School’s Out, It’s Summertime!

Wow can you believe it’s June? Time sure does fly. This school year went fast before our eyes and now it’s summer vacation. Cue the excited cheers for hot weather, pools, camps, sleeping in and no homework! Next fall is a distant reality at this point….wait no it’s not!
Summer is just starting, but lets be realistic, it goes fast. It is important to not throw all your organization, structure and limits out the minute the final bell rings. While the transition to summer is an easy one for most, the transition back to fall can be difficult after a summer of late nights, sleeping in and no school work. It is important to keep some structure during these three months!
Here are some ideas:
  1. As much as possible, do not get outrageous with bed times and wake up times. Try, during the week, to encourage a time that is somewhat close to school hours. This means the switch back will not feel as shocking.
  2. Encourage fun educational activities to keep that brain working! Access Pinterest, Google or your own creativity to develop small and simple learning projects for your child. This will help maintain all of those educational gains that occurred this year.
  3. Continue to set limits. Summer is fun but no, we do not need to be eating ice cream for all meals and no, we do not need to be ignoring our chores. This will maintain organization and self control, keys to a successful school year.
Have fun this summer!
Written by Elizabeth Hamburger, MS, LMFT
Photo credit: pexels.com