It’s time for the annual rite of passage known as going back to school.

While some students look forward to the opportunities and challenges of the upcoming year, others find plenty of reason to dread the return to the classroom.

Navigating the complexities of instruction time, study time, homework and relationship with teachers, peers and friends can be challenging at any age. Most people can probably look back at their time in school and recall both good times and tough times.

Summer is often a chance for school children to remove themselves from that environment for awhile and going back certainly can be difficult.

But it is also important on many levels for young people to develop skills and gain knowledge that will benefit them as they continue to grow.

That means that anything families can do to facilitate a smooth transition and a positive approach to the upcoming school can have a big impact on students.

So here is a list of eight ideas to make going back to school more enjoyable:

1. Make it a celebration with special meals

So many holidays are tied to delicious foods: birthday cake, candy at Halloween, Thanksgiving dinner, Fourth-of-July barbeques, etc. Joanna Goddard, on her CupofJo.com page called “7 Ways to Make Back-to-School Fun (For Real),” suggests doing the same for the first day of school.

“Ever since the boys were little, we’ve served cake the night before the first day of school,” she said. “The boys pick one out from our local bakery, and I light candles for them to blow out. Even as they’ve grown older, it has helped nerves feel a bit more like excitement.”

She also said that she likes making warm muffins for the first day of school to add another yummy treat and make it feel more like a party instead of something to fear.

2. Share upbeat music

Most of us recognize that music can change a mood and brighten a day, so why not lean into that for school kids as they get back to classes?

TheYoungFolks.com has a list of best school songs to consider, including The White Stripes’ “We’re Going To Be Friends,” Paul Simon’s “Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard,” The Beach Boys’ “Be True to Your School” and many others.

Find music that speaks to your child and helps them feel upbeat as they change their summer routines into going to school.

3. Listen to concerns (but don’t always solve them)

Going to school will bring its fair share of challenges and stress, often which students of all ages will struggle at times to figure out. It might be not feeling adequately prepared for a test, being left out of a friend’s activity, or struggling with having so many things going on.

Frequently adults see what they perceive to be clear answers to such problems (study more, find new friends, be better organized, etc.) but “fixing” issues isn’t nearly as valuable as aiding kids to figure out their own successful solutions.

Frequently the best approach is to listen without judging, ask what the student things they should do and then encourage them to work through the challenges themselves.

4. Get familiar with facilities and routines

Kimberly Mosca, PhD, an expert behavior analyst and leader in special education with Westchester Behavior Consultants said in a Parents.com article titled “16 Ways To Make School Fun for Kids of Every Age”, says that getting a sneak peek of a new school or grade can help eliminate the feeling of everything being unknown.

“Take advantage of any orientations that the school offers,” she advises. “This gives your child an opportunity to experience the school alongside other students so that they don’t feel as alone. It also helps to set expectations so that not everything about the first day of school is unknown.”

Routines also change with the school year, so helping students understand why getting plenty of sleep and having time for both homework and leisure activities can enable them to be more at ease with the processes.

5. Savor the chances to learn together

One of the best ways for family members to encourage kids to learn is to demonstrate how much they like learning.

La Petite Academy on CES-Schools.net suggests: “Be enthusiastic! If they’re learning about the life cycle of a butterfly, pull up videos on your computer and get excited yourself. When your kids see that, they’ll realize just how fascinating learning is! And who know – you may even learn something new!”

It also recommends finding ways to tie difficult subjects into things that kids already enjoy, like using art to teach math.

6. Encourage values like bravery and kindness

Courtesy Kelly Services

The Parent.com article says that “two simple ways to make school more meaningful and enjoyable are to give students a daily kindness mission and a daily bravery challenge, says Katie Wood, national speaker and former special education teacher, founder of the Growing the Goodness Initiative, and author of A Simple Seed, a daily guided gratitude journal for kids.”

She recommends encouraging kids to go to skill with the mission to spread kindness and make someone’s day better, then giving them a chance at the end of the day to identify when they showed courage. She said focusing on bringing joy to others and practicing small acts of courage makes kids more connected, resilient and positive.

7. Seek ways to support healthy friendships

While academics are often what matters most to adults, the social elements make an enormous difference to students at almost all levels. That means that investing time in aiding kids to develop healthy friendships can sometimes change their entire outlook on school.

“A simple way to teach this is through the candle measurement: [Say], ‘Pay attention to the people who make your light shine brighter,'” Wood said on Parents.com. “The right friends encourage you, believe in you, and help you become the best version of yourself. If someone constantly tries to blow out your candle by putting you down or making you feel like you have to change who you are, you can still be kind to them, but they may not be the person you choose as a close friend.”

8. Have reasonable expectations

It can be tempting to desire to have kids always be successful in the classroom, in extracurricular activities and in social groups — but that’s simply not realistic. Like all of us, young people will have good days and bad days.

“Excitement doesn’t have to mean enthusiasm every single day,” Brooke Rose, LICSW-S, therapist at Breathable Mental Health, said on Parents.com. “Adults don’t wake up excited to go to work every morning, and children won’t always be excited about school either. The goal isn’t to eliminate difficult days. It’s to help children build resilience, confidence, and a sense of belonging that carries them through those days.”

Focusing on the experiences and processes instead of always just zeroing in on results will likely aid students to have more successes because they will better understand what is required for fulfilling achievement.