DUBAI // With less than a month to go before the start of the new academic year, Fatma Al Marri, chief executive of the Dubai Schools Agency, says this is a good time to start helping children transition back to a school routine.
“Managing their sleeping time will be a challenge because some people, they just let their kids stay up late at night, they don’t keep their routine as before,” said Mrs Al Marri, adding that there is “no recipe for all” when it comes to putting kids to bed at a decent time.
She suggests increasing the child’s daily exercise, making sure they eat nutritious meals and cutting out sweets at night to help them get a good night’s sleep.
Mrs Al Marri advises against making school sound like a chore or talking about it in a way that might cause the children unnecessary stress or pressure about their imminent return.
“I don’t want the kids to think of school as something bad and then they think the break is good,” she said. “They have to put their kids in a mode that it’s a new year, it’s a new start, it’s a new grade, it’s new friends. You know, taking the positive side of the school.
“It’s not all homework, duties, something which kids hate. Let’s look at the bright side of it. ‘We’ll go back to school, we’ll go back to fun, we’ll go back to friends. We are growing up.’ So I think this is what parents have to work on, getting their kids emotionally prepared for the school.
“I think academically, they are ready because they finished the school year, and they are still learning through the summer break and they will be ready for the next academic year.”
rpennington@thenational.ae
