It’s that time of year again—the kids are either headed back or already back to school after a fun summer break. As a parent with kids going back to school, one of the top priorities you have for your children is making sure they have the necessary school supplies for the next school year. You have also scheduled a doctor’s appointment to catch them up on age appropriate vaccinations required by the school district. But have you set aside the time to schedule important eye exams with a certified optometrist in Oshkosh, WI?
If your kids’ vision seems to be good, for example they are not running into walls and are reading fine, you may not see the importance of getting their eyes examined. However, while the eyes and vision should be checked by a professional starting at any early age and through adolescence, a yearly exam for children going back to school is often overlooked. Catch a problem with your child’s eyesight early enough and save them from a lifetime of frustration brought on them by poor eye-sight!
Not only should eye exams in Oshkosh, WI start early, they should be done when a child enters school for the first time and every couple years thereafter as they go through the grades. There are some schools in the lower grades that offer a basic screening, as do a number of primary care physicians. Having such resources available to your family is fantastic, but when your child’s vision is not tested by an individual with very specific knowledge, small decreases in vision can be missed. When it comes to school-aged children, missing these signs of vision issues can lead to missing out on more than just learning.
Little by little a child with undiagnosed vision issues can begin to show problems in school related to everything from reading and writing to difficulties with focus and hand-eye coordination skills. This can lead to such things as poor school performance, behavioral changes or difficulty associating with other kids.
Think back to when you were in elementary school, even junior high. You may have had a classmate who was incredibly smart but dreaded being called on to read out-loud or simply hated going to school. It is a good bet your classmate was in dire need of an eye exam.
We have all heard the phrase “the children are our future.” If this is true, then why jeopardize our children’s potential to thrive and succeed—and this begins with their school years. As parents, caregivers, teachers, adults, we must do everything we can to keep children from slipping through the cracks when it comes to eye health and more.
Do you have children going back to school after the long summer break? Have they already gone back but did not get officially examined by an eye doctor? If you have questions about how often your children require eye exams or when you should start bringing them in, contact your local family oriented and board-certified optometrist in Oshkosh, WI to schedule their eye exams today!