5 Ways to Support Your Child This School Year

Here are five ways you can support your children or the students in your life during this critical time as they start a new school year.

#1. Technology Brain Breaks

Having a well-rested and rejuvenated child is important! Promoting healthy use of our tech tools, time, and brain power is critical to boosting resilience and conquering overload. Taking “airplane mode” breaks can be a daily routine for daytime refreshment and ensure a good night’s sleep for complete restoration.

What you can start doing today: Create technology-free zones in the home and set time limits. Learn more about how to keep teens safe online.

#2. Be Curious, Not Critical

Building a strong bond with your child can be a beautiful journey. Make sure to create connection points with them, whether it’s during a car ride, at the dinner table, or while helping them with their daily chores or school projects. Use these opportunities to ask about their day, their thoughts, and how they’re feeling.

What you can start doing today: Ask your child one random question each day. Instead of asking the mundane question, “How was your day?”, which will most likely result in an eye roll, a sigh, or the response, “I don’t want to talk about it,” consider making a list of random questions to ask them during your designated connection time. Some examples to get you started are:

What’s something you’d like to learn how to do?

If you could listen to only one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?

What TV show cast or band would you want to join?

#3. Goal Setting

The S.M.A.R.T. Goals method is a super system for helping your child set up achievable and measurable targets for the upcoming school year. After figuring out their goals, urge them to write them down, put them up somewhere they’ll see every day, and keep the conversation going all school year to make sure they’re on track. If a goal is taking a bit longer or they’re having trouble reaching it, lend a hand by talking through any obstacles and helping them find solutions.

What you can start doing today: Make Goal Setting FUN! Here’s a game you can play as a family to help you get started.

#4. First Three/Last Three

It’s been said that the most critical six minutes spent with a child are the first three and the last three minutes you see them in a day. Be intentional with your first and last interactions with your children; no distractions, no phones, just focus on them.

What you can start doing today: If mornings are challenging for your family, choose a song everyone enjoys and play it as soon as everyone wakes up. It might seem silly, but it could provide an excellent start to the day, leaving everyone smiling and laughing as they embark on a new day.

#5. Keep Showing Up

Be a constant presence in your child’s life. Many students today have experienced enough change, transition, and inconsistency from people and circumstances. Despite their claims of not needing you, or seemingly pushing you away, continue to show up for them. The payoff may not be immediate, and your efforts might seem thankless, but the impact you’re making is undeniable. On the days when you’re not feeling your best, or when you doubt your influence, or when it feels like your child is pushing you away, these are the reasons to continue showing up for them.

What you can start doing today: Tonight, before your child goes to sleep, tell them the three things you appreciate most about them. You can use this example to get started: “You are kind, you are smart, and you are brave. You have value and purpose, and I am proud of you.”