To ensure things go smoothly for your foster children during the upcoming academic, it is a good idea to prepare them ahead of reopening day. It will make them comfortable by giving them time to readjust themselves to the school schedule.

Preparing foster children for the new school year can be challenging for foster parents. However, there are ways in which the situation can be dealt with. We have listed how you can prepare your foster children for the upcoming school year.

Adjust Their Bedtime to Match the School Routine

Resetting your children’s wake-sleep schedule by adjusting their bedtime routine a few days before the school reopening day is essential. This can be achieved by ensuring children have dinner on time at home. Once they are done eating, make sure they shower and put on their pajamas. This will automatically give children a feeling that they must go to bed soon.

Do ensure your children do not spend too much time on the television set or playing video games. Research shows that screen time before bed has an impact on sleeping patterns. When they’re well-rested they won’t be lethargic when they wake up the following morning. Furthermore, a good night’s sleep reflects on children’s productivity the next day.

Connect with Your Children

Foster children could be nervous about their new school year. However, parents can help them feel at ease by talking and connecting with them. Building rapport and trust are essential. One of the ways to connect with your foster children is to listen to what they have they say. All most children want is to be heard—paying attention and listening to even the trivial things they share with you can significantly impact your relationship. When you interact with your foster children, you can ensure that the communication is not one-sided.

When they are comfortable conversing with you, there could be room for you to know and understand their preferences, feelings, and apprehensions about the new school year. There could be something about getting back to school that worries the children, and it could come up in one of the conversations. This is especially necessary for pre-teen and adolescent children.

Prepare Your Children for a New School Year in the New Normal

The last couple of years may not have been an excellent experience for students. A section of children could have become used to virtual learning methods. Switching to hybrid classes and attending school could pose challenges for some children. However, you can help ease them into the new school year while still explaining to them how important it is to adhere to Covid-19 protocols and to watch out for symptoms. It will make children feel safe and secure at school, besides mentally preparing them for a new school year in the new normal.

Consider Participating in the Back-to-School Drive for Foster Children

Annually, organizations across the country host supply drives for children in foster care. Consider donating to your nearest drive. While this may or may not directly impact your own foster children, it is a terrific way to get a child in need their required supplies for the new school year. For all we know, those children may not be as lucky as yours.

Drive Them to the Mall for Some Back-To-School Shopping

Children can find great joy in being driven around by a foster parent to do some back-to-school shopping. Not only is it a fantastic way to connect with your foster children, but you’ll also get to know them better as a person, about what their likes and dislikes are, and how fond they are of certain things. It’s also a great opportunity for parents to get to know what’s trending in teenagers’ worlds and how they can remain relevant to the times.

Assure Them That You Will Be There for Them

In the holidays, when children could have had a break from school, they may have spent most of their time at home. Once school starts with a new year, your foster children could be spending a significant part of their day at school. It can mean that they are physically away from you.

The U.S Department of Education reports that foster children have a hard time at school. They are more likely than other children to be ostracized and thus drop out of school before they graduate.

Understandably, foster children find it difficult to open up to and trust people. However, as a parent, you can reassure your foster children that you will always be there for them, and that they can talk to you about anything and everything.

Besides preparing your foster children for a new school year, it may help strengthen the bond that you share with your children. It could also boost their level of confidence.

Encourage Your Foster Children to Set Academic Goals

Getting back to school can be a perfect reminder of academic goals. You can encourage your foster children to set educational goals ahead of the new academic year. You could also motivate them to chalk down the ways and means by which they plan to achieve their academic goals. Besides helping them stay focused, it can also make them excited about the new school year.

When your foster children are working on setting academic goals, as a parent, you could remind them of their strengths and weaknesses. Life can be difficult for foster children and constant reassurance can give them that fighting chance to win in situations. Reminding them of their academic and other achievements in the academic year gone by can help with this.

As a parent fostering children, you know your children could have come from tough and challenging backgrounds. Keep their vulnerability and sensitivities in mind when you prepare them for school.

Take a Tour

The new academic year may begin in a new school for your foster kid. The school serves as a place that constantly reminds your foster children that they don’t live with their biological parents like most students do. This leads to difficulty in displaying appropriate and socially acceptable behavior in such kids.

To reduce the fear in them of the new place they will now be spending a majority of their days in, take them to the school building and take them on a tour with you. Show them around and explore the various classrooms, laboratories, and the cafeteria.

Summing It Up

In the United States, the AFCARS report states there are about 420,000 children in foster care at any given point. If you are a foster parent, thank you for taking those children under your wing, and thank you for giving them that fighting chance to succeed in life.

If you or your children need help, you can reach out to Clarvida. Our family counseling and foster care services are varied to be able to meet the needs of our clients, and we are continually creating new programs in response to identified needs in a particular area.

If you have ever wondered how to become a foster parent in Tennessee, there has never been a better time. Children who are in the custody of the State of Tennessee need a safe, stable, loving environment where they can learn, grow and be successful. You could provide these needs for a child in your home. Get in touch with us today if you are interested in becoming a foster