Not only were schools closed for summer vacation, but most schools were closed an additional two months. Going back for the upcoming school year will be a huge adjustment for students and teachers. It’s hard to believe that our kids haven’t been to school in 5 months. In today’s post I want to share some of the things we do to prepare for the transition back to school and helpful tips to keep things going smoothly throughout the school year.

TRANSITIONING BACK TO SCHOOL

Bedtime. Two weeks prior to school starting, we back the kids bedtime up by 15 minutes each night. We are usually up until 10 or 10:30 during the summer and during the school year the kids have an 8:30 bedtime. For example, this week I’ve started putting the kids to bed at 10:15, then 10:00, then 9:45, and so on. That way it’s not such a huge adjustment the night before school starts.

Health. Another thing I’ve been doing is giving the kids supplements and a probiotic in addition to their vitamins each day.

Prepare mentally. Usually this isn’t a problem, but this year I have to mentally prepare myself for the challenges and risks for this school year. Each day I talk with the kids about how many days we have left until school starts and we talk about what the first day (and the rest of the school year) might look like. We talk openly about our feelings and have discussed different scenarios we might face in regards to social distancing, online learning, etc.

Go through their clothes/shoes. If you watched my last vlog, I shared our back to school clothing haul. When you get new clothes for school, it’s the perfect time to go through your kiddos closets and toss out items that are too small or the things that have seen better days. This will make things so much easier when choosing an outfit for the school day.

Order in advance. Nothing makes me happier than new school supplies and cute labels. I order the same name labels for Klara every year and I make sure to place my order several weeks in advance. In June or July is also when I order personalized shirts for their first day of school or any other items that need to be customized.

Buy extra supplies and create a supply stash to use throughout the year. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a note sent home saying, “Koby needs more paper.” Or, “Kylan needs a folder for this assignment.” Or, “Klara needs more glue sticks.” And let’s be real, teachers ALWAYS need hand sanitizer, Clorox wipes, and tissues. I was always so grateful when a parent would walk into my classroom with those items “just because” so I always like to keep some extras on hand to send into my children’s classrooms throughout the year.

Put time and schedule management plans in place. This includes keeping a calendar so everyone can see what their week is going to look like. We have appointments scheduled all the time, so it’s helpful to look at the calendar and say, “We have this appointment on this day. So-and-so will pick you up from school (if needed),” or, “On Tuesday mom/dad will be working late so you will ride the bus instead.” “Next week your big assignment is due.” I also use stickers as visuals for Koby and Klara to see what days we go to school and what days we stay home. You can use school bus stickers for school days and house stickers for home days.

Budget. Set aside money for school pictures, yearbooks, book fairs, etc. Our kids can also purchase extra things in the cafeteria so I like to keep money in their lunch accounts and some cash in their backpacks just incase.

Use a timer. We start using our timer about two weeks before school starts to ease them into focusing for specific periods of time. Times will differ depending on your child’s age. If you follow me on YouTube you have seen that I set aside learning time for the kids even during summer break. Some days we do worksheets, some days we do sensory activities, and other days we do learning games on the computer. This ensures that they’re still learning and developing during summer months when it’s so easy for children to regress.

Prepare a meal plan template to plan easy weekday breakfasts and school lunches for the week. If you’re interested in our favorite school day breakfasts or what I pack in our lunchboxes, let me know in the comments and I will do a separate post on those.

Make a homework caddy. Things that I like to keep in our homework caddy are pencils, paper, a calculator, crayons, highlighters, scissors, and glue sticks.

Make a designated homework area and a space for papers that need to be signed and returned to school. It’s also helpful to have a filing system to stay organized. I have a filing folder I bought at Target for $3 and labeled a section with each of the kids names. That is where I keep their papers from the beginning of the year that have all of their teachers contact information, their schedule, their lunch account numbers, etc.

Have a bathroom schedule. As much as I would love to give my kids showers and baths the night before, I prefer doing them each morning. Even when we only had one bathroom before we moved, each kiddo knew when they were going to have the bathroom to shower, brush their teeth, etc. I would wake up earlier than the kids and made sure I was finished in the bathroom before they woke up. Kylan’s bus came at 6:30 so he would have the bathroom from 5:45 to 6:15. Koby’s time was 6:15 to 6:45, and I would help Klara shower and get ready from 6:45 to 7:15.

Something new I’m adding to our back to school routine is practicing the correct way to remove our masks and proper handwashing. Most kiddos don’t understand that they aren’t supposed to touch their mask when it’s on their face and that when removing their mask, they’re only supposed to handle the elastic strings, never the face covering itself. Also, make sure you make it very clear that they don’t let their friends touch or wear their mask. These will be important lessons for them to reflect on when they remove their masks to eat lunch or for recess.

Consider an Amazon dot for your kiddos to use as an alarm clock and to check the weather. I always prepare our kids for what the weather is going to be like for the next day. That will help them when they pick out their clothes the night before. Will it be nice outside so they can pick their sneakers for recess? Will it be rainy so they can lay out their rain coats and rain boots? Will it be chilly enough for them to lay out a light weight jacket?

WHEN SCHOOL STARTS

Prepare the night before. Make sure laptops are charged, clothes are laid out, backpacks are packed up, and proportion lunches the best way you can.

Set a timer 30 minutes prior to bedtime. This is our “relax time” where we start to wind down, practicing deep breaths, and have a bedtime snack. The kids brush their teeth, we read a bedtime story with Klara, and say our prayers. At 8:30 the kids are in bed.

Create study blocks on the weekend prior to a test and quiz your kiddos. Weekdays are so busy that sometimes it’s easy to get by with doing the very minimum. Once you’ve cooked dinner, washed the dishes, walked the dogs, and helped the kids with homework, the last thing you want to do is put 20 minutes into studying for a test that isn’t until next week. Y’all, I’m here to tell you that every evening I would think to myself, “It’s okay, I’ll study with him tomorrow.” And then the next night, “Oh, it’s okay. I’ll help him study tomorrow.” The next thing I knew, the test would be the NEXT DAY and I still hadn’t helped him study. I was so tired of that cycle. That is when I made it a priority to set aside study blocks during the weekend. There are so many ways to make studying fun. Make a charcuterie board full of snacks or have a root beer float while you study together.

OUR AFTER SCHOOL ROUTINE

I have said it a hundred times and I will say it again. You must have a routine in order for things to flow smoothly. I can’t stress this enough. Our autistic son counts on his routine, so that motivates me even more to ensure that we have routines in place. We have discussed what our after school routine will be like and we will practice it before our first day of school.

The first thing we’re going to do is take off our shoes in our coat closet. I will spray the bottoms of our shoes with Lysol spray.

Once our shoes are off the kids will hang up their backpacks and lunch boxes. Again, I will sanitize those the best way I can.

Once we’re finished putting our belongings away, the first place we will go is to the bathroom to wash our hands.

Once their hands are washed, I will have the kids change into play clothes. I know this will accumulate more loads of laundry and I am prepared for that, but seriously, think about how many germs will be on their clothing after being at school all day.

After hands are washed and clothes are changed, that’s when they will have an after school snack and some down time.

After dinner is when we will complete homework and get our items packed up and prepared for the next day. Sometimes Koby likes to finish all of his homework after his snack to get it out of the way and that’s fine. However, he knows that I won’t look it over until after dinner. If he needs to make any corrections or if he needs help with a question, that is when I have set aside the time to help him.

There’s one last thing I want to add before I end this post. We have to remember that as parents and in my case, an eduator, that not all children have had the same experiences during the pandemic. We have to be flexible and be prepared for when circumstances change again because they will. I heard someone refer to the pandemic in an interesting way. She said, “Navigating through the changes has been like traveling through a storm and some children have no life vest.” It’s such an overwhelming time in our lives. Whether you’re like us and begin school in person or whether your kids will be learning remotely, I hope you take away some helpful ideas from this post.

What are some things you do to ensure a smooth ‘back to school’ transition?