Carving Out Time as Back-To-School Approaches

As summer winds down, parents and teachers are beginning to plan for the transition to the new school year. Before you get caught up in the daily demands of the school year, I hope you’ll take a moment and consider adding an infusion of calm to each day.  Here are a couple of easy ideas for creating an environment that nurtures the teacher at school, and the child at home. 

Teachers: you already know how to manage a classroom, plan lessons, work in time for grading papers and prepare for conferences. How about creating a little oasis in your classroom that’s just for you?  Aside from the special drawer in your desk that’s already stocked with pain reliever and chocolate, create a teacher’s corner in your room and fill it with things that inspire you and give you a lift or a laugh.

 A casual survey of teachers offered these ideas:

• family pictures
• fresh flowers
• stuffed animal
• scented candles (even though they can’t be lit)
• college memorabilia
• scented hand lotion
• a favorite book
• a personal journal
• favorite catalogs

For parents, the start of the school year signals the beginning of a nine-month race to keep up. Here are two brief intervals you can add to your day that will create an oasis of time with your child.

Get each day off to a calm start. Aside from having everything for the day ready to go and easy to find, slow down long enough to have a 2-minute heart-to-heart chat with your child. Tell them how proud you are, that you know they’ll have a great day at school, mention something specific that you know they’ll be doing that day – football practice, piano lesson, history test. Let your child know you are dialed in to their day.

After school, get a 15-minute download. When you get home, before dinner or email or telephone calls, spend a few minutes getting the lowdown on what happened at school. It’s an opportunity to give your child your full attention and really listen to how they experienced their day.  You and your child will look forward to these moments and you’ll get some valuable information about the time your child is away from you.

Going back to school doesn’t have to mean a return to the old grind. Take pleasure in the oasis you create.