ONCEKids Back to School Checklist (Part 4 of 4)

By: Kate Camillo

Welcome back! We’re wrapping up our back to school checklist. As the summer is winding down, it is important to refocus on the school year. It is time to switch gears from bathing suits to backpacks, from cookouts to pb&j sandwiches, from late nights to early mornings. We’ve been over the basics and I encourage you go read the other parts before catching up on this one to get the vibe we are going for with this series. This is not your average checklist; no pencils and 36 pack of crayons involved. This is about making sure you are doing the right things at home to prepare your child for school and help them, with more than just their homework, once school picks up.

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It’s a new school year, your child is going to be around different kids and it is important to remind them how to make friends. You should help them practice how to introduce themselves and what to say to other children. Having common interests is the main bond children have; such as their favorite game, their favorite show, and their favorite book. This can help them find friends to sit with at lunch. These friends can come over to play games, and hang out. Who knows when your child will meet their best friend, I met mine when I was five, it is important to help them break the ice.

Another thing to help them break the ice would be to do some practice runs before school starts. See if your child’s school has a Meet the Teacher event they can go to. Especially if it is a new school, show your child where to line up at the start of the day and where the bus will pick them up. It’s important to make sure your child is comfortable in their environment. All of these things are to ensure a smooth transition in a stressful time.

Last but certainly not least, lets talk about those real back to school checklists. If your child’s teacher provides a school supply list, follow it! Grab your kid and make a day of it. This will help them get excited for school. Have them pick out notebooks with their favorite characters on it and a backpack that they’ll want to carry. When going back to school shopping for clothes, let them pick out some cool pieces that are going to make them want to get ready. The last thing your kid wants is for you to come home with a bag of stuff they don’t necessarily like. Always have them pick out clothes the night before so there are no battles in the morning.

My last tip hits close to home. If you have a shy child, go out of your way to write notes and leave pictures in their lunchbox. TRUST ME! This will go a long way. As someone who did not take to anyone other than her parents until she was like 7, please understand that back to school is a very hard time for us. A note in their lunchbox or a picture of you guys will help them get through the day.

That’s it folks for this back to school checklist series. Don’t worry, we got another one coming. Come back next week to learn some great tips and tricks on how to fill your child’s lunchbox!

Our final checklist:

• Provide your kids downtime
• Encourage new forms of reading
• Get their creative juices flowing with imagining stories
• Ease them into structure
• Spend time together
• Help them make friends
• Practice runs at school
• Make back to school shopping fun
• Lay out outfits every night before school
• Send notes and pictures into your child’s lunchbox

17 days until September 1st!!! See you next week!

ONCEKids Back to School Checklist (Part 3 of 4)

By: Kate Camillo

Hi guys. Welcome back. As you can see this is the third part of a series, check out the previous blog posts to get caught up to what we’re going to talk about today. We are all sick and tired of seeing the same blogs and posts about pencils and glue sticks and folders. While those are important, we’re here to discuss more unconventional things that need to be addressed in time for back to school.

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Back to school is a busy time for all, kids have to be put back on a schedule that they were not used to during the summer. It is best to ease your child in because the last thing you want is a tantrum the first day of school because they are tired and don’t want to get ready for school. Start by waking them up a little bit earlier than they normally would. If your child is a natural early riser (which if you are that lucky, I’m jealous), then you have nothing to worry about. I’m not saying wake them up at 6 am, but maybe 9 instead of 10, the act of being woken up is going to prepare them for school. Along with wake ups in the weeks leading up to school, it is good to have your child get ready, such as getting dressed and eating after the wake up so they are used to having to do something in the morning. This is very different from them waking up whenever they please and wearing pajamas all day. Lastly, you should set time aside where they have something they have to do, to mimic a school day. Maybe have them read for half an hour, or sit and focus on something like the Fujimini game. You don’t have to play teacher and whip out a lesson plan, but an hour of having something they have to do will prepare your children for the inevitable, school. Of course these things are in no means necessary, nor do you have to do them everyday, but this could help with potential argument that occurs the morning of the first day of school.

Once school starts it is going to be hard to focus on anything else. You’ll ask them how their day was and help them with their homework and learn how to do whatever math teachers are teaching these days. It can be hard to connect with your child outside of this. Next on our list is making time to spend with your child that can help your relationship and help them detach from school. You can read together, play the Fujimini game together, check a weekly blog such as the Fujimini one, or anything else you can think of. It is important to make time to hang out with your kid. Don’t get so caught up in back to school that you forget the relationship you had in the summer, the fun one where you played games and went to the park.

Fujimini Island is a community that can help you do this, we have a game, a blog, an instagram, a website, coloring pages and so much more. We see the value of parents being with their kids and are here to help. (Another shameless promo, I’m sorry, but not really because it’s my job). Promo or not, that statement still holds true, we are here to help bond together mother (or father) and kids.

Checklist so far:

• Provide your kids downtime
• Encourage new forms of reading
• Get their creative juices flowing with imagining stories
• Ease them into structure
• Spend time together

Countdown until September 1st: 25 days!! It’s getting so close! I can almost smell the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!!!

Find ONCEKids Publishing on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram here.

I hope you’re enjoying the last couple weeks of summer and we’ll see you next week!

Stocking Your Emergency Homework Kit

Going back to school doesn't just mean a lot of change and work for the kids, but for Mom too. Back to school time involves a whole lot of list making, shopping, and organizing. But among the chaos, it is easy for a few critical items to never make it to the cart. Even easier than that is for items like pens, pencils, erasers and such to make their way to school but never quite get home. Even with pencil cases and backpacks, school supplies seem to disappear quicker than bobby pins or the match to their sock!

 It is tough for a lot of kids to keep track or all their stuff or always remember what they will need, and this is one of the (many!) reasons why getting back into the dreaded homework routine proves to be quite a challenge. So we have devised a portable homework station, so the kids will always have an area dedicated to homework time and stocked up with all the essentials- and if necessary can be taken on the go. 

First get a few shoeboxes or a cheerful container, then if your child is game decorate it with their name in glitter or stickers and make it into something fun. Mark it "Homework Helper".

Some of our favorite homework survival supplies include:

1. Crayons

2. Markers

3. Colored pencils

4. Glue (the stick as well as the bottle)

5. Ruler

6. Scissors

7. Protractor

8. USB drive

9. Calculator (Scientific as well as a graphing calculator for moms with high schoolers)

10. Lined paper and graph paper

11. Extra notebooks, folders, and binders

12. Pens (red, blue, and black-green too if you really want to go crazy!) and pencils

13. Pencil sharpener 

14. A surprise treat for the week (stickers, their favorite snack, ect)

This kit will help to make homework time as efficient and painless as possible- for them and for you! And once they're done homework goes into the backpack and the box gets put away until tomorrow. The idea is that it's easy and portable! 

To learn more about Modern Moms and The Mom Code, please visit ONCEKids Publishing website, Facebook and Twitter

The Less-Stress Back to School Guide for Parents

1. Get Doctors and Dentist Appointments Out of the Way Early

Even if it seems early, mid-July or the beginning of August is when you will want to start scheduling all of the kids' necessary appointments to get them ready for back to school. For two reasons, one: because this will save you from trying to cram all of it in amongst everything else you have to get done at the end of summer including scheduling around family vacations, and two: because almost everyone else schedules physicals and check-ups for mid or the end of August, so it is much more difficult to actually even get in to see someone around that time. 

2. Create a Budget for Back to School Shopping

Before making that dreaded trip to the mall to play the role of a human credit card, have each child make a list of what they need and then create a budget for how much you're willing to spend. If your kids have reached the age where they can pick out their own clothes and shoes, make sure to stress to them that they are free to do so, but within their allotted budget. So it's okay if your 13-year-old now wants the $50 Hollister jeans instead of Levis, just make sure she understands that if this is the case she won't be able to get as many pairs and once the money is gone, it's gone. Knowing most kids in their early teens, this is a sacrifice they are more than willing to make for the sake of their beloved name brands! Having a clear cut budget will not only help you leave the mall without having spent way more than you wanted to, but it will also begin to teach your kids about budgeting their money and spending it wisely.

3. Get school supply shopping done a few weeks ahead of time.

Don't be the parent pulling their hair out because their child's classes start tomorrow and Staples doesn't have the right size binder or required calculator left in stock. Take a day a few weeks before the end of the summer to go out with your kids (and a list!) to your local Staples or Office Max and pick up everything you need.

4. After purchasing the supplies, organize them!

As much as that Target trip is going to make you want to toss all the bags in the corner of the living room and forget about them for your last weeks of summer, do not make that mistake! Your future self will be really mad at you for that one! The night before the first dayback to school is not the time where you will want to be sorting through dozens of folders, pens, notebooks, and highlighters to make sure everyone has everything they need. Instead, have them organized so each kid has their pile of required supplies so when school time comes they 
can just pack up their backpacks and go.

To learn more about Modern Moms and The Mom Code, please visit ONCEKids Publishing website, Facebook and Twitter

5. Begin to regress back to the school year routine before the school year starts

A week or so before school starts, begin to implement the more structured dinner time or bedtime routines that were loosened up for the summer vacation. Otherwise, it will be too big of a change to try and go from a late bedtime and a more flexible day-to-day routine to a full day of school and an 8pm bedtime over the course of one day. If you start slowly moving back to an earlier bedtime routine and a more structured day, then it will be a smooth, gradual process come the end of summer rather than a shock to the children's (and the parents!) systems. 

Has your family received a Nook, Kindle or iPad this year?  Find Fujimini Adventure Series award-winning books here.  Great family-friendly gifts.