Get your kids back into a routine after the holidays

Most kids think the summer holidays are the best days of the year, second only to their birthday. But after the fun summer days, getting your kids back to the reality of starting school may prove difficult. Here are a few tips to help you get your kids back into a routine after the holidays.

The key to getting your kids back into the school routine after the holidays is to minimise the lifestyle change as much as possible. From 10 weeks of intense schooling to four of fun and relaxing activities, it’s no wonder your kids may find it difficult to want to adjust back to their regular school schedule.

To help make the change as seamless as possible, it may be worthwhile to incorporate a few school activities into your kids’ holiday so they’re familiar with them by the time school comes around. Some of these activities may include reading an eBook from Kindle Unlimited, DIY arts and crafts, and watching an educational TV show on Netflix. If you’ve got multiple platform subscriptions, consider signing up for Optus SubHub.

Optus SubHub makes managing your subscriptions easy. You get the peace of mind of seeing exactly what you spend each month, in a single payment.

With the exception of a few special days like Christmas and New Years’ Eve, it may be a good idea to keep your kids on a regular curfew during the holidays, so they stay on the same sleep schedule when school starts. Try to keep to a time appropriate for the early mornings when school rolls around.

Manage your home’s network access and reinforce your children’s curfew time with the help of Optus Pause. Optus Pause is a tool that lets you pause both your eligible Optus mobile and home connectivity across your devices, including your child’s phone or tablet. You can stop the distractions before bed with Optus Pause, available on My Optus app.

One way to encourage your kids to let go of the holiday mood and get back into their school routine is to set goals for them to achieve as the school year progresses. This way, they won’t find their school days boring and instead, may even be excited to go to school and complete their goals (and of course be rewarded for them).

These goals could be as simple as making friends, passing a test, or even mustering the courage to take the bus to school on their own. Be sure to pair every achievement with an appropriate reward (such as school supplies) so your kids are more likely to adjust to and enjoy school life after the holidays.

The enjoyment of school for young children often comes from not only learning, but also the friends they make and spend time playing with. From seeing their beloved friends five days a week to potentially four straight weeks without, it can be difficult for your kids to adjust to the social change.

As a result, it may be a good idea to schedule some playdates with classmates during the school holidays so your kids can hang out with their best friends and maintain some sort of social routine. You could also consider setting up online playdates so your kids can play games with their friends even if they are travelling elsewhere. Just be sure your kids practise healthy screen habits and balance their time on and offline.

The holidays may have come with added tech freedom so be sure to reinforce a healthy balance between physical activity and digital media for your kids when school rolls around. While digital media can have an educational benefit, it may also be a good idea to encourage your kids to balance screen time with active hobbies such as sports and playing music. This is where Optus Digital Thumbprint comes in.

Optus Digital Thumbprint supports digital safety and wellbeing with educational workshops, guides and resources for young people and families such as Protecting kids from hackers, scammers and fake friends; Protecting kids’ personal information online; and  Protecting your identity – Blocking unwanted contact.

For young people

• Blocking unwanted contact guide
• Cyberbullying quiz
• Cyberbullying: what to do when things go wrong guide
• Digital Balance quiz
• Fake friends and fake profiles quiz
• Hackers, scammers and fake friends guide
• Lifehacks for a balanced time online guide
• Passphrases, passwords and MFA guide and quiz
• Protecting personal information quiz
• Scammers and fake friends quiz

For Families

• Balancing time online guide
• Blocking unwanted contact for your child guide
• Cyberbullying: What to say when things go wrong online guide
• First Phone Readiness guide and quiz
• Passphrases, passwords and MFA for your child guide
• Recognising hackers, scammers and fake friends guide
• Safeguard your child’s privacy on popular apps and games guide
• Stay ahead of scams through family discussions guide

Find out about the best tech for your primary and high school kids and what tablets can do for your kids. 

Get your family school ready

There’s always nerves and excitement at the start of a school year. Being prepared and confident starts with great technology choices and expert tips that set your family up for schooling success.

We’ll help you get school ready with our range of great value tablets, first phones, accessories, home internet, Optus Network features in My Optus app and more – all at Optus.

Optus Digital Thumbprint supports digital safety and wellbeing for young people and families. Find out more at www.digitalthumbprint.com.au

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