As the carefree days of summer gradually give way to the structured routines of the school year, parents find themselves navigating a familiar yet demanding transition. Amidst the flurry of back-to-school shopping and scheduling, it’s easy to overlook one of the most critical aspects of preparing our children for the academic journey ahead: their back-to-school health checklist. While summer may have been filled with adventures and outdoor escapades, it’s now time to ensure that our children are equipped with more than just new backpacks and notebooks. Having a plan and a back-to-school checklist to satisfy every aspect of returning to school helps!
So as summer days begin to fade into the back to school grind, it is important to think about adjusting their sleep schedule, meal planning for lunches, budgeting for supplies and ensuring they are as healthy physically as they can be.
Back-to-school health checklist
- Talk about the upcoming school year: This will help lessen the stress and anxiety around going back to school and is especially important to your littlest kids when going to school for the very first time. If you think any of your children need additional support mentally preparing for the school year, Advent Health for Children has plenty of resources available to you.
- Schedule a checkup: Make an appointment with your child’s pediatrician or healthcare provider to ensure that your child is up to date on their vaccinations and that you have all of the forms required by their school.
- Annual Physicals: Schools may require annually updated physical forms for your child so be sure that you’re aware of the school’s requirements. *It is important to note for any family moving to Florida, your child will need to be seen by a Florida physician for their school forms, so finding a pediatrician before you move is a vital step in your moving process. This form can also be filled out at an urgent care facility if necessary.
- Sports Physicals: For your student participating in a sport at school, they will need separate documentation to participate.
- Required ECG Clearance for High School Sports
- The tri-county schools now require all high school athletes have an ECG scan to be eligible to play sports. These can be done at Advent Health for Children Pediatric Cardiology Practice! Appointments can be easily scheduled online here. Important things to note about the Advent Health for Children Pediatric Cardiology Practices include an easy $15 self pay option, you child’s ECGs are reviewed by board-certified cardiologists, if scans are abnormal, further action can be scheduled or even addressed at the same appointment and you will have results at the time of appointment.
- Review vaccination records: Gather and review your child’s vaccination records to identify any missed or overdue vaccines. School aged children will need their records on form DH680. This is especially important if you are transferring to a Florida school from out of state because your out of state form will not be accepted. Your pediatrician can transfer your information for you, or it can be done at your local health department.
- Lead by example: Ensure that you are taking care of your own physical, emotional and mental health – modeling this for our children ensures that this is a normal practice and will continue to be important in their life for years to come. This also includes your diet as a family. With the transition back to school it is important to take a look at your family’s diet and get away from the easy takeout meals that we all gravitate toward during summer and back to home cooked, healthier meals at home. Advent Health for Children also has resources available to you if you are concerned about your child’s weight.
- Get your kids involved in packing their school lunch and picking of healthy items to include each day. This will help you send them to school knowing that their healthy meal will be eaten. Focus on fiber rich foods, like fruits and vegetables, to help keep their bellies full all day long!
- Follow-up: Schedule follow-up appointments as needed to complete any vaccine series or receive booster doses, maintaining ongoing compliance with vaccination guidelines for optimal protection against vaccine-preventable diseases.
Florida schools will require records of your child’s vaccinations on a specific form, so be sure to have this on hand from their pediatrician if you are enrolling them for the first time.
Connect with Health Navigation with AdventHealth for Children:
AdventHealth Women’s and Children’s Health Navigation team can help with all the necessary appointments for these physicals so summer can continue to be carefree and fun. They are like healthcare side kicks!
Some highlights about health navigation:
- Registered nurses who can answer questions and provide medical recommendations.
- Can connect with practices and offices that are within insurance network, close to home and according to parent’s preferences like providers gender and experience.
- Spanish speaking navigators available for the Hispanic community.
- Services are completely complementary.
The Health Navigation team can help with the family’s needs! This is great because with the focus is on back to school and the kids, it is easy to forget about ourselves as parents/caregivers.
Imagine this: It’s the first day of school, and you watch as your child eagerly heads off to join their classmates. As you wave goodbye, a sense of reassurance washes over you, knowing that they are not only equipped with new school supplies but also ready to go because of your back-to-school health checklist — on top of other back-to-school must haves. It’s a simple yet powerful gesture of love and care, one that sets the stage for a successful and healthy academic year.
By prioritizing preparing for the school year ahead, you can confidently send your kids off to school knowing they are happy, strong, and in the best health they can be!
