It’s that wonderful time of year! The time where parents get just a little bit of sanity and routine back. There’s excitement and anxiety in the air surrounding the unknown experiences of the upcoming school year.
Here are just a couple of tips I’d like to pass along for anyone with school-age children returning to school or attending for the first time:
1. Lay your clothes out early. It will save time in the morning, plus gets kids excited about their fresh, new outfits.😃 We have a Monday thru Friday organizer.
2. Pack your backpack with necessities for the first day like writing utensils, paper, crayons, and folder for bringing home assignments & information.
3. Label your supplies. It helps kids keep track of their things if not shared as community in the classroom. Some examples are labeling crayon packs, pencil boxes, binders, folders, and notebooks.
4. Sharpen pencils. Do not send your littles to school with a pack of unsharpened pencils still in the box. What if they have a pop quiz or need to write immediately in class? They have to delay to try to find a pencil sharpener and we know that can take a bit. At least pre-sharpen 2-4 of the pencils to take with them.
5. Pack your lunch and refrigerate the night before if planning to take their lunch. This is in case you wake up late and need to run out the door. If your child buys their lunch with a “student number”, practice on paper keypad or calculator to help them memorize their number.
6. Practice your route. If you take your kids to school, do a practice drive to see how long it takes and get familiar with drop off area or door.
7. Attend Meet the Teacher night. If your school offers this, it is the perfect opportunity for the child to meet the teacher, familiarize themselves with their desk and store supplies, and get oriented to the classroom. They also may get a sneak peek of who they will be in class with.
8. Make a fun sign to take a picture with on their first day. This is a great way to capture this moment, every year and it’s amazing how fast they grow!
9. Buy new underwear & socks. Now’s the perfect time to throw away last year’s “holey” or too little pairs and restock with fresh packs. It used to give me a whole new swag lol. I used to match all the way down from my blue pencil to my blue underwear, shorts, & socks. (from John Witherspoon “you gotta coordinate”)
10. Have a great year! Praying all the students have a magnificent year and may God protect them in all they do.
