By Rachel Wilcinot, DO of Avera Medical Group Sibley

If you have kids and are anything like me, you are ready for the kids to go back to school. Summer is great, but there is a time and place for the routine and structure that school affords. The end of summer is an important time to really focus on good habits that will help your children thrive in the classroom as well as in day-to-day activities with friends. Here are a few simple things to work on:

• Do your best to set a bedtime AND stick to it. Each kid is different, but in general a reasonable bedtime for elementary students is 8:00pm, with middle and high school students only incrementally later.
• Try not to allow too much sleeping in over the weekends. Children do better with a routine that is rarely broken.
• Be sure to wash hands often. Playing with friends and sharing your pencil is great, but kids often also share common viruses with each other. To help reduce the spread of infection you can also attempt to teach your kids to cough and sneeze into their elbow, but good luck…my kids have never been good at this.
• Limit TV/computer/phone time after school until homework or house chores are done. This can be difficult, but your child’s future will be better because of it.
• Remember to still make time for family; whether you have family meals or family “game night,” make sure life doesn’t get so crazy that you don’t spend time talking with the people in your own home.
• It is important that as parents, we model the good behaviors we want to see in our children.

There is not much better in life than to see your kids happy and thriving. The above tips might not get you fully to that goal, but they are a start.  Join me in looking forward to a safe, fun, and very educational school year!