back to school, tips

Tips for making this school year for you and your children one for the record!

by Rebekah Gilligan

Inevitably, summer is coming to an end. For most kiddos, it’s a sad realization that their summer days of staying up late, sleeping in, and numerous fun camps and vacations are going to be turning into alarm clocks, homework, and sitting in a classroom most of the day. Parents, on the other hand, often look forward to school starting back up (for reasons only parents would understand). Here, we have list of 5 tips that will help you as a parent make this year’s back-to-school run smoothly. Your kids will be thankful you did!

PREPARE BREAKFAST/LUNCHES THE NIGHT BEFORE

We all know that the morning rush can get a little chaotic. No matter if you’re a parent with young children, or if you are a high school student reading this, preparing food the night before can make the mornings run so much smoother. Think about it, how likely are you to make a mess and squirt mustard on your shirt when you’re frantically trying to make a sandwich because you have 5 minutes until the tardy bell? We have all been there. When that happens, the day starts off on a bad note. Simply taking the time the night before to pack your lunch or make some overnight oats for breakfast will cut out some of that rush time.

TRY SOMETHING NEW

To make this year better than the last, sign your child up for a new sport or have them take after-school music lessons. Go to a school event that you didn’t attend previously like a school carnival, a musical, or a field day. Turn that into a family oriented function and have everyone attend! To make this even easier, look at the school calendar and make sure you write down the events in your personal planner or calendar. You’ll be more likely to go if you write it down. This will be sure to create more memories and experiences for the whole family.

SIGN UP AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

Any after-school activities that your kids are going to be involved in will fill up fast as soon as the school year starts. Begin looking at clubs, sports, after-school care, and classes right now and sign-up as soon as possible to ensure that your child won’t miss out. Once you have them signed up, look at the schedule of events for that particular activity to see if you need to make travel arrangements at any point and go ahead and book in advance.

CHECK ASSIGNMENT DUE DATES

Sleep is important, we all know that. In the rush of the school year, sleep can often get sacrificed for late night homework assignments that have been held off until the day before. To help with this, always try to stay on top of your child’s assignment due dates and motivate them each day to work a set amount of time on a project from the moment they were assigned. This will then prevent them from staying up too late and tinkering with their bedtime routine. Overtime, they’ll have a routine established and will need less motivation from you.

ESTABLISH A NEW TRADITION

Start the first day of school off by doing something that you and your kids can look forward to each new schoolyear.  Take a first-day photo, have a big delicious breakfast, pray or worship together… there are so many traditions you can start that will kick the year off positively. What a great way to make some happy memories too!

Bottom line, you’re out of practice and so is your kiddo(s). Making a commitment to a handful of disciplines is certainly going to make the transition from summer to school a lot smoother. This is the part where you utilize that parental genius you have. Help you kids and yourself by taking advantage of a few things on this list and save the drama for the playground. Good luck and have a great year!