city parks, ice cream, air conditioned museums…I don’t know, but I do know that there is MAGIC everywhere - as long as we open our eyes, open our senses and pay attention.
So while we’re deep into enjoying all parts of our delicious summer, let’s divert the tiniest bit of our attention to thinking about how we can gently prepare our kids for the school year ahead.
OMG, I said it!
Yes. For those in public and private school, it’s coming…
The one thing that I would start right now to help your child ease into the new school year?
Begin using a timer.
If your child resists reading, writing, doing math workbooks or apps….whatever school-related activity you would like them to do (really, ANY activity), explain to them that you are going to set a timer for them. They must focus on their “work” for the specified time and you will focus on your “work”.
It is so helpful for children to see adults doing things they have to do EVEN WHEN THEY DON’T WANT TO.
If your child is extremely resistant to an activity it helps to:
Set the timer for a very short duration to begin with. Even just two minutes will work. Then tomorrow increase the duration to three minutes, everyday adding a minute. Maybe your kids are able to start with 15 minute blocks of time. If so - Hooray!
Sit down next to them. This is the perfect time for you to work on the horrible insurance paperwork that you need to fill out, or work on your taxes…or better yet, let them see you writing (yes, actually WRITING) thank you cards or letters to your great Aunts.
In the beginning it is very important that this timer apply to you as well. Later, when your kids are used to the process, you can do the dishes, meal prep or any other task that you need to get done.
You will be showing your kids that even though we don’t want to do a thing - by telling our brains that we only need to sit for just a few minutes makes the dreaded task so much more palatable. Once that timer goes off we can go do something that we really want to do - with no guilt and knowing that we did something today that is good for us!
Any timer will do - I have been partial to the Time Timer brand for a very long time. I have their physical timers - one large and a much smaller one (the one in the photo) that I use when I am treating some of our occupational therapy clients. I bought their app and use that with my students who I see face to face for reading- as well as for myself!
The trick is to take the fear and dread away from JUST BEGINNING an activity. The timer tells our brains, “Shhhh, it’s okay, you only have to sit and focus for 5 minutes and then you can play!”
I use a timer to get my squirrely brain and body to focus almost everyday.
How do you think this blog post finally got written? ;-)
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