Preparing for Back to School

Parents / Caregivers – you are in the midst of summer break with your kiddos. For some, summer might end next month and for others, summer has recently started. At whatever point you are in this break, it is never too early to prepare for back to school. This year, we want to ensure all families are ready with a game plan. Below we have highlighted three areas to prepare as a family to be ready for back to school.

1) Academic

One of the best ways to prepare for back to school is to understand what your child will be learning in the upcoming year. This is beneficial because you can better support your child at home, ask teachers specific questions about the content as it relates to your child, and be involved in your child’s educational journey.  The structure of the curriculum for each grade level and subject area is followed by state-created standards.  Check which standard your state follows.

• Common Core State Standards (CCSS) – for multiple states where the Jamat resides
• Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) – for Texas only

Below, you can learn how to read a standard and which information you should focus on to understand the skills your child will learn. Some of these standards may be new vocabulary for you, so do not hesitate to do a quick internet search, ask the teacher, or find additional support. Standards from grade level to grade level are interconnected. Students should use their knowledge of the previous school year or grade level to build on the same units with more depth in the current grade. This is why educators often speak of “closing the gap.” This means there are skills from previous grade levels a child has not mastered and therefore will have a difficult time building on those areas in the next grade level.

Common Core: At the elementary and middle school level, CCSS for all subjects can be found within the grade-level document. Each subject area begins with a detailed Introduction before the overview and then ends with the skills section based on each unit from the introduction. The introduction covers information on the main units of the subject. Students should use their knowledge of the previous school year or grade level to build on the same units in more depth in the current grade. 

Subject: English Language Arts
Grade: 2nd
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.7
Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.

Subject: English Language Arts
Grade: 3rd
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.7
Explain how specific aspects of a text’s illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting)

TEKS: At the elementary level, TEKS for all subjects can be found within the grade-level document. For middle school, TEKS are split by subject area and then into grade levels.  Each subject area begins with a detailed Introduction before going into the Knowledge and Skills section. The introduction covers information on the main units of the subject. The Knowledge and Skills section will break down the units mentioned in the introduction and list specific skills your child will learn throughout that unit. Looking at the standard below, letters A-F show the skills a 2nd grader should learn. This standard relates to the Number & Operations unit. You can find Number and Operations units in grades 1st and 3rd TEKS to compare what your child should know before second grade and what they will learn in third grade.

Here is an example of how parents can read and understand the state standards.

Subject: Math
Grade: 2nd 
(2) Number and operations. The student applies mathematical process standards to understand how to represent and compare whole numbers, the relative position and magnitude of whole numbers, and relationships within the numeration system related to place value. The student is expected to: 

• (A) use concrete and pictorial models to compose and decompose numbers up to 1,200 in more than one way as a sum of so many thousands, hundreds, tens, and ones; 
• (B) use standard, word, and expanded forms to represent numbers up to 1,200; 
• (C) generate a number that is greater than or less than a given whole number up to 1,200; 
• (D) use place value to compare and order whole numbers up to 1,200 using comparative language, numbers, and symbols (>, <, or =); 
• (E) locate the position of a given whole number on an open number line; and 
• (F) name the whole number that corresponds to a specific point on a number line

Subject: Math
Grade: 3rd
(2) Number and operations. The student applies mathematical process standards to represent and compare whole numbers and understand relationships related to place value. The student is expected to: 

• (A) compose and decompose numbers up to 100,000 as a sum of so many ten thousands, so many thousands, so many hundreds, so many tens, and so many ones using objects, pictorial models, and numbers, including expanded notation as appropriate; 
• (B) describe the mathematical relationships found in the base-10 place value system through the hundred thousands place; 
• (C) represent a number on a number line as being between two consecutive multiples of 10; 100; 1,000; or 10,000 and use words to describe relative size of numbers in order to round whole numbers; and revised August 2022 9 
• (D) compare and order whole numbers up to 100,000 and represent comparisons using the symbols >, <, or =.

2) Lifestyle and Routines

When speaking about lifestyle, we would like for you to think about moving from a summertime routine to a school time routine for both morning and night. This can include a checklist of what needs to be completed each night before bedtime to make for a smooth morning, and what should be completed in the morning. Depending on your child’s age, this might be a good time to introduce a morning alarm and present them with the responsibility to be dressed and ready for breakfast by a certain time. Dividing up responsibility is another way to approach preparing home life for back to school. You can talk through what your responsibility is for getting ready for school compared to your child’s.

3) Holistic Learning and Well-being

Managing Emotions

Going back to school can come with many different overwhelming emotions ranging from a child who is excited but also feels the pressure of needing to excel, to a child who is worried about being in a new school and navigating a completely new environment. Whatever your child is feeling, it is important to validate their feelings, help them navigate any concerns, and support their excitement. Parents can begin by asking their children about how they are feeling about going back to school. Follow-up questions should be to ask ‘why’. 

• Why are you feeling this way? 
• What happened last year in school that makes you feel this way? 
• How can I help you? 

If your child is feeling a little anxious about going back to school, communicating these feelings privately with a teacher could be beneficial for two reasons: 

1. It can help build a working relationship with the teacher, and 
2. The teacher can help build comfort within the school environment

Creating Excitement
This time of year does not only need to be centered around school, but it can also be a great time to check in on goals related to extracurriculars to get children involved in areas they show interest. As we’ve talked about in previous newsletters, focusing on only one area of development is not preferred. By bringing importance to all areas of development, it can take pressure off from students who are feeling anxious about going back to school.

Back-to-school time is an excellent opportunity for parents to engage in fun and educational activities to help children get excited about the upcoming school year. Here are some examples tailored to kids in grades 1-8: