We’ve all read the articles or seen the Instagram posts about how to ease back into a school routine after a break—be it Christmas, spring, or even just a long weekend. But I want to dig a little deeper than “establish a routine” and “practice transitions,” although those are important parts of getting back into a school routine.
Let’s look at unpacking and integrating the break for various ages, practicing Montessori “grace and courtesy” skills at home to acclimate back into the classroom, and ways to build confidence at returning to school.
Integrating the break
What happened during your break? Were there a lot of relatives around? Did the kids chill at home and get lots of screen time? Did you travel?
Integrating experiences for children can involve a lot of role play and narration. Use stuffed animals or toys to act out experiences that happened, especially if anything was noteworthy or upsetting.
One of the most notable incidents of my children’s break was that we discovered a mouse had eaten all of their special tea. It was completely unrelated to the break itself, but it happened during break, and we talked about it a lot. One child decided they were scared of mice from this experience, so we read books about mice and role played mice being friendly or mice being scared of humans themselves in various circumstances. Naming feelings also helps with integrating experiences.
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Were they sad when a grandparent left? Were they excited to get new toys? Were they frustrated at having to share? Role playing various feelings with toys can really help with emotional integration.
Don’t underestimate the use of photos and videos in reintegration! Looking at photos of loved ones, or of experiences, and talking about them is a great way to provide a visual aid.
And lastly, helping provide a sense of autonomy and control for your child really helps them integrate experiences. This looks like offering options for snack time, when they go to nap, what they wear, etc.
Grace and courtesy skills at home
“Grace and courtesy” is a Montessori phrase of skills we use to interact with others in a kind and respectful manner. It includes skills like greeting someone, sneezing (into an elbow or a tissue), and how to wait a turn.
Grace and courtesy are core life skills that help us develop both socially and emotionally. Practicing these skills at home will help your child better transition into a classroom setting, where politeness and social skills are expected.
Depending on your child’s age, this means practicing taking turns, how to wash hands, how to cover coughs. For older children, it means working on conflict resolution, respecting cultural differences, and how to participate in groups.
You can practice these skills during playtime, talk about them at dinner, and read books demonstrating these skills.
Building confidence
There are many ways to build a child’s confidence. Making failure safe is one way. Learning what to expect is another. Just like with role playing experiences from break, you can role play interactions they are likely to have at school. If you know your child has a hard time with transitions, you can play games where you help your stuffed animals transition from one classroom to the next, or from academic time to lunchtime.
General ways to build confidence is praising your child’s effort, not the outcome. This helps the child accept that failure is okay, because what matters is they tried. It encourages them to work hard rather than just fatalistically believe that either they’re good at something or they’re not. It focuses on what the child can control: how much effort they put in.
