Back to School – terrific tips and helpful hints!

We are preparing this week for Miss Madelyn to start first grade on Monday! Where does the time go? Since our vacations were late and I have been swamped at work, back to school shopping and preparing have had to wait until the last minute, almost literally. Here are some website and ideas that might help make everything easier this week – for all of us.

Create a “homework caddy.”

You can find a shower caddy like this one at Target or The Dollar Tree and use it to store writing utensils, erasers, crayons, colored pencils, scissors, glue sticks, etc. Then it can be brought to the kitchen table-our homework spot of choice-or in the car-where we sometimes have to get it done-anywhere! No excuses! Get that homework completed!

Make a kid-friendly schedule.

There are a thousands of ideas for a kid-friendly schedule to set your morning routine. Place it on the fridge or low on the wall so that your child can be responsible for following and “checking things off.” Here is an adorable instant download from Small Moments Design on Etsy!

Have fun with lunch!

Madelyn isn’t sandwich loving kid. In fact, she much prefers her food separated. Awesome! Less work for me and she is able to pack most of her lunch herself!

Here are some things we typically pack in her lunch:

Carrots and ranch

Turkey Pepperoni

Granola bars

Apple slices

Strawberries or blueberries

apple sauce pouches

I learned a lot last year while volunteering for lunch duty at Madelyn’s school. First, lunch time is one of the few times that kids have to socialize with their friends, I want it to be easy for Madelyn to eat and talk. Also, food that requires any preparation – microwave, for example – might be yummy, but it is taking away from that valuable social interaction that is important! My suggestion is to keep it simple, fresh, and healthy. Easy finger foods that fuel their minds and don’t distract from fun!

Here are some other fabulous ideas:

Rightathome.com has some fun and easy ideas! Click on the picture to check them out!

Click on the picture below to see a top 10 list of great lunch ideas from The Hankful House blog…

One more awesome round-up of lunch yummies from 100 days of real food – click the pic!

One last thing…school supplies!!!!

Last year, I spent over $75.00 on a school supply list and ended up with even more things to buy when I went to our orientation. For kindergarten! Yikes! After, I bought all of these supplies, they all went into community cubbies for them all the kids to share. I also ended up bringing several things back home that her specific teacher really didn’t need. I know that every school is different, but what I found was that the supply lists were a general list given school wide and not necessarily what my daughter’s teacher really wanted. So, here is my suggestion – get what you think is the most important – pencils, crayons, glue, scissors, folders, notebooks, kleenex-but wait on anything else until you meet with the teacher or at least check with them on the first day of school. You’ll save yourself money and time doing it this way, promise.

Another easy idea that is becoming increasingly popular is the “School supply pack” that you can purchase online or from your child’s school. It’s easy, comes with everything you need and doesn’t require fighting through traffic and crowds to get it.