Official "back to school" (or first time to school!) tips thread

[transformed]

I am sending my kids to school for the first time (3-full time preK) and 6-kindergarten.

What tips do you have to help it be a smooth transition? What are you doing to prepare?

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[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

Figure out what your morning routine needs to look like before the first day and practice if possible for a time or two. Then try what you designed for about a week and re-evaluate. Mornings get crazy and stressed and are probably the hardest thing to adjust to. We use checklists for each kid to keep everyone on track and so I don't have to nag as much.

Double check to make sure you know what each child is expected to bring to school each day and for special days. Label everything. Pack everything possible the night before! Check backpacks and bags before bed so you don't have to stress trying to find something for sharing or the form that is due today while you are tryiing to get out the door. Have the kids lay out clothes the night before. For us this is sort of easy because they wear uniforms, but it means there is no substituting blue socks if there are no clean white ones because socks must be white.

Make sure you adjust your evening routine to reflect the morning reality.

Are you sensing a theme here? Make mornings as streamlined and routine as possible!

[SoCaliMommy]

My son is starting preschool 5days a wk roughly 2hours a day and my daughter is starting 1st grade

I plan on starting to do baths before bedtime including totally blow drying hair then pj's on and also plan on making lunches at night, so i don't have to worry if we wake up late.

[rainyday]

I second the recommendation for a checklist. Your older child might be able to handle a checklist of his or her own (with reminders to check it coming from you). Having a checklist has helped me remember to do things that I might otherwise forget in the rush of the morning (washing face after breakfast comes to my mind ). I like a morning and an afternoon checklist. They help me get out the door in the morning with everything needed, and they help me make sure that afterschool things happen as they should (homework, instrument practice, unpacking lunch containers from that day, checking bags for notes or finished work, etc.)

Think about tomorrow's lunches while you're making dinner. This way you can steam extra broccoli or make an extra quesadilla or something to use in lunches the next day. I often set aside some stuff for the next day's lunches before I serve dinner. Then I know it will be there.

Get up 30 minutes before you think you need to for the first few days, and get the kids up earlier as well. I like to take a shower first and then go wake up ds. If your kids are hard/slow to wake up, build time for that in. After a week or so, you'll have a pretty good idea of how long it actually takes to get out the door each day.

When you/your children check their bags after school, fill out any paperwork right then and put it back in the bag for the next day. Mark any important dates on the calendar as soon as you find out about them. I also mark down any unusual supplies that are needed for an activity. For example, if the class is going to a pumpkin patch, I might want to send rain boots if it's been at all wet lately. If they need 2 egg cartons, next week, I make a note on the calendar for next week and for tomorrow so I have a chance to find the cartons in time! Will they need a sack lunch for a field trip? Write it down; otherwise, it's too easy to forget on the day of the activity.

If a coat/sweater/lunchbox/boot doesn't come home, try to check lost and found at school as soon as possible. If it's not there, try back a few days later. We've found most stuff does turn up. I also try to remember at pickup if ds was wearing a sweater that morning. This happens a lot in the fall and spring when it's cold in the morning and hot in the afternoon, and checking with ds before we leave school has helped us not lose things.

[Linda on the move]

use a calendar. Mark all activities, days off, etc. as you get dates from the school (and whatever else you have going on) and continue to make notes it in. My DD has days where she has to wear a character T-shirt, or they have a jammie party or whatever. I write it all down on the calander rather than trying to remember any of it, and then check the calendar every day. There will be too many random things to attempt to store them in your head.

Set everything out the night before so mornings so smooth.

Accept school as a package. Rather than getting too hung up on any one thing, look at it as a whole. Focus on the good stuff, and let any negatives go.

Boost their immune system. Different people look at this differently -- extra citrus fruits or vit. C tablets, plenty of rest, and whatever else floats your boat. Kids are exposed to soooo many more germs once they start school.

[Polliwog]

I'm a mom and an Early Childhood Education Specialist. You've gotten some great suggestions. I'll add one. Spend as much time in your child's Pre-K class on the first few days as you'd like. But, once you tell your child that you are leaving, leave. Your child may cry, but the teachers will help her feel better and engage in play. Don't go back in even though it will tug at your heart. The consistency will help your DD feel more comfortable at school.

Oh, and one more. The second day (or even week) is often harder than the first. It's better to know that going in. It happens at the best schools, so if it happens don't assume that the school isn't right for her.

I'd better run and get my son dressed... for his first day of Kindergarten!

[Amys1st]

If you havent already had a meet the teacher time or cicuculum night, kindly introduce yourself to the teacher at the end of the day and ask what sort of volunteering she needs and see if you can excercise any of your talents. It could be as easy as Xeroxing once a week (my special talent the 2nd grade is very happy to have me for this year!), cutting out shapes, doing a reading hour once a week at the school or even picking up supplies needed every 6 weeks or so.

Even though email is much easier, dont use the email until you have met and chatted with the teacher face to face or called a few times. Emails dont relay facial expression, tone of voice etc and can come off totally different than what you want your child's teacher to know.

Unpack and repack your child's back pack each and everyday. If possible do it when they arrive home but of course not the easiest thing to do!

Get to know other parents within your child's class and grade. Really.
Make it a point.

I am sure there is more to write, but we are off to meet the teacher hour!

[AFWife]

Get a BIG wall calendar and record all due dates for major (and minor if you need to) assignments. That way you don't have to ask "What's due this week?" you can look and say, "Did you do X?"

I also agree with getting all packing done the night before. My brother is one of the most disorganized people I know and I can't count the number of assignments he would forget because they weren't packed.

Clean out backpacks at least once a week (if not every day). Again, my disorganized brother would never clean his out and there would be crumpled assignments from MONTHS later at the bottom. ("Oh, that's where that went.")

[Tigerchild]

If you or kiddo is going to need to be awake, fed, and dressed earlier than you have been doing so this summer, put in the new schedule THIS WEEK.

IME, it's us mamas that tend to have the hardest time adjusting to the earlier schedule, so if we don't get our bodies a head start on it, then with all the other first day emotions and flurry we will be snappish and stressed instead of calm, in control of ourselves, and supportive.

Join the PTA/PTSA of your elementary school, even though your oldest is "only" in Kindergarten, you can make some great connections and friends there!

Having kids in different schools (if this is the case with you) is very tough. So go easy on yourself and don't expect to get caught up very soon with your 'to-do' list or even to feel like you suddenly have all this time on your hands--because you won't!