Ideas To Start School On Time

 

I am privileged to be wrapping up our series by the blogging buddies on BACK TO SCHOOL helpful hints. Please visit the link below to follow the other posts in this series.
Each year the first week of school is a little hectic.  Whether you homeschool like us, or attend public or private school.  It’s a rush to get through breakfast get dressed and out the door, or in our case to our chairs.

This year I decided to try to plan better the first week of school so that we would be able to start on time and our mornings would flow more smoothly.  So, after much research and trial and error here are a few ideas that have helped our mornings to move more smoothly.

GOOD PREPARATION BEGINS THE NIGHT BEFORE

Lay out the clothes that need to be worn the night before.  If possible try to set up some type of organizing system for the whole week.  Have socks, shoes and any accessories in the bin.
The dollar store has cloth bins in the laundry aisle that are very cheap and could be labeled for each day of the week.

CREATE A MORNING ROUTINE

Run through what needs to be done each morning with each child.  Then write out a simple routine to be followed.  By the second week they should be able to start the routine by themselves if they are old enough.  If one child is not a reader, create some sort of pictures for what needs to be done.  This could be done by drawing, printing them off of the computer, or out of magazines.
If you have children at different ages, see if the older children will help the younger ones.

ORGANIZE THE BACKPACK AREA/WORKSPACE AREA

This applies to both homeschool and attendance at a building.  Have everything by the door and ready to walk out the door.  If it wasn’t prepared the night before….it doesn’t go.  When it is time to leave the house have no delays.  Pack up and leave.  Then explain to the child why they need to be prepared with everything so that in the morning leaving on time is not a problem.
If homeschooling, put all items in a box, or create a workspace for each child.  When it is time to start, have them grab the subject and be ready to begin the day.

LUNCH PREP

Have lunches prepared the night before. Let the children help make it no matter what age. Little kids and help with apples, or pbj sandwiches.  Write their name on the bag, or have color coded lunch boxes.  When it is time to leave in the morning grab the correct lunch out of the fridge.
For homeschooling parents like me, I still have lunch prepared so as to not waste time.   I don’t want to have a lot of prep and down time.  We take a 45 min.lunch.

WAKE UP TIME

Try to give children wake up time.  I am not someone who jumps out of bed, gets dressed, rushes around and ends up happy and cooperative. No, it’s the opposite, I am grumpy because I want to sit down, watch a little TV, drink my coffee and then get dressed.
Kids are the same way, get them up earlier and let them watch a little TV in their PJ’s, eat breakfast, and then start their routine.  They may be more cooperative.  If not, set a timer and let them know they have an allotted time for TV and breakfast.

BE READY YOURSELF

I think that we are the best example to kids. We need to set the bar for what we expect.  Have a morning routine, lay out your clothes the night before and get up earlier than them.  Let them see that you are ready to start the day.  If we are running around crazy in the morning but expect them to do what they are told then they may not be as cooperative.  As the saying goes “practice what you preach”. I am not sure who said that but it was a wise person.

I hope that some of these idea’s may help your mornings to go a little smoother.

Find the other posts in this series’ for BACK TO SCHOOL IDEAS at:http://goldenreflectionsblog.com/2013/08/back-to-school-with-the-blogging-buddies-blog-hop-august-19-30.html