{"id":265702,"date":"2025-07-20T14:26:46","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T12:26:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/?p=265702"},"modified":"2025-07-21T10:34:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T08:34:07","slug":"back-to-school-tips-and-tricks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/back-to-school-tips-and-tricks\/","title":{"rendered":"Back-to-school tips and tricks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>As the three-week July holiday comes to an end learners are urged to prepare for their return to tackle the third term. Here are a few back-to-school tips:<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1. Early to bed, early to rise: Getting back into a school sleep schedule won&#8217;t happen overnight. A few weeks before school starts children should get into the habit of going to bed earlier. Gentle winding-down activities such as bath time and reading before bed can help a child relax.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2. Re-establishing a consistent routine is important for children: Write out the steps in the routine and rehearse them with your child. In the evening this could include doing homework, play time, brushing their teeth, having a bath and reading before bed.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>3. Talk about safety: Review outdoor safety rules such as looking both ways before crossing the street, taking the same route every day if they are walking, familiarising themselves with crosswalk rules and being cautious when talking to strangers.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>4. Establish healthy habits: Involve your children in choosing and preparing healthy lunches and snacks. Help them find physical activities they enjoy. Taking them shopping for healthy snacks and lunch items that they can pack themselves. Try to stick to regular meal times.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>5. Limit screen time: Back to school is the perfect opportunity to re-establish screen time limits. Have the whole family &#8220;unplug&#8221; in the evenings before bedtime? Choose a spot where everybody can charge their devices overnight. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Use an alarm clock instead of a cellphone to wake up in the mornings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the three-week July holiday comes to an end learners are urged to prepare for their return to tackle the third term. 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