Tips for parents gearing up for back-to-school transition

As summer winds down, parents and students face the challenge of adjusting to new routines with the start of the school year.

• West Ada School District guidance counselor and mother, Jen Handley, emphasizes the importance of gradually shifting habits to ease this transition.
• Plus, Handley suggests that simple activities, like shopping for school supplies, can help build excitement and set a positive tone for the year ahead.

(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story.)

With summer winding down and children heading back to school, the change in routine can be a challenge for students and parents.

“It just takes a little bit of adjustment time from the first of the school year until a few weeks in, where they're back into that school mode and routine,” says West Ada School District guidance counselor Jen Handley.

West Ada School District guidance counselor and mother, Jen Handley, says it's all about gradually adjusting habits.

“We’ve already started talking about when we’re going to start the bedtime routine way earlier now, just because in the summer they can stay up later and have a lot more unstructured time. So we start about a week before school gets back in session, cutting back every half hour. OK, 10 o'clock bedtime, now 9:30, now 9,” says Handley.

But Handley says doing small things like school supply shopping to excite kids for the school year can go a long way.

“It can be really fun, and you can make it really fun for kids to print off the school supply list and go through and get all the new school supplies and just get set up for a really good school year,” says Handley.