The ABCs of Back to School
Make this year healthier, safer and saner

Ylva Van Buuren

The start of a new academic year often evokes feelings of anticipation and dread...in you and your kids. Here’s an alphabetic roundup of information and advice to help make the school year a good one for pupils and parents

ANXIETY

A new school year can be an anxious time, says Dr. Barry Schneider, a psychologist and professor of child psychology at the University of Ottawa. “Young kids are leaving their small protected preschool or day care and will face older students, larger classes and unfamiliar routines,” he says. Before school starts, introduce your kids to their teachers, explore the school together and practise the walk to school. Tummy aches, fidgety hands or eye ticks may be an indication that a child’s anxiety is more severe and it might be wise to see your health-care provider.

Older kids usually have peer group-related issues (will they be accepted by classmates and have friends?). Don’t dismiss their concerns, says Schneider. Listen sensitively. Tell your preteen, “I hope the year goes well, but if it doesn’t, we’re here to listen and help as best as we can.”

BULLY BULLY

You can’t prevent bullying, but you can prepare your children by talking about bullying with them. “Tell them that the worst thing is to keep it a secret,” says Schneider. Bullies get away with what they do because their actions are covered up by victims and bystanders. Tell your child that if he is bullied or sees someone being bullied, he should speak to a teacher or a parent right away.” Find out how your child’s school deals with this issue — preferably with increased supervision and letting bullies know they’re being watched.

Photo by iStockphoto

CONVENIENCE COUNTS

To make your rushed mornings easier, set up a drawer in the kitchen devoted to lunch packing — bags, plastic cutlery (no knives!), napkins, food containers and healthy snacks such as dried fruit and sunflower or pumpkin seeds.

DAILY DAIRY

Help keep your kids’ bones and teeth strong. Ask whether their school has a milk program and add calcium-rich milk puddings, cheese as well as lower-fat yogourt cups and dips to lunch bags. (More than one third of Canadian children ages four to nine don’t get the minimum recommended two servings of milk products a day.)

EASY TO EAT = MORE EATEN

Cut sandwiches, vegetables and fruit into bite-sized pieces or interesting shapes to encourage young children to eat their lunch instead of using it to play   lunch-bag football in the playground. Kids need five to 10 servings of fruits and veggies a day.

FOODS THAT KILL

Photo by Jill Fromer/iStockphoto

When kids have life-threatening food allergies but parents can’t be on hand to supervise what they eat, it’s scary. Montreal mother Mary Allen, who heads the Allergy/Asthma Information Association and has a son with severe allergies, says the biggest concern is anaphylaxis, the most severe allergic reaction. “If your child has a serious food allergy, you need to prepare and educate both the child and the school,” says Allen.

• Ask about the school’s allergy-management policy.
• Have your child’s doctor write an emergency plan that explains what to do in case of a reaction — and share it with all school staff, including lunchroom and playground supervisors.
• Give the school an epinephrine autoinjector and ask staff to keep it in a secure, unlocked, easily accessible place.

GYM DANDY

Find out if your child’s curriculum includes phys. ed. If it doesn’t, lobby for it. And
be sure your child gets regular exercise in other ways. More than half of children are not active enough for optimal growth and development, according to the Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS). Kids need 90 minutes of physical activity per day. All activities count, from organized team sports to biking and playing outdoors just for fun. Help kids incorporate activity into their daily routines. Give them active chores (putting out the garbage) and have them walk to school. If your kids are little, consider joining a Walking/Cycling School Bus program (www.goforgreen.ca), in which adults accompany groups of children to and from school.

HELMETS

If your children bike, rollerblade or scooter to and from school, make sure they wear their  helmets then and at other times, too.

ICE AND FIRE

To prevent spoilage, use ice packs to keep cold foods cold and Thermos bottles to keep hot foods hot. “Double- check that your flask is effective — some aren’t — before you use it,” says Susan Fyshe, health promotion and networks coordinator for the Canadian Health Network, an online health information organization.

JUGGLING ACT

Don’t give your child too many extracurricular activities to juggle along with his school work — this is programming kids at an early age to be overly busy, says Dr. David Posen, a stress consultant in Oakville, Ont., and author of The Little Book of Stress Relief (Key Porter Books). “Many kids are overscheduled, over-programmed and overloaded.” Posen’s rule of thumb: limit a child’s scheduled activities to two per term (one should be a physical activity such as swimming; the other could be a creative activity such as music lessons or drama classes.

KICK IT LIKE BECKHAM

Encourage children to be active when they first come home. “They’ve been sitting all day and need to burn off steam. Allow them to play outside after school rather than insist they do their homework right away, ” says Dr. Glenn Berall, chief of pediatrics at North York General Hospital in Toronto. In fact, get involved yourself.

• Kick around a soccer ball or jump rope with your kids.
• Play music and dance with them.
• Take the dog for a walk together.
• Go to a playground and help them climb and swing.
• Play hide and go seek.
• Make a game of raking leaves (see who can make the biggest pile the fastest).

LOUSY LICE

Head lice spread easily among children in close contact with one another every day. The tiny insects live on the scalp and lay oval-shaped eggs called nits, which stick firmly to hair near the scalp.

Here’s what to do.

• Check your child’s scalp if he is scratching his head or if a friend or classmate has head lice.
• Teach your child not to share her hats, brushes, helmets, barrettes and towels.
• Keep long hair tied back if lice have been found in your youngster’s school.
• Treat children ASAP by combing out nits with a fine comb and washing hair with a special lice shampoos), the CPS recommends.

MEET THE TEACHER

Make a point of opening up the lines of communication with your child’s teacher early in the year before problems arise. At the first sign of trouble, sit down with her to discuss any behavioural or stress problems.

NUTRITION AND WEIGHT

Send healthy messages about eating to school kids.

When Patty Maule, a registered nutritional consultant in Aurora, Ont., saw her two boys being influenced by the poor eating habits of other kids in school, she organized workshops for parents about healthy food choices.

Have a friendly chat with the teacher about classroom policies.  “Ask the teacher not to give candy as rewards for good work, but rather colourful toothbrushes or stickers,” Fyshe says. Suggest that the class hold a healthiest-lunch contest. “Each student brings in her best effort and explains why it’s healthy, then everyone votes on the offerings.” Or launch a build-a-sandwich day (bring in healthy fixings and let kids get creative).

Pass on healthy messages about weight to your children — by not obsessing about your own weight and not using food as a reward and punishment. Check with your doctor to see if your child is currently at a healthy weight, says Berall.

ORAL HEALTH

If you’re lucky, you may be able to get your child to brush after lunch at school by packing a cool-looking toothbrush and a fruit-flavoured toothpaste in his knapsack. Barring that, make sure he flosses, then brushes for a full two minutes at home after breakfast and before bed. Make lunches tooth-friendly by giving kids water
instead of sugary pop or sweetened juice, and avoiding sugary desserts and snacks.

PEACEMAKING

Encourage your child’s school to develop a playground peacemakers program that teaches co-operative games, discourages teasing and fighting, and trains selected older students to troubleshoot when playground problems arise with younger kids.

QUIET TIME

Make sure your youngsters enjoy some unorganized quiet time each day of the school week. Read them a story or have a quiet chat before bed; this helps everyone relax after a busy round of activities.

ROUTINES

Now that the unstructured days of summer vacation are over, establish a healthy daily routine (bath times, bedtimes, meal times, times for play and homework) and stick with it. Kids thrive on predictability, especially during the demanding school year.

SAFE PASSAGE

Set and review safety rules for travelling between home and school, whether your child walks, bikes or buses. Follow Elmer the Safety Elephant’s rules. Look all ways before crossing the street; keep away from parked cars; walk when you cross the street; and always wear your seat belt in a car.

TEXTBOOK TRAUMA

Carrying knapsacks with heavy loads of books can damage kids’ backs. Children tend to overstuff their backpacks, but a pack’s weight should never exceed 15% of a child’s weight, says Dr. John Philpott, a pediatric sports medicine specialist at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto. “Watch how your kids walk with the pack. If it’s too heavy, they will have a tendency to flex forward as if they’re walking uphill.” Try a backpack with wheels or one with two straps with lots of cushioning on them and a strap at the bottom that helps distribute the weight lower down on the waist. Also, help kids cull the contents regularly.

UNDERSTANDING

Take time from your busy day to empathize with your children’s enthusiasms and concerns about school. It is, after all, their workplace, and it has many of the same stressors as yours.

VOLUNTEERING

“Young kids love having their parents involved in their school,” Posen says. Research suggests that students whose parents are involved in their school tend to have fewer behavioural problems and better academic performance. Volunteer for a school committee and teach your kids about giving to their community. Volunteer as a family as well — at a school fundraiser, for example.

WHEEZE WHACKER

If your child has asthma, create a customized action plan establishing what the school must do when your child’s asthma gets worse. You’ll find help at www.asthma.ca, a website that provides a template from which to devise your child’s individual plan. Print it out, fill it in and give copies to your child’s teacher and other staff members. XBOX–EXERCISE AXIS To increase fitness during the cold indoor months, Berall suggests having kids trade exercise time for screen time. “We’re never going to win the battle to get kids to stop using these games. Tell them that 10 minutes of physical activity will get them 30 minutes on the Xbox.

Photo by Mark Hicks II/iStockphoto

YARDWORK

Encourage your kids to be as active as they can in the schoolyard before classes and at recess. Supply them with balls, skipping ropes and chalk for drawing hopscotch grids.

ZZZZZZZZZZ...

Ensure that your youngsters get adequate sleep. This will improve school performance and may play a role in maintaining a healthy weight. Start weaning them off later summer bedtimes several days before school begins.