New Academic Year 2024-25 Creating conducive home study environment

With the new academic year all set to begin this month, PW presents a comprehensive child development guide devised by experts to enable parents to better prepare children to achieve their academic and extra-curricular goals of the next year -Kiran Balimane & Cynthia John The end of the summer vacation and start of the new academic year evokes mixed sentiments in parents and children — melancholy, relief, anticipation and excitement. It’s also a hectic time of planning and preparing to-do lists from buying school text and note books, arranging for children’s daily commute, signing them up for co-curricular and sports activities, to drawing up school lunch-box menus. To this routine list, latter-day parents are adding home study timetables, daily routines and deliberating good home study habits in children. With a plethora of research studies indicating that children who follow structured study programmes experience less stress and anxiety, a rising number of educators and parenting coaches are advising parents and children to collaborate and co-plan school and home study schedules to make learning an enjoyable and fulfilling experience for children. “Apart from shopping for school books and stationery, planning meal menus, the beginning of the new academic year is the best time for parents and children to draw up mindful home study routines and habits to supplement in-school learning. A structured academic plan for the whole year reduces children’s stress and anxiety, and contributes to improved learning efficiency,” says Lavanya Parashar, a Delhi-based special educator. With the new academic year set to begin next month, PW presents a comprehensive child development guide devised by experts to enable parents to better prepare children to achieve their academic and extra-curricular goals of the next year. Build positivity How you mentally prepare your child for the new academic year will set the tone for the next 12 months. Will school be an opportunity to learn enjoyably or a year of drudgery? Ghaziabad-based media anchor and IELTS exam trainer Bhavna Singh recommends strategies to build children’s positivity right from the start of the new academic year. Speak positively about the new school year. During the last few days of the summer vacation, start speaking positively about the forthcoming school year. Get your child excited about going back to classes by recalling all the things she loves about school such as meeting friends again after the vacation, acquiring new knowledge, sharing hobbies and playing sports and games together. Familiarise your child with her new school. If your child is starting school for the first time, it’s a good idea to familiarise her with the campus in advance. Visit the school and walk her around the premises, main building, classrooms, playgrounds and library. This will reduce her fear of the unknown and get her excited about her new school. Introduce her to the class teacher and peers. To make your child feel more at ease in a new school or class, introduce her to her class teacher and classmates, beforehand. Many schools organise orientation tours. Ensure you…