I usually start preparing everything that my child needs for school during the month of May, early May to be exact. There are a lot of benefits to being ready early. One benefit is that you avoid the rush that happens, and you can get to choose from the various items that are available. My 4 year old daughter is one who loves choosing stuff by herself, and having a toddler amidst a huge crowd will be dangerous and chaotic. But I’m not here to share with you the usual tips that I assume you already know about. I’m here to share with you the personal strategies that I have; I’ll share with you some mommy hacks that I personally do — my very own back to school tips.
1. Have lots of labels with the name of your child and your name on them (as guardian) with an emergency contact number. We normally just have the name of our daughter / son printed with the grade level, but I think there is a need to place the parents name and the contact details as emergency contact. Place this on all personal belongings of the child.
2. Have a drawer/s with all of the “possible” school supplies that your child might need. If there is one thing that being in events has taught me, it was being ready for anything with everything. I have stock of folders (different sizes, a few color), art materials, all kinds of paper (from short/ling bond, construction, board, etc. and in different colours, too), glue gun, glue sticks, ordinary glue, scissors in all sizes, punchers, staplers, all kinds of colouring pens, permanent and whiteboard markers, oil pastels, crayons, index cards, illustration boards, etc. I practically have everything in the SM Stationery Department of SM. I truly have it all, too!
3. As parents, school means just thinking about your child’s “school”. In my case, I also look for after school activities where I can enrol her. As early as May, I already think of extra-after school fun activities that she can do. She has math lessons after school and I’m already waiting for the schedule of the art school where I inquired with a month ago. With this, I can fill her days already with activities, so she makes full use of her time enjoying learning. My daughter loves going out, so the activities that we prepare for her to do at home, isn’t enough 🙁 So for this mommy hack or back to school tip, it really depends on what you think your child needs. If you want them to do a few activities at home after school, for toddlers, there are sticker book activities, fun workbooks that are available at SM Stationery (got mine in SM Stationery Bacolod).
4. Get a head start on creating the meal plan and the activity schedule for your child before school starts. I always want to have it all ready to be seen by everyone in the household one month in advance, so that I will always have a guide one or two months before. With the meal guide, I will know what ingredients or food to buy from the grocery. With the activity guide, it will tell everyone in the house what my daughter is up to every single moment.
5. In choosing school materials and even in choosing activities, I always involve my child. I have noticed that she is more engaged when she is part of the decision making process. Check out our fun trip to SM Stationery in Megamall. Do you know that they have ready-made back to school packs for each level. Check this out! It’s only at Php 399 each.
So these are my own personal hacks and tips. I hope that this article was useful in anyway to you. Oh, btw, if you want a copy of the cute labels that I have mentioned above, please leave me a message in the comment section below so that I can email a copy of it to you! The printables are lovingly made by LD Design and Creative Pursuits.
You can then have them printed at Alfox Printing.
Share with me your fun trip to SM Stationery, too, or some other tips that you want to share with other moms using #MadeforSchool! Talk to you soon!
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