By Elizabeth Scruggs
As the new school year approaches,
here are 12 ideas to help get you off to a good start
Although I can’t wait for school to be out in May – I am equally as excited when pencils, crayons, and glue sticks begin to show up on store shelves again at the end of July. Similar to the beginning of the New Year in January, this “new start” comes with an endless array of multi-color pens and notebooks readily available in every store! For someone like me who still prefers pen and paper to a computer screen any day, it’s a veritable hey day out there!
Begin: Begin this year with routines in place. All children, (and most adults!) function better when they have routine.
Always: Always start each day with a good breakfast. My friend Mandy Pryor posted this a few years ago, and we love it: Muffins on Monday, Toast On Tuesday, Waffles on Wednesday, Thirsty (smoothie) on Thursday and Fruit on Friday. This works great, you don’t have to think about what’s for breakfast.
Countdown: A fun thing to start a week or two before the first day of school is a countdown. Check out a week’s worth of books and read one each night before the first day. Another fun countdown is to make a paper link chain and tear off a link a day until the start of school. Children always love any kind of countdown!
Keep: Keep the memories of your child’s school year with a first day of school and last day of school picture. There are many different ways to have fun with this. Take their photo by the same tree each year to watch how they each grow. Have them hold sign showing the grade they are starting that year. Have them make a serious photo, and then one with silly faces!
Teacher: Give your child’s teacher a teacher questionnaire. Ask them questions such as: What is your favorite restaurant? Favorite scent? Favorite store? Favorite color? You get the idea. This comes in handy when the holidays roll around and you want to honor your child’s teacher with a little thank you.
Organize: Organize a snack shelf in your pantry and/ or refrigerator. Have proportioned snacks such as goldfish, pretzels, grapes, and juice boxes, grouped together for easy reach when hungry kiddos get home.
Supplies: There are an abundance of school supplies at great prices in every store right now! Stock up on paper, pencils, glue and poster board so you will be project-ready when you learn that your diorama is due tomorrow.
Create: Create back to school traditions. One that I started with my girls the week before they started kindergarten is one we call “special days.” I spend the entire day with each of my children – one on one. They get to pick out whatever they want to do on their special day. We eat where they want, go where they want, and have a blast. The best part is we are spending quality one-onone time together! They look forward to it and start planning it at the beginning of summer.
Homework: Create a homework station where everything is on hand to complete homework. I have an old Pampered Chef tool caddy (you know you have one too) that I fill with pens and pencils, rulers and glue sticks, scissors, colored pencils and erasers. I keep it in the kitchen, and when we start homework we pull down the caddy and are ready to go.
Outfits: Now is the time to go through your kiddos’ closets and weed out anything you don’t need. Hang items together as outfits, so it’s easy for them to grab and go on school mornings.
Organize: Have a designated place for book bags, coats and school items. Organize this area every night so you’re ready to grab it all and go in the morning.
Lunches: I suffer in the school lunch department, but with the amazing ideas on Pinterest and Google, I have no excuse. Now is the time to create a lunch list so we won’t be scrambling the night before. If you have school lunch ideas that rock, please share on Wilson Living’s Facebook page with our readers!I need the help!
Just remember, every effort you make to prepare beforehand, will be rewarded with less stressful mornings when the school years is in full swing.Here’s to a successful year!
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www.superior-construction-and-design.com