Summary

This week Alison is joined by Huma and Suzana to talk about preparing for the new school year:  How can you manage the transition back to school? How to help children adapt to new routines? And how to encourage positive relationships between school and parents.

Topics

00:00 - This Life, the chronicles of Autism moms podcast, series 2 episode 1 – Back to School Transitions

01:00 – Heading back into a new school year after the long summer break can be a turbulent time. A double-edged sword of relief of having someone else look after the kids for several hours a day alongside anxiety over what to expect. Getting ready to deal with whatever shit will inevitably fly our way!

02:10 – What can we do to prepare, if anything? Are you a planner or a fly by the seat of the pants type parent?

02:20 – Suzana – Most definitely a planner! 3 Key things I did before school started,

• Firstly I came back with a week to spare before the first day so was able to slowly get bedtime back to a early enough time to allow him to wake up early for school.
• I was mindful of his need now in secondary to have a proper place to do homework each day. I set up a workstation with everything he would need on hand.
• I made a schedule in my head for after school, making sure he has enough time to relax and chose his own thing to do before sitting down at his workstation to do homework for an hour. We’ve been doing it consistently so he just knows now its part of life and it has to get done.

07:20 – Is this the first time you’ve put a schedule in place like this?

It’s the first time we’ve stuck to it consistently, as the weeks have gone on its become easier.

08:50 – Huma, you’ve been home all summer, looking for a new school for Haider (which will be a topic for another episode!) How have you prepared?

Oh I am definitely a seat of the pants kind of parent! Every year I say I will plan everything but when it comes to it, it is a last minute rush. As long as I have the basics, as long as I have a child with a school bag and a reasonable uniform we are good. We can figure the rest out as we go.

The kids always have the worries about new class, new teacher, new work etc there’s lots of changes.

11:40 – One thing with International Schools is that not only do the kids get a new teacher each year but the classes are all mixed up each year so there may only be a couple of familiar faces.

12:30 – All the change can be quite overwhelming and exhausting, lots of early nights needed.  I’m not tired its just my eyes are tired!

19:00 – So how did the first few weeks go for you?

Suzana – Most of the anxiety actually falls on me, not my child. We are just anticipating issues based on what has gone before. Hope for the best but plan for the worst!

20:00 Huma – Younger two remained in same environment so mostly they stayed the same. Haider had to change school and actually he coped and settled far quicker that I anticipated. He exceeded all expectations. He was taken to school to acclimatize somewhat so he knew what to expect.

Top Tip for Transition

Sleep plan, start the year as you mean to go on.

Control is an illusion!

If you don’t let go of the kite you wont know if it will fly!

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