Back to school time can be difficult for both children and parents. Careful planning and a few helpful tricks can ease your child into a new year of school with a minimum of frowns and tears.

Calm tone. There's probably some fear mixed with a lot of excitement and anticipation. As a parent, your job is to be (or at least appear to be) calm, relaxed and in control so that your child will be able to find comfort in your attitude.

Time. One way to do this is to make sure you and your child are never crunched for time. Being late just adds to stress, so make sure your child gets out of bed early and starts the school day with plenty of time. Missed buses or homeroom bells only make things worse.

Homework. Homework can be especially stressful, so try to create specific times and areas for your kids to get their studies done. Turn off the TV and let your child focus on the night's assignments in a designated homework zone, even if it has to be a cleared area of the kitchen table.

Lists. Planning and organization are two of the biggest tools to beat stress. Make lists of daily responsibilities for both yourself and your child, and work towards ticking off each item on the list as you go through the day. If you set a calm tone, make schoolwork a priority and keep things organized, you should be able to eliminate a lot of unneeded stress when it come time for your child to return to school.