Back to School Tips

Prepare with on-the-go breakfasts

• Cream cheese on a bagel or whole-grain toast with fruit and milk.
• Fruit smoothies. Use your child’s favorite fruit combinations along with some orange juice, milk or soymilk and yogurt.
• Hard-boiled eggs with fruit or juice, whole-grain bread, milk. (One mom suggests boiling several every few days and marking the shell so the kids can always have them as quick snacks and/or as part of a meal.)
• Breakfast parfait. Layer yogurt, fruit and granola in a tall glass.
• Have left-over dinner for breakfast if your child doesn’t like breakfast food. Or make a “pizza” with half a bagel or English muffin, tomato sauce and cheese.

Get Organized

Have clothes, including socks and underwear, ready for each day of the week. You can even use a slotted organizer with a slot for each day, Monday – Friday. Let kids choose their outfits for the week on Sunday afternoon and put them into the slots.

Get Ready

Prepare children for the first day of school by:

• Visiting the school, if possible.
• Meeting the teacher, if possible.
• Getting a supply list and buying supplies.
• Having a good attitude toward school (your child will pick up on this).
• Inviting a classmate over to play prior to the first day, if possible.
• Getting school rules and dress code. Review with your child.
• Getting involved! Attend back-to-school night and join PTA.

Don’t Procrastinate

• Make sure all immunizations are up-to-date (see our immunization article for more information).
• Get sports physicals now.
• Go over safe routes to school, if your child is walking.
• Go over school bus safety:
  • Stay 10 giant steps away from road while waiting
  • While getting on or off, tell children if they drop something to tell the driver before bending down to pick it up.
  • Remind children to look to the right before they step off the bus in case a car tries to sneak by.
  • Teach your child to secure loose drawstrings of other objects that might get caught on the bus.
  • Teach children the danger zone area, 10 ft. around the bus, where the bus driver can’t see them.
  •  Go over rules of proper bus behavior with your children.