Back to School Tips and Tricks

It is hard to plan for something that is so uncertain. For my sanity I really would like to keep my kids all on the same platform whether that is in class, virtual through our district cyber or homeschooling on our own. So what is the problem you may wonder; what is best for one of my children will not be best for all three of them.

I have 2 middle schoolers who will have more freedom in our district than our elementary school student. And all three of my children have special needs which may not be adequately addressed across all platforms.

As we wait for our district to make final arrangements, we plan for life as usual. If you have been reading this blog for long you know every year my children get a brand new capsule wardrobe this will be the 6th year we are planning there wardrobe this way and it is by far the biggest back to school hack. Here is the link if you need a review. This cuts down on the amount of space you need to store their clothes because there is far less of them and it also cuts down on the amount of laundry. Now don’t get me wrong the kids still wear the same amount of clothes but when they only have x-amount of clothes you tend to keep up on the laundry, which ends up being far more efficient.

Last year, my back to school hack was about healthy lunches, my daughter is allergic to soy which means we have to limit her processes food because soy is hidden everywhere. These tips work just as well if you are keeping your kids home this year or sending them back to school after all they will still need to eat. Here’s the link if you want to review it!

This year’s back to school hack is organization. We have used different systems over the years including mailboxes for important school papers, backpack hooks hanging by the door and a shoe rack. However this year we plan on making a home command center that will put all of these things together. There will be a dry erase calendar, a bulletin board to hold test grades and art work , clip boards for each child which will hold permission slips, to do lists and things that need to go to school, back pack hooks with a cubicle under neath with space for hats gloves and shoes. Keeping everything in one place will help the kids get out the door with little fuss.