When your child goes off to school

The journey to a successful school year for children obviously comes from a good start at home. While dad is at work to provide for the family, moms are on deck when it comes to making sure a child stay motivated, confident, and encouraged before he or she walks out the door to go to school.

For Elena Gersonde of San Vicente, she tried to keep her boys Javon, 11, and Ryusei, 6, maintain their footing during the summer break is by having them take up informal language and art lessons at home, in time with their schedule in school.

“The only difference was the kids did not have homework…well…almost no homework. Our youngest had work given to him in Russian and Japanese, which he only did once a week.  Our oldest had to read some French classic literature and learn some of the European arts because we went to visit our grandparents in Paris and his father took him to the Louvre,” she said.

“I encourage my children to read during [summer] break and we let them pick the books… Talk to your kids about school in a positive context, like, ‘You’re going to meet your old friends and maybe some new friends,’ ‘What will you tell them about your summer trip?,’ ‘Do you want to show them pictures?,’ ‘Look how tall and handsome you’ve become, they will be surprised’ and, most importantly, listen to your kids. If they are afraid to go to school, ask them why? When our children talk about their fears, it allows us to get rid of them,” she added

Carolyn Soberano of San Jose is always emotional when seeing her 7th grader Ashton Chanalag go off to a new school year. “I truly want the best for them. This is a life lesson that I want my son to have and keep—if you finish your studies, life will be better for him and his family,” she said.

“Although Ashton had a great summer vacation with family and friends, my son is very excited to go back to school so I use that excitement to get him going and prepare for school. I talk to him that he has to be ready to meet new teachers and since he is in 7th grade he has to be serious in listening in class and being a good student,” she added.

Nothing beats being diligent about school updates, according to April Sablan, a senior admin tech at Commonwealth Utilities Corp. “First thing I did was to check the Seventh Day Adventist School website to see when classes would start and what are the school supplies needed for my kids who will be in grade level 2 and, together, we shopped for school supplies.”

“I trained them to go back to their sleep routine during the school and I gave them limited hours to play their gadgets,” she added.

Sablan also told her children to review and organize their school materials.

Maria Flor Lanoy of San Jose welcomes the new school year by reminding her son that this year will be different. “I remind him that he is already in 7th grade, a higher grade than last year, so expectations will be different because his learning level in the next grade will be higher, lessons will be different, classmates will be different but I assure him that there is no need to worry,” she said.

“I constantly encourage my son to study hard and be a good boy in and out of school. His school supplies are ready and they have all been labeled with his name so we are ready for the opening of the school year,” she added