Back to School

Summer seems so fleeting because all of a sudden, in a blink of an eye, autumn is almost here and going back to school is just around the corner.

There is always something special about a new school year. Growing up, the first day of school felt like New Year’s Day where you make new promises and resolutions to yourself. Whether that is being a better student, deciding to reinvent yourself or making the promise to get out of your comfort zone, it always felt like you could start new and on a clean slate.

My twin boys will be starting preschool soon and I was thinking about how I would start each school year. Instead of dreading the upcoming school year, I want them to be just as excited as I was. I want them to look forward to seeing friends, making new ones as well as getting excited about what they are going to learn. I also want to make sure I am starting good habits that they will be able to use even through adulthood.

Here are some of my best BACK TO SCHOOL tips to set your child up for the best year ever!

START A TRADITION

There are so many cool traditions to start at the beginning of each school year. One of my favorite is a twist on the first day picture. Instead of just taking a picture of your children on their first day, have them hold a small chalkboard that lists their age, grade as well as their favorite foods, colorus and TV shows. This will be great to look back on! Another fun tradition is on the first day of school, is getting a special treat. A fun treat that my friend does with her family is that her children get to have dessert for dinner. Her children love the first day of school because of this.

VISIT THEIR SCHOOL AHEAD OF TIME

Many schools usually have a day where children can go and visit their new classrooms before the upcoming school year. This is important as it helps your child prepare and get more familiar with the new environment that they will soon need to be accustomed to. By checking it out before their first day will help them adjust and have an idea of what to look forward to in the new school year.

BE ORGANISED!

If you are frazzled the first week trying to get everything together last minute for your child’s first day of school, so will they. Eliminate stress by promising to yourself to be more organise this year. You can do this easily by colour coordinating each child’s lunch box and bag so that there is no confusion as to who gets what. Have a simple “inbox” where paperwork that needs to be signed, completed or returned. This will help eliminate missing homework assignments and those busy mornings when you are trying to find that field trip slip that you still need to sign.

SET UP A HOMEWORK STATION

Find an area in your house that will serve as a great place for your children to do homework at. Make sure it is free from other distractions and it has readily available supplies that they may need. You can even put a small snack box there too for the homework munchies.

HAVE A FOOD SCHEDULE SET EVERY WEEK

When you are running around everywhere, trying to keep up on you child’s homework while making it to all those after school activities, dinner is the last thing you want to think about. Setting some time out every Sunday where each child gets to help plan what they would like for dinner helps eliminate the time spent thinking “what should I make for dinner?!”

I hope you enjoy your back to school as much as I will….

Diary of is a regular blog, by a regular Greenwich mum. Sharing experiences as a local parent (and member of this website) she’ll be writing about everything and anything. And being completely anonymous – you never know – you could have stood next to her in the Post Office or behind her in Cafe W…

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