It’s hard to believe our summer is almost over and Back-to-School season is here. For some families, kids have already headed back to school. This time of year can be chaotic and stressful as summer winds down and the transition back to school begins. A well-organized parent can help their child be ready for school and help their child with their back-to-school checklist to ease the transition.
Here are 5 things you should keep in mind as the start of the school year approaches to help have a successful first day of school.
1. School Supplies
Make sure you and your child have shopped and filled the back-to-school supply list that your teacher or the school has provided so they can bring those items in on the first day. Have their backpack packed and ready to go a few days ahead of time to there are no last minute stresses that first morning back. Some schools will hand the sheet out at the end of the year, some will send a note part way through summer, and many are also available online through your school’s website. Some of the local stores by us even have the local school supply lists printed and available in the school supply section!
2. Teacher Information
Make sure your child knows who their teacher is. Many schools will do a moving up day at the end of the school year so the students can meet their new teacher. If you’ve recently moved or are just starting school, try to attend the PTO picnic or welcoming day your school hosts so the student can meet their teacher before the first day of school. Knowing the teacher’s name can help ease some of those first-day of school fears.
3. Contact Information
Make sure your child knows your phone number and their address in case of emergency. This is good information for them to know anyway, not just for school. You can also print the information and stick it in a younger child’s backpack so they have it should they need it.
4. Lunch
Pack a lunch the night before or make sure the lunch money is ready to go so you have one less thing to think about that first morning.
5. Sleep Routine
If you haven’t kept a set sleep schedule over the summer, make sure to start a sleep schedule similar to the school schedule a couple of weeks before the first day of school. If your child goes to bed at 8 p.m. on school nights and gets up at 7 a.m., but hasn’t done that all summer, it will take a couple of weeks to get them used to the new schedule. If they are used to going to bed and getting up at the same time every day, it will make the back-to-school routine and first day of school less tiresome for all.
What else is on your back-to-school checklist?
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Great tips. I am just starting to get my daughter back on her school year sleep schedule. We just found out she has to be at her new school an hour and a half earlier than last year!
Love these tips for back to school. I think I’m as anxious and excited as the kids when it comes to this topic!
GReat tips. We’re still planning for back to school since school doesn’t start until September 2nd.
Great tips. Being organized makes it so much easier for children. I also had them set out clothes that they were going to wear the weekend before. I had a hanging rack in each closet with a shelf for each weekday. SAVED me!
We don’t start until Thursday 9/4 but I plan to have the kids up early and to bed early each day that week.
Great tips! I really need to enforce the sleep tip now after a few late evenings 🙂
Ugh. We just started back to school yesterday (kindergarten for my oldest, preschool for my younger daughter) and the sleep thing really got me. Waking up was hard. And then I went to put them to bed early – because they were exhausted – and they fought it because it wasn’t their normal time. Next year I WILL be doing things differently!
Pinning for later!
These are great tips! Definitely being organized with everything ready the night before really helps!