Parenting Tips: Easing Your Kids Back Into The School Year

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork)-- Most kids love summer vacation. No school, camp, waking up late, and months of letting a lot of rules fly out the door.

So how do you balance all the fun while making sure your child doesn't get major brain drain?

CBS2's Cindy Hsu has some parenting tips for summer vacation.

"I like learning, I like the kids, I like teachers, some of the teachers," 12-year-old Talia Sommer said.

"I feel a little bit excited and nervous at the same time because I'm going into middle school which is kind of a big deal for me," 11-year-old Nathan Peller said.

"Teachers say read a lot of books to stay ready for the next year, but I just like playtime," 13-year-old Rachel Dee said.

Psychologist Jeffrey Gardere agrees that fun and getting lots of rest are very important in the summer, but he said parents should reign things in a few weeks before school starts.

"Around two weeks, maybe three weeks before school it's good to get them back into the habit of self-discipline with regard to academics," Gardere said.

Make sure any summer assignments are getting done, get your child's sleep schedule back to normal, and try to serve balanced meals.

If your kids are spending most of the summer at sleepaway camp, it is really important that you get back to a normal schedule when they get home to make the transition a lot easier.

The library is a great place to check out if you're running out of things for the kids to do.

"We have programs every single day we're open. We have science programs, we have art programs," library manager Jennifer Zarr said.

Zarr said kids should be reading at least 20 minutes everyday and if they're too young to read, parents can read to their kids for those 20 minutes.

Karen Peterson and her 4-year-old daughter Kiara are taking on the library's Summer Reading Challenge, which comes with a list of books for all ages and a way to keep track.

If it's tough to get your kids off the computer and devices, there are lots of educational websites and apps which may serve as an easier way to get them back in the game during the summer.