5 tips for back to school success

Make the most of the new school year with these helpful tips.

Learning Stages

By Julia Pimsleur

CEO and Founder of Little Pim

Julia Pimsleur is the CEO and Founder of Little Pim, the leading system for introducing young children to a second language. Little Pim has won 25 awards and features the proprietary Entertainment Immersion Method®. Julia Pimsleur grew up in the language teaching business; she is the daughter of language teaching pioneer, Dr. Paul Pimsleur, as well as an award-winning filmmaker and mother of two.

Get the school year started out right with LOL -- Love of Learning – by focusing on enrichment that makes kids want to learn and creates the building blocks for their future.  Here are 5 tips.

Routine Rules – Kids thrive on routine--- knowing when to get up, what time to do homework, when dinner is-- helps them build a schedule that gets them through their day with ease. Be sure to include reading with your children (including looking at pictures and talking about them) as part of your routine. Children learn more vocabulary and do better in school when their parents read with them regularly (US Department of Education).

Story time -- Make time to read, look at pictures, and talk to your children every day. According to the US Department of Education, when adults talk with children about books and pictures, children learn more vocabulary then when they do not, and children who have parents read to them regularly do better in school than children whose parents do not read to them.

Focus on Foreign Language – It’s never too early to start teaching children a second language. Not only is it easier for babies and preschoolers to master accents and absorb foreign languages, but later in life, multilingual adults “are better at reasoning, at multitasking, at grasping and reconciling conflicting ideas” (Time Magazine).

Sleep Tight – Studies show that children who have consistent bed times scored better on cognitive tests throughout grade school. So pick a bedtime routine, maybe one that involves reading and soft music, and try to stick with it. And note that the National Sleep Foundation recommends 10 to 11 hours of sleep every night for grade schoolers, 11 to 13 hours for preschoolers, and 12 to 14 hours for 1 to 3 year olds.

Smile! Don’t less the school year routine stress you out.  Model a positive attitude for your kids; remember you’re their role model. If you treat school like a special place where they’re lucky to spend time, see their friends, and learn amazing new things, they’ll think of it that way, too!