Now that summer is over and kids are going back to school, most parent ask us what should they do to get their child’s interest perked in to learning again. Lots of kids take long summer vacations and this cause loss of some of what they've learned during the previous school year. We, at Best Brains Learning and Tutoring Center of Pearland, call it a summer brain drain.

Key to increasing child’s learning interest lies in slow and steady routine change. Most Pearland schools open in mid to late August and is back to school in full swing by August end. We suggest parents develop a healthy and manageable routine couple of weeks before start of school, and slowly ease their children into this routine to make their upcoming learning year successful.

1. Plan appropriate play time indoor and outdoor.

Summer is coming to an end. This does not mean that kids should stop playing. In fact, playing board games helps a child to use their creativity while developing their imagination. On the other hand, outdoor play helps with dexterity, physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. However, as start of school year comes close, parents need to plan set time for indoor and outdoor pay time to allow children to get used to end of summer and gear them for back-to-school routine.

2. Create a Morning Routine

Summer allows kids to go to bed any time and wake up any time, however this will make it difficult for them to get back to school schedule. So it is recommended that a simple morning routine and sleep schedule should be set.

Create short morning schedule and adjust as needed.

• Set fixed wakeup time, this allows them to get used to daily wakeup time and helps develop healthy habit of time management.
• Make their own bed, this acts as first accomplishment of the day and improves their moral.
• Brush hair and teeth, this allows them keeping good hygiene.
• Set fixed breakfast time every morning, this allows them to get used idea of time limit that they need to follow in school.
• Get dressed, this allows them to learn and focus of their daily dress code for school.
• Get Ready or Leave for school, this allows them learn to be on time to their school.

3. Create learning zone and play zone in your home

After long summer vacation it is very difficult for kids to get back to specific routine and be very organized as summer allows them leisure to play with their toys around the house.

Developing zones for learning and play in house gives them structure, as most schools have classroom for learning and gym or playground for play time. To go one step further parents can even designate areas for different things in their home and help kids learn organizing skills.

For example, choose an area in your house known as the homework station. And establish sections where:

• backpacks and school supplies are kept
• important school work papers are organized
• art projects and keepsakes are stored
• sports equipment is stowed away.

These defined zones will help keep your house and life more organized and efficient as school year progresses.

4. Set time for learning and time for play

As school year starts there will be assignments and homework for your child to complete, which is graded throughout the year to measure their progress and eventually tested with STAAR test.

We, at Best Brains Learning and Tutoring Center of Pearland, recommend that at minimum, your child should daily do some math and language work to avoid any brain drain. If your child comes to Best Brains, we provide weekly work book for children to continue improving their math and language skills. However, if your child does not come to our tutoring center then we still recommend that you set specific time in a day for them to do some school related learning so that they retain what they have learned in previous school year.

It is also equally important to have a play time schedule that allows them to use their brain and improve other cognitive social skills.

Incorporating this in your child’s daily routing helps them ease in to upcoming school year.

5. Establish a daily Bed Time and Stick to it

During summer kids sleep late at nights due to various family activities such as vacation, playdates, movie night etc. However, American Academy of Pediatrics recommend sleep time from 8 to 12 hours based on child’s age, this helps child focus better during school and in turn improves their learning capability.

Nothing makes for a productive day like a good night’s sleep. We all know how cranky kids (and parents) can be without a solid night of rest. Getting your kids to bed on time is a vital part of school your routine.

6. Plan for next school day

It is a very good idea to get kids involve in planning for next day activities. As planning is ability to "think about the future" or mentally anticipate the right way to carry-out a task, this helps kids improve their cognitive ability.

You can start doing this next day planning activity few days before school start, this allows them to get in routine and helps start their day without and hiccups or stress.

Here are some tips on what you can do at night to make your back-to-school morning routine even more efficient.

• Lay out clothes for the next day
• Get backpacks ready
• Check and make sure all assigned homework is completed and in appropriate school folder.
• Make sure your pencil box is equipped with sharpened pencil, eraser, sharpener, ruler and any other item that you need for next school day.
• Prepare lunches

Starting a new school year isn’t just an adjustment for your kids, but for you too. Your own personal routine will most likely change. One of the best things to do is simplify any tasks that can be simplified and plan and practice a set routine few days before the start of a school year. We hope using above recommended techniques you can get your child, and yourself, ready and interested in learning new things for the upcoming school year