If your kids are home with you for the next few weeks, you may be wondering what on earth you’re going to do with them! No matter what activities and days out you plan, the first day back at school will creep up on us fast. There isn’t as much time as we think in the summer vacation weeks. We’ve put together a quick list of things you might want to check, so your whole family is ready to head back to school:
Health checks – This is the perfect time to get all those eye health and dentist appointments out of the way. Start early in the holidays, so you have time for any follow-up appointments. You may be able to find some bargains as well like Walmart vision center discounts to help you cover the costs. If you like keeping track of how quickly your kids are growing, why not have their height and weight checked too?
Uniforms – Some schools like the kids to wear uniforms when they attend. Of course, kids just keep growing all summer long! Towards the end of the summer, measure them and buy any new uniforms you need. It could be for band or for the sports teams they are enrolled with, but if the kit is too small, it’s not going to do them any favors.
Back to School image from Flickr
Stationery – Most children need to take their own pens, pencils and notebooks into school. You can buy these supplies almost anywhere. Some kids like to have bits and pieces that have pictures of their favorite band or movie character. This may push the price up a bit from the budget supplies you can find in the supermarkets.
If you have a budget you need to stick to, why not come up with a compromise your kids can get on board with? Perhaps the pencil case can be branded, but the items inside are the budget ones.
New subjects – For older children enrolled in classes they haven’t taken before, you might want to get a head start. Schools usually detail which textbooks are going to be used the semester before. Even if you don’t have a book list, it can be fun to find out a little bit more about particular topic or subject before school starts. A morning in the library may be all you need. Alternatively, see what you can find online that could be helpful.
Homework – Most kids are given holiday homework to complete. It’s up to you when you think would be an appropriate time to tackle it. You both might enjoy spending a couple of hours sitting together and talking about what they’ve got to do. It’s nice to be involved with their work, and lots of older kids relish the chance to teach a parent a thing or two!
School may still be a few weeks away, but all of you can enjoy the summer if you tackle your back-to-school tasks early enough. Leaving it all to the last minute can leave you stressing about getting everything ready in time. Starting as soon as school finishes means you have several weeks to spread the cost over too. Have a great summer with the kids.
