As the summer holidays draw to a close, the idea of going back to school can be quite daunting for some children. After weeks of fun and relaxation, it can be difficult for children to get back into the ‘swing’ of all the routines and structure that going back to school necessitates. In many households, this reluctance to return to schedule and structure can result in disagreements and power struggles.

However, many of these issues can be circumvented by planning ahead and establishing a routine with your child so they can slowly ease back into a more structured way of doing things. Here are some simple techniques that you can use to create routines without conflict to prepare your child for a more ‘structured’ environment:

• Sit down with your child/children and draw up a chart that they can refer to. This can take the form of a list with timings or can be more elaborate, for eg. drawing the different activities or taking pictures of your child performing the different activities and allowing them to order them as they wish. This can be done in the context of a Family Meeting. Getting  your child involved in the process of establishing a workable routine for going back to school helps to give them a sense of control over the situation, and will encourage them to be more cooperative as they will know exactly what to expect from the following days to come.
• Make it clear to your child that once fixed, the schedule must be followed; and from then on, just ask your child “what does your chart/routine say that you’re supposed to do next?”.  This has the advantage of making the routine the ‘boss’ rather than you, and children are far more likely to comply with a situation or request if they’ve already agreed to it.

These are just a few examples of our Best of Parenting Tools. You can find more ideas and solutions to typical parenting challenges in our book ‘Kids Don’t Come With a Manual – The Essential Guide to a Happy Family Life‘.