Summer Edit: Back to School Preparation
When you’re a child, this time of year is the one you dread the most. The summer holidays are coming to an end, and you’re undoubtedly about to get dragged round the shops to buy some form of school supplies, be it a new uniform, new school shoes or some new stationery that you will have inevitably lost after the first week.
As a parent, it’s even more stressful. Whilst you may be on top of the essential things, like school uniform and supplies, it’s important to think about all aspects of your child’s return to school to ensure your entire family is ready for September. With that in mind, here are four aspects of the back to school routine that we think are important to prepare for ahead of that first day back.
Family Calendar / White Board
Keeping on top of you’re family schedule and calendar is integral as the new year starts. With your children getting back to packed days of school, after school clubs and play dates with friends, not to mention your own social and work engagements, it can all get very hard to stay on top of things. Having a family calendar and/or white board with important notes, dates and numbers, is a great way to make sure you never miss a date, and the added fun of a white board means your children are more likely to write down the important information they sometimes fail to pass on!
Packed Lunches
No matter your age, packed lunches are difficult. The challenge is keeping it interesting, as sometimes they can get a bit boring and repetitive. It’s also important to fill your child’s lunchbox with healthy, energising snacks to keep them feeling on top of their game throughout the day. Cutting up a variety of vegetables and a pot of dip (be it humus, a sour cream based dip or other) is a great way to sneak your little one’s 5-a-day into their snack box, as well as healthy wraps, pittas and sandwiches. If you’re wanting something a bit more, or something quick, why not invest in a thermos which you can pack with a hearty warm lunch in the winter, or fill with leftovers. There’s so much inspiration out there to keep your lunchboxes interesting.
Reading Books
Though your children may have been enjoying some light reading over the summer holidays, with the dawn of a new school year, it’s important to be well stocked with new reading books for the coming year. Whether you take full use of the school library, public library or purchase your own, compiling a list of some books your child would enjoy reading is a great way to keep track of what you want to read and what you already have. Luckily, these days there are a wide range if children’s books, for all tastes, genres, interests and stages of life. There list of engaging children’s books increases monthly, and there have been plenty of releases in 2021 for your child to get stuck into.
Bed Time Routine
It can be easy during the summer to be a bit lax when it comes to bed times and bed time routine… You have plans, long days, there’s no school to get up for. But when the start of the new term beckons, it’s important to get back into that bed time routine. Cutting down screen time and increasing calming relaxing activities is a must, and whilst there are many different things you can include in your bed time routine, one thing that is ideal to include is picking back up with that scheduled weekly reading to tick a task off your little one’s to do list and calm them down sufficiently for a good night’s sleep.
