Worried, and so, looking to overcome/reduce lateness to school this term?
Best believe you’re not the only one struggling with this. I’ve had my fair share of the struggle too, and here are 6 tips that helped me overcome.
1. Get Into A Routine; Prep Ahead
The first step in curbing lateness to school is deciding when to go to bed at night and when to get up in the morning. Most importantly, you have to find a way to stick with it everyday.
It’s usually best to have the kids and you of course, sleep at a reasonable time. This helps them rest well ensure they do not wake up cranky or slow.
If you’ve gotten accustomed to oversleeping during summer break, and that’s the problem now, try easing back into the swing of things with a gradual approach.
Instead of attempting to wake everyone up at the crack of dawn in these first weeks, try setting your alarm slightly earlier each day.
Do this until you’re better able to get up at the suitable time.
2. Arrange Uniforms, School Bag, Lunch, The Night Before
Rummaging in drawers and closets is a time waster if you do it almost right before you are ready to go.
That’s why it’s better to pick their shirt, pants, socks and shoes at night. Put them where they can find them easily in the morning.
Make sure their books are put back into their bags after homework is done, decide what will be in their lunch bags, meal prep the ones you can.
Overthrowing lateness to school this term depends a lot on your preparation the night before.
And please, keep breakfast simple. Unless you’ve prepared it the night before, an elaborate meal will likely take too much time to cook and clean up in the morning.
Ensure you eat things such as cereal and toast that can be done in minutes.
3. Complete Homework On Time
Imagine having to check off waking up on time, bathing them, setting up breakfast, arranging lunch, and somehow finding time to throw homework into this mix.
It’s simply why it’s best to ensure your child’s homework is completed at night so you don’t have to rush to do it in the mornings.
This means you should get everything done before they go to bed or even sit down to watch TV or play video games.
Consider scheduling a fixed time (let’s say 1hour after back-from-school lunch time) because the longer you delay doing the work, the more likely they’ll be not to complete it.
4. Dress Up First
I learnt this one early.
Before they eat breakfast in the morning, make sure they’re wearing their their school uniforms.
This will save time as you prepare to have them out the door because they won’t have to backtrack to their rooms or the bathroom.
Also Read: What To Do When Your Child Is Prone To Getting Infections From School
They’ll be ready to leave the moment they’ve finished eating.
5. Delegate Tasks; Ask For Help
Ask your spouse, parents, etc. to help you put together a system of sharing tasks to save time in the morning.
If you have a househelp, brothers and sisters, your mum or dad living with you, you can make sure each of them have specific tasks to complete when it’s school-time.
This helps ensure that a single person isn’t responsible for doing everything necessary before the day begins.
For example, as you prepare their breakfast, your sister can gather everyone’s backpacks and another family member can help you dress them up– all at the same time.
All of you will finish these chores in a matter of minutes if you work together.
6. Put School Items In One Place
It’ll help to have a central spot where you keep all school items (bags, papers, pen boxes, etc.).
That way everyone can grab what they need quickly and no one will be searching for missing items while the school bus is waiting outside.
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