Posts Tagged ‘top tips’
What’s in your lunchbox?
I listened to a feature on packed lunches vs school lunches on the radio this morning. I’ve started off this school year with packed lunches for everyone – in previous year’s my initial enthusiasm for packed lunches has been replaced with the convenience of what my kids like to call a ‘pay lunch’.
What’s your preference? I can see the benefits of both – the school lunches can offer a hot and healthy alternative, but they can also present children with choices they’re not ready to make. On the other hand, packed lunches can contain carefully selected healthy options, but if you’re anything like me, the repertoire of offerings can get a bit boring.
Nutrition is so important both in terms of long term health and wellbeing and also on a day to day basis to keep energy levels matched with the physical and mental requirements of the school day. Trying to get the right balance can be a struggle some days, especially if there are any food fads on the go!
I’m going to stick with the packed lunches for now and throw in the odd ‘pay lunch’ for a bit of variety. What do you like about packed lunches or school lunches? Do you have any tips on keeping lunch boxes healthy and interesting?
Related posts
If you’re looking for ideas, Netmums have a good feature on lunchbox ideas.
Holiday time, again!
It’s school holiday time again, and most children in the UK are only at school for about 6 days this month, and not even that for some!
I’ve blogged about holiday times before and no matter the holiday season – summer, festive season, even unplanned breaks due to the weather – the main message is to build a bit of routine and predictability into your holiday time.
You don’t have to be too rigid but lots of the stress and anxiety for children (and so lots of the difficult behaviour) can be reduced by taking away the stress of not knowing what’s happening next. Involve the kids in planning what’s happening, schedule in some free time (with suggestions for what can be put in the free time) and if family visits are part of your holiday think ahead and build in some coping strategies for any of the challenges that might crop up!
My favourite top tip for holiday (and not holiday) time is to use visual planners to make it easier if your child finds it hard to process information…
…and my other one is don’t worry if it doesn’t go to plan!
What are your coping strategies for school holidays? Hope you have a fab time…
Holiday time
We’ve just had our half term holiday and it’s back to school tomorrow… I know lots of others are just starting their week’s holiday so I thought I’d post a link to my surviving the summer holidays blog. There’s a few tips in there that might help, especially if your child is one that finds the lack of familiar routine hard to handle.
In a nutshell, the things that can help are building a sense of what’s happening next. Using visual cues – planners, calendars etc. Avoiding overwhelm, keeping things simple. Another biggy is to take the pressure off yourself to have perfect family moments all day, every day. Savour the moments of magic no matter how small they seem…
Enjoy your holidays, I’ll be thinking of you on the school run tomorrow!
Top tips for a tip top festive season!
I’ve just finished a teleseminar discussing some things to think about over the festive season.
You can listen to the replay on the event page and here’s a quick run through of what was covered…
Things to think about:
- Expectations: ours’, children’s, family & friends’
- Excitement and anticipation
- Overwhelm
- ‘if you’re good…’ or ‘if you don’t behave…’ messages
- Birth family: memories, contact
- Triggers
Some of the things that can help include managing expectations, not aiming for glossy mag perfection; using calendars, planners, albums and visual cues to help build a sense of what’s coming next…
and the Top tips:
- keep it simple
- talk about what’s happening next
- stick to the plan/routine if you can
- look behind the behaviour, think about what’s driving it
- aim for fun, not perfection…
Essentially, it’s all about understanding the potential triggers and things going on behind the scenes, and finding ways to manage expectations and feelings. Leave a comment with your survival tips for Christmas…
PS as mentioned on the call, here’s the link to the bbc news video where an adoptee discusses his feelings on his birthday…
teleseminar debut…
I’ve just finished my first teleseminar and, although not the slickest of presentations, I managed to negotiate technology and do an OK job! Have a listen in to the replay if you’re at the thinking about stage and want to know more… (the sound doesn’t start straight away, don’t adjust your screens!).
Next one tomorrow, on top tips for Christmas – hope to see you there…
Support for Dads…
In all aspects of life there can be differences in how women and men experience situations. The same is true for adoption, especially in relation to how we deal with behaviour and our roles in day to day routines, childcare, work and school. I was contacted recently by an adoptive Dad who has set up a website and forum to offer informal, peer support to other Dads who have adopted. I think this is a great idea and will be encouraging my ‘significant other’ to have a look and leave a post…
For any Dads reading this, have a look at www.4dadz.co.uk and join in the discussion…
Back to school…
It doesn’t seem that long since my summer holiday post and now we’re into our second week back at school with the novelty of getting organised for school fast wearing off…
School requires a whole host of skills – social skills, the ability to listen and concentrate, language processing, talking and communicating. Then there’s taking care of yourself physically, eating the right things at the right time and being able to organise yourself for different classes/lessons.
Even writing, which can seem like second nature to most of us, requires so many individual skills for someone in the early learning stages…
- the ability to hold a pen or a pencil
- how to form the shape of the letter
- what the letter represents
- how it fits with other letters to spell a word
- how words fit together to make up a sentence
So it’s not surprising that going to school can send some children’s stress levels sky high, in turn affecting relationships at home. The tasks involved in the journey from bed to breakfast to school and from school to home/activity, mealtime and bed can provide various opportunities for stand-offs throughout the day for children who find school difficult.
Top tips for helping ease back into the school term…
- the all important routine, keeping things predictable and following the same format to get ready for school and for afterschool activities and homework
- pay attention to basic physical needs like sleep and diet – it’s amazing the impact of being tired and low energy levels
- time healthy snacks for the return from school so that energy dips don’t affect homework/activity time
- ask your child about school, notice things and offer help if you think it’s needed. It’s important to be aware of any specific things that might be troubling your child – bullying, learning difficulties etc and act to find solutions or support early on
- use calenders and planners to map out the week so that kids know where they are going and when – visual cues are helpful especially if things can change from week to week – I like the Organised Mum weekly planner (you can win one by entering the prize draw below).
None of these tips are rocket science but they can make the transition from holidays to school a bit easier. I’d love to hear your tips for making term time easier…
To win a fab weekly planner leave a comment or email info@adoptresources.co.uk.