As summer break begins for many Oklahoma families, parents may notice changes in routines, sleep schedules and screen time habits.
Mental health experts say the transition from the school year to summer can be challenging for both kids and parents. On Monday, News 9 spoke to Calm Waters CEO Tricia Koelsch to learn tips for helping children maintain healthy routines, stay connected with family and balance screen time during the summer months.
How do we keep our kids on a routine without a school schedule?
Koelsch: You know, it’s different for every family. So some families do need to get their kids up to get them to daycare or to get them to camp. So it’s important that we do stay in some sort of a routine, that they’re getting the right amount of sleep each night, that they’re getting their breakfast in the morning before they’re taking off on the road. Just making sure that even if you do let them stay up a little later… Let them stay up a little later, but they still need to get the right amount of sleep.
How do you help make sure that they understand that and can be mindful of that?
Koelsch: Keeping that connection with your kids is really important through the summer. They’re going to be around new people, and so it’s important that they are building healthy relationships, not only with the new people that they’re around and their new routines, but also with you. Making sure that even during times of regular housework, if you’re doing the dishes, invite your kids to come, hopefully help you. But if they’re just sitting there watching you, have that connection with them and talk about the importance of, “I’ve got to go to work in the morning.” These are the things that I have going and, you know, would really love it if we could, you know, wind down together and watch a movie this evening and then go to bed.
Any advice for parents in terms of mental wellness?
Koelsch: Absolutely. So we talk about this all the time, all year long, about how important it is to have screen time limits. The summertime is even a bigger issue because they’re not in school all day. So then they’re on their phones a lot more or on their screens a lot more. It’s very important to set those limits. There are controls on your devices to put limits on them so they shut off or they tell them, ” Hey, you can’t be playing this anymore, you can’t do this anymore.” Then also, if they are on their screens, give them something educational to do.
