Tips, Tools & Activities for New School Year Success!

The new school year is right around the corner! That means big changes and new routines for families and educators alike.

Whether you’re returning to the classroom or learning from home, Mountain Lake PBS is here for you as the 2024-2025 school year kicks off! Check out some of our favorite back-to-school resources below to help learners of all ages succeed.

Explore collections from PBS LearningMedia and PBS KIDS for Parents to help create good study habits, set & continue new routines, manage emotions, and build friendships. Materials include resources to support educators as they integrate PBS and PBS KIDS content into their classrooms. And don’t miss the growing list of PBS LearningMedia videos, activities, and teaching tips exploring the Adirondacks, Champlain Valley, and beyond from Mountain Lake PBS.

Inspire your child’s curiosity and love of learning in and out of school with our Mountain Lake Families newsletter. Get locally curated learning tips, activities, and family-friendly events from across the region direct to your inbox each week!

Jump to article sections:

Tips for New School Year Success

Setting Goals for a New School Year

Grades PreK-3
A new school year is a great time to set new goals, just like a new year! Here are some easy ideas for creating new school year resolutions and ways to make them stick.

How to Handle a Tough First Day of School

Grades PreK-3
Kids bring so many emotions to the first week of school: excitement and fear, wonder and worry. So when something goes wrong, it can feel overwhelming. Here are four ways you can help kids navigate heading back to school.

Three Ways to Help Your Child Build Better Friendships

Grades PreK-3
From modeling friendships to helping children understand how to invite and include others, parents play an essential role in helping children to build relationships with others.

How to Cope With Back-to-School Anxiety

Grades PreK-3
Consistency and routines are always a great place to start when it comes to squashing those back-to-school worries! Try some of these strategies to help your child ease in the school year.

How to Get Involved in Your Child’s Learning at School

Grades PreK-3
Students are better capable of flourishing in school when they have the support and encouragement of their parents. Here are a few ways that parents can be involved to help their children be engaged and positive with their learning.

Back to School Resource Hubs & Collections

Going Back to School collection | PBS Kids for Parents

Grades PreK-3
School is back in session! Explore different topics, such as coping with back-to-school anxieties and emotions, creating daily routines, and tackling common situations that arise with the start of school. Ease the transition with some fun lunch box or after school snacks and downtime activities.

Back to School collection | PBS LearningMedia

Grades PreK-5
Get ready for the start of school with some of our favorite back-to-school resources! This collection features activities and video resources to help students get to know each other and their new school routines, and lesson plans to help you get your new class off to a great start.

The U.S. History collection

Grades 3-12
Bring history alive in the classroom with resources covering major people, events, and trends in U.S. history, from pre-colonial America to the 21st century!

PBS Digital Studios collection

Grades 6-12
Discover teacher-curated videos from the Digital Studios library! These engaging, educational, and entertaining shorts will captivate students, enrich their learning, and inspire them to create their own media projects.

Ethics in the Classroom collection

Grades 6-12
Are you talking with students about ethics? This wide-ranging collection covers everything from civic engagement, confronting bias, media literacy, and more.

Activities, Games & More

Back-to-School | Teach Your Way Activity Calendar

Grades PreK-2
Explore the “Back-to-School” activity calendar and find meaningful ways to integrate media in creative and developmentally-appropriate ways.

Get-Ready-for-School Checklists

Grades PreK-3
Whether your child will be going back to school or learning at home this fall, download these checklists to get ready for back to school!

Teachers are Terrific | Booklist

Grades PreK-5
Teachers must be brave, patient, creative and downright stalwart people. Celebrate going back to school with these books aboutextraordinary teachers and the children they teach!

Create a Homework Center

Grades K-3
This quick and easy back-to-school project is perfect to help your little ones feel more in control of things.

Make a Cardboard Giant Pencil to Store School Supplies

Grades 1-3
Keep the homework clutter down and upcycle, too, with this back-to-school craft (or gift) made from a cardboard tube!