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Melanie Cole (Host): It's that time again! You're kids have had their summertime fun and now they have to get ready to go back into the classroom. What can parents do to ease this transition for their kids? My guest today is Dr. Joe Maurer. He's a pediatrician with Greenville Health System. Welcome to the show, Dr. Maurer. So, what's the first thing you tell parents about getting their kids ready to go back to school? Parents go skipping down the aisles buying school supplies and kids have that low hanging look on their face.

Dr. Joe Maurer (Guest): Well, thanks for having me on the show, Melanie. Going back to school is, by the time it gets here, most parents are certainly ready for it, that's for sure. Just the other day, my eight year-old was sitting around the house complaining that she was bored and so, I said to her, "It's time to go back to school, then.” She quickly found something to do. The best advice I have for families is mainly just to get kids prepared mentally, physically and emotionally. The biggest problem I see, and I know from some of the teachers I know, is if we do not make some transitions leading up to school and just throw them back in, then they've got a good week or two, even, to adjust, where they're not learning much and there are a lot of behavioral problems at home and at school. So, I think there are ways that families can prepare for it and just to anticipate that for families is a great idea.

Melanie: So then, let's start with what I think is the more difficult things to transition--the sleeping. They're used to going to bed quite a bit later and sleeping quite a bit later but now we have to change that sleeping routine and, especially with teenagers, that is not easy to do.

Dr. Maurer: That's a great question. Most of the time, the understanding is that we can only change sleep patterns by about 15 minutes to half-hour at a time and be successful. If you make bigger jumps than that, then a lot of times, it's more difficult. It also takes about three or four days each times to make those adjustments and that's a general rule. Sometimes, kids will do better if you make bigger jumps. But, my suggestion to families is to start about two weeks prior, at least a week prior and just start to gradually ratchet that sleep time back up so that kids don't even really notice it. There's been many studies recently in the past few years to show that later school times are really helping kids to learn, especially in the teenage years. A lot of schools have bought into that and are starting schools later but the parent's responsibility on that end is to get kids to sleep on time, too, to make sure they get enough sleep. So, I would agree with you, that is an important thing and it's very helpful if parents start about a week or two early and just slowly change the pattern.

Melanie: So, along with getting them ready mentally and getting them to bed earlier so they can get up earlier, what about seeing their pediatrician for vaccinations and pre-participation school physicals?

Dr. Maurer: Definitely. It is important to do that. There a lot of kids that are on certain medicines during the school year and every school--most schools, I should say--want the families to have a form filled out that says that they can have them in school. If it be a breathing medicine, a behavioral medicine--any of those--the schools are going to want forms specifically filled out. So, the first week or two into school, we get a lot of families that are in a panic because they didn't realize that. So, getting in to see the pediatrician is very good for that reason and then, there are certain vaccines that kids will need at ages, at different years. Just having that ready to go is also going to be helpful going into the school year.

Melanie: And so, do you recommend that parents make their appointments earlier with their pediatricians for those PPEs to get the kids into fall sports and get checked out so that that way there's not this influx in your offices?

Dr. Maurer: Definitely. For most pediatric offices, once school starts and kids start to share their snot with each other, it gets pretty busy with just sick visits. So, over the summer, we anticipate a lot of physicals, sports physicals, so we have many open slots and a lot of open time for things to happen. It's also going to be easier because families don't have to take their kids out of school. With about two to three weeks left in summer, I know here at our office, we have plenty of spots open still for families to come on in to get those sports physicals done. So, if families can look ahead and think about a sport coming up, even in December, it would be great. The sports physicals themselves last a full year. So, even if it's a spring sport and they come in over the summer, those physicals that we do last a whole year. So, it'd be great if families could come in now.

Melanie: That's such an important point to make. Thank you for saying that, Dr. Maurer. Now, what about keeping kids focused? Because they haven't had to think. Maybe you've tried to get them to read over the summer. So, now they have to start to focus and read and study. How do we get them into that transition?

Dr. Maurer: So, one of the ways that I suggest to families is no matter what age they are at, you can kind of focus this towards them but I suggest that over the week or two prior to going to school that they try to give their kids more and more autonomy. We have this habit of, over the summer-all of us do, all parent do-of trying to manage things and keep our sanity by organizing ourselves and our family life. So, leading up to school, it's very important to try and pass over some of that autonomy back to the kids. In doing that, it will stimulate their brains, it will get them back invested in school, they'll take more ownership, and that's a very subtle, but very good way to get them back into the mindset and the attention that they will need to start back into school. The other thing that is always helpful is to take chunks of time prior and instead of having kids read at random, take chunks of it and start to say, "Okay, we're going to sit down for a half hour today and read," something that they will enjoy, but just to get their mind going again prior to getting back into school.

Melanie: And, what about nutrition? What role does that play in getting our children back and ready to school, because they sit around in the summer; maybe they eat more junk food than they otherwise would. So, how do you sort of ease them into that?

Dr. Maurer: I think that we all eat more junk food over the summer, don't we? I know I certainly do, which I can tell also. The main thing, I think the most important thing is the literature proves again and again that getting a breakfast before school is crucial. In Greenville County, a lot of the schools have even started giving free breakfasts to all students. So, even as an institution, we've realized how important that is. So, I think the first thing to encourage families to do the first week or two is make sure kids are getting up early enough to eat a good, solid breakfast. That is probably the one most important thing that families will overlook that I think will be crucial.

Melanie: So, in just the last few minutes, Dr. Maurer, and it's such important information for parents to hear, give your best advice for wrapping it up for us. Getting parents to get their kids corralled after the summer and ready for a great school year.

Dr. Maurer: I think, overall, the way that we approach going back to school, that attitude is something that kids will pick up on. And so, if families can take a step back and approach it with an attitude of “this is something fun that we are going back into," it's not "the summer's over and we're going back to misery," that kids are going to pick up on that. And, in every aspect that families work with their kids to prepare them, as long as they keep in mind that they're going back into an opportunity to see their friends, to learn, to grow, the structure's wonderful, and just to be very encouraging if it is that they're dealing with the nutrition that we talked about, if they're dealing with moving up the sleep habits like we talked about--all of those things. It's an important part that, as a family, everyone is on board. Everyone's excited. I think that is probably the most crucial aspect of creating a good environment for families. The flip side, or the other attitude would be speaking to them and saying, "I can't wait for you to get back to school, I'm tired of you," and so even though we might feel like that on some level, not that we're tired of our kids, but we're ready for a break, too. I think just trying to keep it as positive and motivating as possible is very helpful.

Melanie: Thank you so much, doctor. It's really great information. Thanks for being with us today. You're listening to Inside Health with Greenville Health System. For more information, you can go to ghs.org. That's ghs.org. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.