The dreaded first day at school is finally over, with no casualties. Now you’re already one week into the new school year. First, congratulations on the smooth transition from summertime to school time! Second, here are a few tips to make this school year the most constructive one yet!

As important it is to carefully plan for school, it’s equally important to organize your child’s after-school activities.

This will turn after-school time into a productive and interesting time for your child and boost their social, cognitive and psychological development.

Be reachable

Ensure that your young child has many ways to reach you, should they need to.

Have a neighbor be on call, in case your child needs something and you will not be available. Be sure to have an initial discussion with your child and the neighbor together, so that your child is confident in asking for help and will not hesitate to knock on their door or call them in an emergency.

Plan for sports activities

It’s important that your child doesn’t stay at home every day after school playing video games.

Encourage them to join a sports club or take up a new hobby.

Rather than dictating what sport they should follow, listen to what they say about their own needs and likes. This way, their chances of doing well at the sport and enjoying it will dramatically increase. Note that joining a friend at a sports activity works well in getting a child interested in a sport, especially if they’re reluctant to begin with.

Plan for self-development activities

Doing homework is not enough. While school is often difficult enough for a child, the adult workplace in their future is a cut-throat environment. If you do everything possible to ensure that your child is more than adequately prepared for that future, you will better their chances of excelling in life and in a career.

Include self-improvement activities in your daily home life to help your child overcome difficulties at school and acquire new skills and competencies. It’s especially important for younger students to initially focus on fun-to-use software that can help them improve their skills in things like vocabulary, spelling, and reading.

When a child is interested in a topic, they will start to be more involved in learning on a broad scale. Their eagerness to learn will inspire them to study even harder and will grant them a sense of achievement.

Plan for playtime

Even fun learning activities still require focus and concentration. Make sure you keep things fun, and don’t create an overwhelming after-school schedule for your child.

Remember that children need a break too, and time to play. Be sure that you have a good mix of study and play – and look for ways to combine the two.

Ensure these activities are not desk-bound. Instead of making play time a synonym for video games and TV watching, encourage your children to take play outdoors.

Playtime should be social and interactive whenever possible. It should cultivate a range of social skills and competencies necessary for your child’s smooth inclusion in various communities: family, school, and friends.

The benefits of after-school activities

After-school activities have long-term, substantial benefits for your child’s physical, cognitive, and social development.

It’s a mistake to assign after-school activities to a catch-all category of “something my child is doing before I get home from work.” You cannot afford to take after-school activities lightheartedly, because they can be incredibly useful. With carefully planned activities, you ensure your child is safe and productive while you’re at work and that their interest in learning and social activities remains high.

Leaving your child alone and unsupervised every afternoon will more likely make them less eager to engage with others socially — something that could compromise their social skills and even impede their academic performance.

After-school activities help children learn the importance of creativity and of being active and social. It cultivates a feel-good climate of collaboration, interaction, and learning that can contribute to your child’s development and future success.

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