August always feels like one long Sunday to me. It is also a time of year when parents across Canada begin the ritual of preparing their children for September.

We buy the backpacks, lunch kits, running shoes and pencil crayons. There is a nostalgic excitement to it all. I have worked as a school psychologist for the past 15 years. Even now, I still remember the scent of a fresh package of Mr. Sketch markers.

However, research in school psychology and child development shows that the factors that matter most are not things you can put in a backpack. Children thrive when they feel they belong. They do better when they are emotionally regulated, when their routines are predictable and when parents and teachers work together.

In my experience, there are a few common misconceptions about “readiness” that I find worth challenging.

Myth: School readiness is mostly about academics

Parents often worry that their child has forgotten math over the summer or that their reading has lagged. While these concerns are valid, academics are only one part of school readiness.

More important questions are whether a child actually wants to go to school, and whether they feel connected to their school community. We should be asking if they believe the school is a place where they fit in.

While belonging won’t instantly raise a student’s grades, it supports the behaviours that allow learning to happen in the first place. It is what drives a child to show up, participate and keep going when the work gets hard.

These effects last well into adulthood. A stronger sense of connection during adolescence predicts lower symptoms of depression and anxiety in later........

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