Psychologist Olga Zgordan advocates a gentle approach to children’s return to school, advising short, regular activities over intense summer revision to reduce stress and exhaustion.
As August draws to a close, some parents try to make children plough through last year’s schoolwork in the hope of a strong start in September. But psychologist Olga Zgordan says that approach is more likely to exhaust pupils than prepare them, and that a gentler return to routine works better. According to Vechernyaya Moskva, she advised families to ease back into study with short, regular sessions rather than long revision blocks. The paper also reported that the concern is not only academic: how parents frame the run-up to term can shape how a child feels about school itself.
Zgordan said that after months away from class, a child is unlikely to benefit from spending hours revising in a single day. Instead, she recommended small tasks such as reading, practising multiplication tables or revisiting basic rules. In her view, forcing heavy revision can leave a child tired before the school year has even begun and can make the return to lessons feel like a punishment.
She also warned that preparation can backfire if it turns into a source of constant arguments or anxiety. If children hear repeated talk about how hard the year ahead will be, they may begin to associate school with stress rather than structure, leaving the new term feeling like an ordeal rather than a fresh start, according to the report cited by RuNews24.ru.
The article also noted changes set out in guidance from Russia’s Ministry of Education. For first-year pupils, lessons in the first two terms should not exceed 35 minutes, and homework will no longer be assigned. Vechernyaya Moskva said the newspaper discussed those rules with historian and honoured teacher Alexander Snegurov, raising the broader question of whether they will make adjustment easier for new pupils or create fresh challenges.
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