Back to School Checklist

Believe it or not it's actually that time of year. Time to start thinking about the kids going back to school.

Registrations will need to be completed for:  

• classes
• after school activities; sports, extra curricular, music, etc.
• necessary immunizations, annual physical check up, vision test, dental checkups

If you have young children going to school for the first time:

• meet the teacher
• tour the school
• practice riding the school bus
• learn the school bus route, where it picks up and drops off your child
• determine if there is a school dress code
• help your child memorize their home phone number, home address and your work phone
• arrange before and after school daycare
• discuss with your children what to do in the event of meeting with strangers
• develop a safety password with your child to protect them when someone who isn't authorized to do so, tries to pick them up from school
• purchase a back pack for your child that evenly distributes weight when they are carrying heavy items back and forth to school
• Be sure not to include personal information about your child on the outside of the backpack. You don't want this information visible to strangers.
• try not to over schedule children so they have some down time to just be a kid
• time to start thinking about packed school lunches and snacks

Arrange for transportation, designate a safe meeting spot, and practice the routine

• If walking, walk with your child to and from school a few times
• If car pooling, introduce your child to all carpool drivers
• If riding the bus, determine pick up and drop off times and bus stops

Establish a homework location and schedule. Try to make yourself available at these times in case children have questions or require assistance.

Prepare a school calendar of all important events. Put these dates and times into your daily calendar so these items can be organized along with the other events taking place in your day.

At this time of year there are also items that need to be purchased when children return to school. If you are able, consider balancing the purchase of these items out over the length of the summer so you're not trying to pay for everything the week children are returning to school.

Items that may need to be purchased:

• clothing or student uniforms
• two pairs of shoes, indoor and outdoor shoes
• Backpack
• lunch box
• school supplies; pens, pencils, crayons, markers,
• school books
• binders and binder paper, dividers
• notebooks, paper
• scissors, rulers, erasers, pencil box
• lock

Before you buy any new school supplies be sure to pull out what is left of last years supplies to see if anything is salvageable so that you don't have to purchase items you already have.