Establishing a Good School Routine*

Getting the family up, dressed, fed and out the door is hard work and can make school mornings stressful. If you find that you are running late for school each morning, or your children are rushing out the door without eating breakfast, then it may be time to look at your school routine and see where you could make a few improvements.

To help you to establish a good school routine for your family, Mount House School in Hertfordshire have put together the following helpful tips…

Evening preparation
You have finally got the kids to bed and it is time for you to relax. The last thing you want to do now is start making packed lunches or preparing school uniforms. However, if you can push yourself to do a few of these simple tasks before you sit down, you will benefit from more time in the morning and less stress!

Waking them up
If you struggle to get your children out of bed in the mornings, you could try using an alarm clock. Set the alarm, allowing extra time, and place it on the other side of the room to force them out of bed when it goes off. Another tip for sleepy heads is to leave the curtains or blinds open at night, so the sunrise helps to naturally wake them in the morning.

Breakfast preparation
Breakfast not only provides us with energy, but research also suggests that eating a healthy breakfast can help with our concentration, so it is important that you try and fit this important meal into your morning routine. To help make breakfast as easy as possible, you could try preparing some breakfast snacks over the weekend and freezing them. Breakfast muffins, mini pancakes or smoothie ingredients are all perfect for freezing and you simply need to warm or blend them for a quick and tasty breakfast.

Motivation
If your children need some motivation to get ready for school then give them an incentive. If they want some time on their tablet or want to watch a favourite TV programme before school, then offer this as a reward, once they are completely ready for school. You will need to ensure that you have left enough time to fit in this reward, so make sure you get them up a little bit earlier than usual.