I partnered with Sara Lee® Bread this week to provide some fun custom lunchbox notes and to offer 10 tips that have worked for our family to get ready for back to school.
We have three more weeks of summer vacation but I am already working through the checklist below in the hopes that this year’s transition back will be nice and smooth for our family. Hopefully these tips are helpful to you as well!
1. Adjust bedtime routines. Have the children been staying up way too late and sleeping in? Time to focus on that and ease them back to the regular school time schedule. A rule of thumb is to start bedtime routines 15 minutes earlier every 3 days until you are back on track. You can also adjust the morning schedule by getting them up 15 minutes earlier until you hit your ideal time. Up the 15 minute block every 3 to 4 days. (And that might include your own sleep schedule- I know I need to get up much earlier once school starts so I plan to do this myself.)
2. Finish school supply shopping. Are you done with all this yet? Time to make lists of any supplies you still need and check them off your list. The school supplies tend to dwindle down in mid-August and you can expect to start seeing clearance sales at the end of August and the first week of September. In my experience, the best deals on supplies tend to be in July and early August.
3. Clothing. Before I do anything, I go through all of my children’s clothing. Usually I do a quick edit of the dressers and closet to identify anything I know won’t fit and then I plunk the kids down in front of a cartoon and make them try on about a zillion things. Once I know what still fits and what needs to be donated I can start a list of what we need to buy. The stores have amazing discounts right now on staples and it is a great time to shop! Especially on things like jeans and even sweaters and such for fall. I just picked up jeans for my kids for less than $10 and uniform polo shirts for $4 and cardigans for $7.
4. Organize the family calendar. Now is also a great time to print out the school calendars (most should be online) and start working through extracurricular activities and such. My girls just started back in soccer and with that comes a practice schedule, game schedules, snack schedules, coordinating dance and cheer around soccer… the list goes on and on. You might as well start getting all those gear needs in while you are shopping for school clothes. We have new ballet tights, soccer kits and soccer balls on our list this year. Once the kiddos start school, you will probably get some deadlines for major projects, papers, tests etc… so it is nice to see the month at a glance ahead of time.
5. Consider a dedicated kid email account. One of my friends does this and I think it is genius. She has a dedicated email address ([email protected]) and that email account has all the extracurricular stuff, school emails, email lists from local activity centers and such you might sign up for and so on. She checks it daily but it is a great way to keep everything kid-related in the same spot. I have this on my list to do for sure. I get hundreds and hundreds of work emails a day and I hate searching back through trying to find that party invite or whatever buried in my stuff.
6. Organize all paperwork and check off medical appointments. Some schools require immunization records before school starts. I also scheduled dentist checkups, optometrist appointments, haircuts and so on. Much easier to get it out of the way while we have a little flexibility in our schedule. Plus you want those stinkers looking adorable for first day of school photos!
7. Define a homework zone. This was a big one for us as my kid’s get older the amount of homework increases. We also have after school activities pretty much daily so it is imperative they get schoolwork done and out of the way. We have two homework zones. The first is a little desk we just set up for my big girl in her room. There are no distractions on the desk and she can sit down right after school with a little snack and get her work done in a quiet space. Her little sister tends to sit in the kitchen with me while I prep dinner. She doesn’t have as much homework but I usually try and get her to do something like workbook pages or reading. Again no distractions like TV and radio, just a clear work surface and pencils. The second homework zone is actually the car. Some days we go straight from school to a sport or activity and on those days, I have a clipboard and extra pencils in a little bag that I grab before school pick up. The girls can at least start homework as we are on our way and finish it up on the drive home that evening. (And if you are a professional chauffeur, as I often am, you might pack your own bag! A few snacks, some magazines or notepads. Something that will keep you busy during swim team practice and ballet class.)
8. Prep for breakfast and lunches. These two meals are so important for kid’s to have energy to get through the day. Now is the time to start thinking ahead to what types of quick and nutritious breakfast ideas you might want to make and also start thinking about lunchbox ideas. Get it all on the grocery list and if you have older kids that pack their own lunches, why not practice a bit during summer so you can make sure they understand lunch does not mean a package of potato chips and fruit snacks 🙂 There are tons of fun lunchbox ideas here. One of my favorite prep-ahead after school snack ideas is a simple PB and J on whole wheat bread. You can make a bunch, pop them into sandwich bags and seal tightly then freeze. Grab one as you head out for after school pick up in the afternoon.
9. Prepare for the avalanche of school papers. Do you have a system to manage all the report cards and artwork and other treasures your kiddos bring home? You might consider designating a large envelope or small box for holding all the really special things that come home. Label it with the child’s name and grade or school year. Toss the rest!
10. Organize printables and gifts. Do you take beginning of the school year photos? Now is the time to either print the first day of school signs or send off to have them printed. I like to have the children pose for these pictures the day before when we aren’t in a huge rush. (Find several options for First Day of School signs here).
Do you include little lunchbox notes for the kids? I love these and my kids do too! It is such an easy way to bring a little joy to your child’s day and remind them how much they are loved. Now is a great time to start getting fun notes printed and ready. Sara Lee® Bread has created some darling free printable lunchbox notes. You can print these off for the next 6 weeks to surprise your child with a little love note from Mom (or Dad). They will change weekly so be sure to check back often.
You can print the loveable lunchbox notes courtesy of Sara Lee® Bread right here. Enter your child’s name and they instantly customize the notes for you. You will get 5 notes plus a recipe for a fun sandwich idea. You might also check out some of the fun ideas and recipes they have for lunchboxes. Sara Lee® Bread offers 18 varieties so there is a lot of variety to choose from. My girl’s love a classic PB&J on wheat for lunchboxes so I try to cut the sandwich into different shapes to keep things interesting. They also learned this summer how to make peanut butter and to make jam so we have been using homemade PB and jelly this summer which they love!
And there you have it! A (hopefully) organized start to the new year!
Here are a few other articles you might like:
Free Organization Printables for Back to School
Easy homemade applesauce (perfect for school lunches!)
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Sara Lee® Bread.
[…] own clever lunch creations to offer busy parents. Charlene from My Frugal Adventures published 10 Tips to Get Organized for Back to School, which included the brand in her advice about meal prep and lunchbox planning. Both posts achieved […]