Preparing for the Return to School

With the start of every academic year, households enter a race of preparation: backpacks, stationery, schedules, and timetables. We become so preoccupied with material readiness that we forget the most crucial preparation our children need cannot be bought at a bookstore. True readiness begins when a child or adolescent feels capable—capable of learning, making mistakes, trying again, and navigating their day without their self-confidence shaking at the first stumble. One of the most impactful factors at the start of the school year is routine: regular sleep, clear boundaries for phone use, and designated study time with defined start and end points. Routine does not merely organize time; it gives our children a sense of stability and significantly reduces the chaos of the first weeks.

We also need to change some of our questions. Instead of asking, “How was your day?” and receiving the usual response, “Fine,” we should ask, “What was the best thing that happened today?” or “What was the most challenging thing?” Specific questions open space for dialogue and bring us closer to what is truly happening in our children’s lives. When our child forgets an assignment or fails a test, we must not treat the mistake as the end of the story. Instead of asking, “Why did this happen?” we should ask, “What can we do differently next time?” In this way, we teach them that mistakes are learning experiences, not judgments on their abilities.

School teaches subjects, but home teaches our children how to handle difficulties, comparison, friendships, and the pressure that has intensified with social media. Therefore, as this new year begins, we should not only ask, “How can we raise our children’s grades?” but also, “How can we build in them confidence, responsibility, and the ability to face life?” The return to school is not just a season for buying stationery; it is a new opportunity to reorder our priorities. The greatest gift we can offer our children this year is not a new backpack, but our presence, our time, and our patience.

Nadi Mahallel Al-Midfah