Getting Geared Up For School!

Summer's over for most of us and if you're like me, it's not a moment too soon! The novelty of sleeping in and not having a schedule has worn off and it's time for the routines and structure that comes with the start of the school year.

To make the transition back to school a smooth one, it helps to make a game plan. A little preparation today will make the start of school a little less stressful and a lot more successful. There are some simple things you can do to start off the school year right. Follow the tips below to help get your kids, and yourself, ready for a great school year:

1. Make a breakfast schedule! I have a small dry erase board on the fridge that lists the days of the school week and the breakfast that will be served for each. This gives predictability to you and your kids and takes the guess work out of the mornings. It'll also help with grocery shopping because you know what you need for the mornings. Another great tip - if you want to help make getting the kids up Monday mornings a little easier, plan the kids' favorite breakfast that day. If my kids know that they'll have cinnamon toast or pancakes on Monday, they spring out of bed much easier after the weekend.

2. Prepare the night before! I know you've heard it a thousand times but that's because it really works. Lay out your kids' clothes the night before to eliminate the mad hunt for a shirt or pair of pants minutes before it's time to head out the door. This applies to parents too! Also make sure the kids' book bags are packed, by the door and ready to go. Lunches can even be made ahead of time and kept in the fridge till morning. If you take your kids to school, pack the car the night before with anything you need for the next day so you don't have to contend with it while you're loading the kids. The applies to briefcases, clothes for the cleaners, grocery lists and coupons, packages to be mailed, etc. Spending a few extra minutes to plan the night before will help calm the morning madness and ensure that nothing is forgotten.

3. Establish your load time! I was just featured in the Parenting Magazine article "Confessions of a Tardy Mom" where this point was driven home. If you drive your kids to school, to be on time it's not just about when you have to be there or leave the house but rather when you have to start loading. No matter how far you're driving you need to give yourself about 10-15 minutes to load up. This time will allow for all of the inevitable mishaps that can take place - the lost shoe, the dirty diaper you didn't discover until you were buckling up your baby or toddler, the altercation between two of your siblings, and ALL the other things that can and will happen when you're dealing with kids. Establish the time you need to start loading and stick to it. If by some miracle you don't have a last minute delay, then guess what, you might actually be a few minutes early! There's no harm in that.
If your child catches a bus or rides in a car pool, the concept is still the same. Know when your child has to be out the door to get to the bus stop on time and allow extra minutes for delays.

4. Establish a homework routine! Decide the best time for your children to complete all their homework and make that the law. This is highly recommended by educators because the kids will perform better if there is an established routine that they know is unwavering. For my household, the kids come home from school, eat a snack and then complete their homework. They know they can't play until everything is finished and signed off on. They have the incentive of finishing in a timely manner because they know they won't go outside to play until their homework complete. This helps prevent assignments from dragging out unnecessarily, frustrating both you and your child.
To help make homework time easier, I made a sign that I hang on our front door that simply states, "Kids Can't Play Yet!". This way all the neighborhood kids know not to ring the doorbell asking if my kids can come out to play. This was happening at the beginning of the school year and proved to be very distracting to my kids. They were SO anxious to go play with their friends that they would rush through their work and leave things incomplete or do their work in a sloppy manner. Hanging the sign on the door eliminated the extra distraction because the neighborhood kids now know that until that sign is removed, no one can come out to play. If you live in an area with lots of kids, this trick might help you out too.

5. Establish a bedtime routine and set early bedtimes! Many kids don't get the sleep they need. Sleep is so important for children AND adults alike. Decide a routine that works for your family and do it every night so your children understand and can predict the routine. It will help them wind down and fall asleep better. For example, after playing outside you can have the kids come in to get bathed and dressed for bed, eat supper, have some quiet time with a puzzle or book, brush their teeth and get in the bed to be tucked in. Your kids will quickly learn the drill and actually embrace it.

To establish a consistent bedtime, you really have to view the timing of things in reverse. Decide what time you want your kids physically in bed and work the times back from there. If they need to be in bed at 8:00pm, then at 7:45 they need to be brushing their teeth and take the last trip to the bathroom. You might want a quiet time of about 20-30 minutes which would have supper ending at about 7:15. If you all sit down for supper at 6:45, you'll be on track. This also means that the kids have to be in the house and getting in the tub at 6:15 which means you have to start corralling them about about 6:00. That's the routine that we follow in my house and if it works for us - a family with now 7 boys - it can work for you! (Granted, older siblings will stay up a little later but they still follow the same schedule. They just get some extra time at the end of the night for extra studying, games, reading or just enjoying some one-on-one time with you.)

This "reverse scheduling" for bedtimes might at first sound confusing but it's really simple and very effective. When you first try this, write down the schedule and post it on the fridge to refer to. After a few days of using it, it'll be second nature and you'll wonder what you ever did before.

Follow these five tips and experience a smooth start to the new academic year. Kids thrive on a schedule and it helps make life for the parents a lot easier too. Set your family up for success by implementing these tips and you'll be one step closer to an easier life!!