Welcome to the New School Year!

A new school year, a new blog. I sit here on this beautiful evening, with school merely a day away, looking back over the summer and forward towards a year full of promise and expectation: every year for a child is a pivotal year; every student's journey is immense; every person will develop in important ways, many of which are hard to predict.

For a parent, it's exciting and often anxiety-provoking. How can I do the right thing for my child? What will be key to setting her up for success? What can I do to support him?

So I thought I would start with a few simple but crucial thoughts to consider:

• Be punctual. When your child is on time to class, everything starts in an unstressed, positive, confident way. Running late brings problems with it that might not occur to you in the heat of the moment: your child misses important information, feels wrong-footed entering the classroom, possibly feels embarrassed, may not be able to easily recover from this, may be confused as to what is happening, may not engage with the work, may find that the whole day feels off. Entering late is unfair to the teacher and the other students, but most of all it deprives your child of a solid start to the day. 
• Have a proper breakfast. All breakfasts are not created equal, and there is definitely food that helps your child through the morning in better ways than others. Here's an article that may be useful. (Remember, if you go with the peanut butter idea, make sure your child washes hands and brushes teeth afterwards. Peanut butter is sticky, it travels, and we want to keep all our children safe.)
• A good night's sleep. Good sleep habits are crucial to success in school. Here's an article that may be useful. 
• Plan vacations to coincide with school breaks. While sometimes an opportunity springs up that you just can't pass up, it is enormously disruptive to your child to miss an extended period of school. It is also enormously disruptive to the teaching staff. 
• Allow your child to be in charge of his or her school experience. This is a right and a responsibility for the child. They get to carry their own backpack, say goodbye with the dignity appropriate to their age, own their identity as a student in a school setting, take responsibility for whatever homework needs to be done. All this gives them power and confidence in their own ability to be masterly in their lives. 
• Be patient. Your child is learning, and must be allowed to experience that process. It looks different for everyone, and it looks different year by year. Breathe, and enjoy the journey.