School routine: strategies for a smooth restart

11 August, 2024 • Par Natacha Langlois

“When the school year begins, all parents have a difficult mission: getting back to the good habits of an orderly, organized life. Routine marks the return of the regular, predictable activities and behaviours that generally define daily life during the school year and that we want our children to follow. In September, we all long for a smooth day-to-day life where routines fall into place like so many little processes that govern the ‘what to do’ and the ‘when to do it.’”

Does this excerpt from the book “Four Seasons of Belles Combines” sound familiar? As back-to-school approaches, do you also long to see your kids simply pick up the habits and routine they left behind in June? Here are the Belles Combines tips and tricks to help you get there!

A gentle return to routine

Of course, when it comes to getting back into a routine, it's always best to go about it with patience and gentleness if you want to avoid grumbling kids and win their precious cooperation. So we suggest starting the process by mid-August, to give everyone time to get back into good habits without too much pressure. And to get all the steps to follow so you can do it easily and with motivation, download this handy printable!

Valuable tools

To make it easier to set up the routine and encourage everyone's independence, visual tools are essential. 

Planning appointments, activities and meals

Organize your family's September schedule right now with the help of our monthly and weekly planners, where you can write down all appointments, activities and meals on the menu, so that every family member can easily refer to them and know exactly what the coming weeks look like.

Sharing the household chores

Back-to-school is the perfect time to build or resume good habits, and the fair sharing of household chores is no exception! To make sure everyone knows exactly what they need to do each day when they get home from school, so that they concretely help the household run smoothly, take the time to set up our household chore chart, which will let everyone do their part! 

Visual cues everywhere

To make the morning and evening routines concretely easier and soften these critical moments in the family schedule, put our Petites Séquences stickers in strategic spots around the house. They let little ones know exactly which tasks to do and, above all, not forget a single step of their routine! 

The annual back-to-school commitment contract

To officially mark the end of summer and the start of a new chapter, and to remind everyone what going back to school activities and to the responsibilities of school and home life during the school year will involve, we invite you to take the time to fill out and sign a commitment contract with your kids. This contract will not only help your child take responsibility and stay motivated, but also let you clearly communicate your expectations as a parent ahead of back-to-school. Find out more about all the benefits and points to consider for this commitment contract in the book “Four Seasons of Belles Combines”!

Would you like even more content on getting back into routine and back-to-school? Here are a few articles that might interest you!

 

Would you like first access to all the content published in the Magazine each month, plus our Toolbox, which includes, among other things, free downloads that are as practical as they are fun? Subscribe to Belles Combines Magazine today! 

 

Put these tips into practice

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