6 Back-to-School Tips for Parents

For the first time, my three boys will be attending school at the same time this fall. Because I am a stay-at-home-mom, many will wonder what I will be doing with my extra free time! Let's just say...there won't be an abundance of relaxation hours. My two youngest will only do 3 half days and to tell you the truth, I foresee that when all of the kids start school in September, it will become a little hectic in a whole different way.

Nevertheless, I'm excited for them to start. I love when they come home and share with me all that they have learned in class. As a former teacher, I know how important it is to reinforce what is learned at school and understand how busy evenings and weekends become. Time is precious and we all want things to run smoothly. Here are 6 Back-to-School tips to help you stay organized and prepare all parents for the first days of school.

1) Designate special spaces. Make it clear to everyone at home where backpacks, lunchboxes, sport equipment, homework and notes from school will be kept. There is nothing more frustrating than looking for a field trip form the morning it is due! Also, with everyone's suggestion in consideration, pick a quiet and clutter free space for homework time. Consistency is key!

2) Put the dates in! If you already have the school calendar and extra-curricular activities schedule, write important dates down on your wall calendar, your smart phone and even work calendar! You don't want to miss something special.

3) Go over school rules. This is very, very important. Some school have kids sign "honor codes" now. Make sure you take the time to go over every detail as well as reminding your children what kind of behavior is expected of them. This is also a great time to make sure your children know important phone numbers and address.

4) It's bedtime. Start getting everyone back to a normal bedtime routine. Kids between the ages of 5 and 11 need about 10 hours of sleep! After a long day of learning, their bodies and brains will need that much!

5) Stock up on food. After four years of running around with my oldest after school, I know that one of the most important time savers in my life is having food ready to go. It's helpful to have fruit and veggies washed and cut, frozen fruit bags ready for quick smoothies and even frozen veggies for a quick addition to any meal. Not only does this save time but it also saves money! No need to make stops at unhealthy places on your way home. Plan on shopping over the weekend and giving yourself a little time to prep on Sunday nights.

6) Enjoy the last days of summer! Life should be fun and stress-free for kids (especially during the summer). As your summer weeks start to come to an end, celebrate the start of a new year by doing something special. Be positive about school starting soon! Modeling this type of behavior will get your kids excited too. Have fun!

If you have any other helpful suggestions, please share in the comments below!

Betty Galvan, is writing "for smart and stylish moms" over

at MyFriendBettySays.com

Does Your Family Celebrate the First Day of School?

Each year, I make it a point to celebrate the first day of school with my kids. Sometimes we have an extra-special breakfast like french toast, or blueberry muffins, etc. Or we buy a fancy new set of clothes. But we always, ALWAYS take pictures of the first day of school, and I always give a small gift to each child.

The gifts are usually school-related in some way. Last year I gave them new book bags that came with fancy gadgets, like a solar-powered flashlight, compass, thermos, etc. Year before, it was simply a new book. This year, my children received their first lunch boxes. What do they need lunch boxes for if they are homeschooled? my husband asked. Well, first of all, just because they are homeschooled doesn't mean they don't like to do things that kids in a traditional school setting do. Some of the shows they occasionally watch on PBS (Arthur) sometimes show kids headed off to public school. They also see products on sale at the store in the school supply section.

And because we actually do picnic at our local park quite frequently, this is a great opportunity for them to use their lunch boxes. The look on their faces when they opened their gifts was priceless: pure joy. It is a great way to kick off the school year. The useful little presents help to excite them about their school days. Each morning before we start, they scurry to the kitchen to pack themselves a snack for our mid-morning break. The last two days those snacks were packed in the new lunch boxes.

Life is all about perspective, isn't it? Some days I really long for the days when something as simple as a lunch box would send me over the moon. Don't you?

Does your familia celebrate the first day of school?  

It's Back to School!

It's done! Despite my original intentions of starting school on August 29th, I finally caved to my children's pleas and agreed to start this week. It's just too disgustingly hot here to do anything anyways. And it occurred to me that maybe if we go ahead and start now, that will give us some playtime when things start to cool down in the fall.

I had decided to start yesterday, but my kids came down with some strange, painful blisters between her toes over the weekend. My husband was convinced that it was the chickenpox (Noooo!), though I thought maybe they had been stung by some blister beetles. A trip to the doctor's office yesterday (and 25 bucks later), my husband's fears were relieved, and I was declared the winner expert on all things health related.

SO finally, today was our official first day of class. The first day of school is sort of special around here. We start by taking pictures (to go in our yearbook at the end of the school year!), and then I pass out un regalito to celebrate the beginning of a new grade and a new year of learning. More about this tomorrow.

To kick things off, we spent time putting together our first weather station. We used a Green Science kit from 4M, which I bought at Michaels on Friday (Yay, tax-free weekend!). I thought this would be a great complement to our lessons, as my kindergartner (son) will be learning about weather during the coming months. And it was the perfect group activity: My daughter read the directions, while I helped my son put it together. (Forgot to take a picture and now it's too dark! I'll put it up tomorrow.)

The rest of the day was spent learning the routine. I had a chance to see right away what was going to work and what wasn't now that I am teaching two children instead of just one. I was so relieved that it is not as difficult as I was worried it might be. In fact, I think once we get past this first week, it will go much more quickly and smoothly, since both children will know what is expected of them and will be able to work independently for small periods of time while I am working with one or the other. I found the small puzzles I bought in the dollar section at Target to be really helpful in keeping my son busy while I worked with my daughter.

What about you? Has your family started school yet? Are you looking forward to it?