Ways To Start Your Child's Day Off Right

I want to get my 3rd grader off and running in the mornings with a good energetic start. I started to think about his day. As a past teacher, I know that once the kids arrived in my classroom, I had things waiting for them on their desk to start right away. These assignments are called "Morning Work". They are usually required to be completed and turned in soon after they begin. The morning work sometimes includes copying things down from the board and then transferring that information back to their paper. So the skill of finding the item in one location then remembering it to then transfer that item to the paper without loosing their place at either location can require lots of concentration for the elementary aged child. If my child has to do required work as soon as he walks into the classroom I want to make sure he has had a good start to his morning.

He needs time to wake up and become alert, get dressed, eat breakfast, get some love from us and feel secure and not pushed off from us for the whole day. We have had days that we have hit the snooze and wake in a panic. We try very much to stay calm and not communicate angry sounds that are actually frustration at ourselves for sleeping in too late to give the morning a good start, that is hard to do sometimes. When our oldest started school we had a newborn at our house. We started planning the night before and set out the cereal, bowl, napkin and spoon on the table. We also made sure the night before that everything was in the backpack including snacks and money which was placed by the back door. We picked out the clothes for the next day and made sure shoes were near the door as well. Just these few plan ahead steps made the mornings run so much more smoothly. So I am always looking for more ways to get the day starting off right for him.

When I came across this information it really made breakfast time easier to balance and start his day off with a brain boosting way.

I hope this helps you as well.

10 Balanced Breakfasts

An ideal, nutritious breakfast contains a balance of complex carbohydrates and protein. Think grains, plus dairy, plus fruits. Examples of balanced breakfasts are:

1. granola cereal, yogurt, a sliced apple
2. scrambled eggs, toast, orange juice
3. veggie omelet, bran muffin, fruit with yogurt
4. whole-grain pancakes or waffles topped with berries and/or yogurt, milk
5. whole-wheat zucchini pancakes topped with fruit, milk
6. french toast topped with fruit, orange juice or milk
7. low-fat cheese melted on toast with a piece of fruit
8. low-fat cream cheese on a whole-grain bagel, orange juice
9. peanut butter and banana slices on an english muffin, milk
10. For a breakfast-on-the-run smoothie, see "School-Ade."

Of course, it's what you eat not what you say that impresses a child most. By treating yourself to a healthy breakfast, you model to your children that eating a healthy breakfast gives the whole family a smart nutritional start.