Must Read Tips For Organizing Yourself Before and After the Kids Go Back to School

I can already hear the early morning alarm clock and the school bells ringing in my head.

Getting the kids ready for school and making sure the school year starts smoothly are some of the things on my mind right now. 

It’s the last weekend of the looooong summer holiday. To stay on top of things as the kids go back to school, you have to start organizing your home and family for the school days ahead. Planning will save you a lot of worries, time, even money and ensure a stress free resumption.

Wondering why some parents get their kids off to school on time and still have composed and organized lives? These are tips I learnt to stick to before and after the new school session begins.

Enforce an early bedtime routine

Holiday is over, no more oversleeping. To get kids back into shape, the time to establish the back to school sleep routine is now.  Serve dinner on time, choose a consistent early bedtime so they can get enough sleep and gradually ease into that routine when school starts.

Sort out school fees and other school bills

To avoid resumption rush, now is the time to transfer their school fees into the school account or drop by in the school to pay school fees, to pay for books and extra-curricular activities for the new session. It will save you the hassle of the long wait on the first day/week of resumption.

Make a list of things to buy

Clear out things they do not need anymore; Old school accessories - socks/uniforms, shoes, bags, broken pencils/crayon. This will help you to make a list of what they need for the new school session. If your budget permits, pick up extra supplies of items especially things that you need to replace often. Extra items always come in handy.

Make your own school activities calendar

The first term usually starts with a lot of school functions. If you have gotten the upcoming school calendar, make your own personal calendar and place it in a visible part of the house as an everyday reminder, mark out the important dates boldly so you don’t miss out on P.T.A Meetings, Open days, etc. Even if I might have saved/synched the dates in my phone, this works more for me.

Clear your own schedule

After making an activity calendar, you should clear your own schedule. I mean, make yourself available, clear appointments on school activity days and don’t fix work appointments on the first day of school except if you can’t help it. Some mums/dads take leave off work last week of the holiday and the first week of resumption to be home to help kids settle back to school.  If your work is not so flexible to get away from, make plans with someone who will be available on these days, you can also get the teachers phone number and send a text message as to when it’s convenient to call to discuss your child.

Get ready the night before

Pick out the kids’ clothes (you can do this together with the kids/enforce older kids to stick to this habit). Set aside underwear, school uniforms, socks and shoes. Once you get used to it, you can even plan for the week probably on Sunday night to make your weekday mornings less hectic. Set aside your clothes too if you will be dropping them off at school.

You can also plan the meal for the whole week, buy food items and the things you need to put in the kids’ lunch bag for the whole week or the whole month if your budget permits. Put snacks, fruits in the fridge so kids can eat when they get back from school.

Wake up earlier than the kids

Ahaa ahaa, for me to stay on top of things, this has always been my life saver/my best tip. When everyone has to leave the house early, wake up 20 to 30 minutes earlier to get yourself ready for the day, to do things you couldn’t do the night before like preparing breakfast and packing the lunch bag. If you have toddlers, you can bet a lot of things get done before the kids wake up. What may take a few minutes takes longer when you are surrounded by kids demanding for your attention. If possible, have a bath, the idea is to get ready first before everyone else.

Partner with the teachers

For a smooth school year, identify and make a list of the new learning skills they have acquired at home and the ones you need them to improve on. The beginning of the term is the best time to start/maintain a parent-teacher relationship. Children will eventually settle in but help them by getting feedbacks from the teachers about their first days back at school and also ask kids directly how they feel about their new class and new teacher. Be involved and leave communication open with your chidren’s teachers.

Check schoolbags daily

 I check their bags to see if there’s homework, my kids usually get a daily activity log book parents ought to sign. Checking their bags daily also give me an idea of how they spent their day. It will surprise you the kind of things kids especially preschoolers pack in their school bag from home to school and from school back to the to the house. Until I instilled it in them to always give me notes sent by their teacher, I used to find notes the teacher sent wrinkled somewhere in a corner of the bags.

Nanny/House help

A nanny/househelp takes a lot of stress off you but If your kids will be coming home to a nanny,  get one early enough  to familiarize with before you leave them alone with the children, that way you will be sure your kids come home to a trusted hand. Another option is to make arrangement with an after school services provider close to your home.

Those are my tips, how do you stay on top of your game when your kids go back to school? Share your #backtoschool experiences.

Yours Truly,

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