3 Tips for Smoother Back-to-School Routines

Written By Christina Elder, B.Ed., M.C., Canadian Certified Counsellor

by Christina Elder, B.Ed., M.C., Canadian Certified Counsellor

During this first month of school, set your child up for school year success with routines that feel predictable, collaborative, and achievable.

1. Make Routines Collaborative

The best routines are created in collaboration with your child. Work together to choose an area of daily life where you can create a routine and map out each step.

Consider creating simple routines for key transition times throughout the day, such as getting from bed to out the door in the morning, taking the bus, arriving at school, packing up at the end of the school day, arriving home, completing homework, and getting ready for bed.

Each of these transitions involves several smaller steps that can be easy to forget or feel overwhelming, especially for children and teens who experience challenges with attention, memory, organization, or sensory processing. Breaking these moments into clear, predictable routines can make transitions easier to manage and help build greater independence.

Build the Routine Together

Consider:

  • What specific things need to happen?

  • What order makes the most sense?

  • What might be challenging?

  • How to make it easier?

  • What supplies are needed?

Don't forget to "give everything a home." Choose together where backpacks, shoes, lunch bags, chargers, and school supplies will live to make mornings less stressful.

3. Make Routines Visible

Once you've planned the routine, make it easy to follow. Visual reminders reduce the need for constant prompting and support independence.

Create Visual Supports

Choose what works best for your child:

✔ Picture checklists
✔ Photos of each step
✔ Written checklists
✔ Whiteboards
✔ Phone reminders
✔ Timers or alarms

💡 Place reminders where the routine actually happens.

3. Make Routines Familiar

Practice the routines over and over! This repetition helps children build comfort and can uncover tricky moments before they become stressful.

Practice Makes Predictable

Try a "practice routine" by:

  • Reviewing each step together

  • Modelling the routine first

  • Completing it alongside your child

  • Timing how long it really takes

  • Turning it into a game with a timer

  • Creating a “playlist” for the routine for those music-loving kids!

Key Takeaways for Parents

Back-to-school routines work best when children:

🤝 Help create them

👀 Can clearly see each step

🎯 Practice first with an adult and then on their own

A little preparation now can lead to calmer days, greater independence, and more confident kids throughout the school year.

This information is for education purposes only. It does not constitute psychological services, nor should it replace needed psychological services. Please visit our services list for more actionable ways we can help your child!

Christina Elder, B.Ed., M.C., Canadian Certified Counsellor

Christina is a Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC) with a Bachelor’s degree in Education and a Master’s degree in Counselling.


At our clinic, Christina brings great passion to her work with children, adolescents, and parents. She easily connects with young clients through her warm, caring demeanour—and a healthy dose of humour. Christina helps them identify challenges and set meaningful, personal goals. Through strong, trusting relationships, she supports children and teens in managing emotions like anxiety, stress, frustration, and anger, as well as behavioural challenges, executive functioning (planning, organizing, remembering), self-esteem, life transitions, peer relationships, and school-related difficulties.

Christina’s past as a Recreation Technician, along with her love of video games, pop music, and board games, helps her create a fun, positive environment where kids feel safe to express themselves, learn, and grow. Her creativity and resourcefulness, combined with her experience as a teacher, make her especially skilled at supporting clients with diverse learning needs—she meets them where they are and develops personalized strategies that truly fit.

Christina is also deeply committed to supporting parents. She reflects our clinic’s strong belief in family-focused treatment by involving parents as much as possible. She helps identify treatment goals that reflect both parent concerns and the child’s voice. Christina also offers parent consultations—whether or not the child is a client—to help parents better understand their child’s needs and develop effective, values-aligned strategies.

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Helping Your Child Adjust to Back-to-School