Do you remember that very
first day of school every year?
You're nervous and excited.
Maybe you can't sleep,
maybe a little nauseous,
but still can't wait for the year to start.
Every year I feel like,
and that's all normal.
But we can help our kids set out
themselves up for success by dog
a little work before the big dad
team coach Sherry Gazit is back.
Thank you for being here.
I'm glad to be here.
All right.
I I'm actually going to grab myy
pen for this for this discussion
because I am taking notes activ.
So let's you see,
start off before the first day.
Well before the first day,
right.
Right. Yeah. We as parents can p
to get our kids ready for that.
And there's lots of things we cn
talk to them about to get prepa.
Now if during this the summer you can set
up some play dates or some get together,
so that's even better.
But there's things you can do in
the household just to get readyr
it. What about self reflection,
you say that's important.
What do you mean by that?
Yeah, they need to understand
what they bring to the table,
that they're interesting.
They've got a lot to talk about.
When I ask kids or adults even
what's interesting about you,
a lot of times they don't think they're
interesting because it's just who they are.
So get your kids thinking about that.
What did you do?
Like, what's interesting about ?
Do you know languages?
Have you moved from a different country?
And that can even act as an
icebreaker, right, For the first
few days if you got that info, .
And I love for parents to have s
do this because what do teachers
do on the first day of school?
Tell me about your lot of timess
an icebreaker. And then you're ,
Oh my gosh, what do I say?
What are we talking about?
So this gives them some ideas. This is
great. Let's talk those conversation topics.
What questions can you ask your
peers to start connecting? I me,
this is important to practice, right?
Like, right. We don't as a kid,
you don't really know you need us to help.
So what kind of questions wouldu
help your have your child help .
Well the first week of school ad
even like the first day is the easiest
time to have a conversation, ri.
Everybody's going through the
same stuff and you've had summe,
so you can talk about what did u
do this summer you can talk abot
and what classes do you have,
what teachers do you have,
what clubs are you interested i.
There's so many questions that
the kids going to ask that does
doesn't seem odd the first weekf
school and the first day of sch.
So that's the best time to
start these conversations.
That's really that's actually a great point.
Attraction strategies.
This is something that you
we've been talking about but it
sounds a little bit strange.
You explain what this means. Ye.
So this is especially good for our shy kids.
OK. So they're, you know,
some kids are like I am not stag
a conversation what do I do?
So you bring things that represent who
you are and what you're interested in.
It might be a Taylor Swift shirt
if they went to the concert. OK.
If they didn't they can still wr
that shirt because it'll attract
people who like Taylor Swift. Y.
It might be a water bottle on your desk
that has a sticker that says lacrosse,
something you're into.
It might be a book that you lovd
that's just sitting on your desk so other
people who have same interests are going
to be attracted to you and talk to you.
That's a great idea.
Having that out there,
putting it out there,
I love that mindset.
Remembering this is an interest,
this is an interesting topic,
that you don't need permission
to speak to others, right?
That you might make someone's
day just by saying hi,
yes, It's so true.
And I know I talked to a lot ofs
and I'll say who did you talk to today?
And they'll say nobody,
nobody talked to me.
And I'll ask them, did you talk to someone?
And they'll say no.
So it's so you don't need permission.
You can talk to whoever you wan.
And when you start that conversation,
you never know where it's going to go.
So just connect with people.
What about some of the awkwardns
that happens after you are like,
you've got friends all year,
you've got you're close, you're tight,
but then you don't see each othr
a whole lot over the summertime.
How do you reacquaint
you just ask about summer,
What do you do over the summer?
And everybody did something.
Even if it was sitting at home
playing video games, it was something
is there. It's hard to say
because I know that kids,
some kids don't want to talk
about their summer because they
don't want to seem like they're
bragging how how do teens navig.
I was just talking to the two
teens who were modeling in our
show earlier and they said that
they didn't want to tell them
that they were coming on the shw
today because they thought their
friends would be mean to them.
How do you,
how do you balance that as a
teenager and how do you instill
in your kids not to care,
right. Yeah, I mean,
people find it interesting what you're
up to and the people who are th,
let's say the haters take from Taylor Swift,
right. Haters going to hate.
They're not your people.
And it also depends on how you talk about it.
If you're talking about it like I'm better
than you because I went and did this,
of course people are going
to kind of react to that.
But if you're just matter of
factly saying what you did,
then you can just be confident
proud about that.
Yeah, you mentioned Ice Breakers
with teachers. Is there a way
that teachers can help with that
communication as the week start?
Yes. So when teachers are
choosing Ice Breakers,
don't go deep like some teachers
are like what's your hidden fea?
Or something like that.
And these kids are in a
classroom with with their peers.
So just remember,
make something fun like flavor
of ice cream or what movie did
you watch this summer? Easy.
Not a lot of thought to it,
something super easy.
So another part of going back to
school in high school and sometg
that somebody were about clicks,
that's something that,
you know, a people dread.
What do you say to a child
who's being kept out of a click?
Well, if they're being kept out of it
is probably not their group, ri?
It's not the right connection.
But the thing about the first
week or day of school is a lot f
those clicks aren't formed yet.
So This is why all of what we're talking
about is so important to do right away
because the patterns haven't been set,
like who's eating lunch with wh?
Who's hanging out with who.
So there's room for movement
in the friendship groups.
So even those clicks change up over the
summer and especially that first week.
So important. All right,
we got about 30 seconds left.
What are the top three things
we should be doing right now?
Shall we just go over what we went over?
Yeah, that's. Let's say we needd
to self reflect with our kids.
We need to teach them about attraction,
teach them conversation topics and the
whole thing about just the mind.
I can talk to who they want.
Absolutely. They can talk to who they want.
Sure. Thank you so much.
It is always a pleasure chatting with you.
I've got my notes right here.