I am not one to wish away school holidays. I love them and love having the kids around more. Yes at times they can drive me a bit bonkers, but on the whole I find it a great season in the year where we don’t have to run to a clock and we can let go of or loosen some of the school term routines.
As much as I love routine, I do think it is important to be flexible and to mix things up a little. The loosening of routine gives us more time together, more time to stop and notice the small things, more time to meander and more time to play.
Amongst this meandering, I endeavour to do little bits and pieces along the way, so it doesn’t hit the end of January and I am sent into a back to school panic. I have a list of things that I know need to be completed for a smooth return to the school year and I take my time working my way through it.
With the blog now in its 11th year, I have written many posts for parents with tips for back to school, so to help parents manage back to school 2019 I have collated them in this post, creating a handy resource for new and established school parents.
11 steps for a calm back to school – a calm back to school doesn’t happen without some solid work behind the scenes. In this post I take you step by step through some simple plans and tips that we use to make sure our return to school mornings are not only calm but also a positive start to our day.
My new school shoes feel weird and other back to school sagas! – Back to school time and the new school new shoes that go with it, can cause issues for little ones. Here are some tips on how to handle some common back to school issues like school shoes feeling weird, scratchy t-shirts and I don’t like my class.
Managing the transition from summer holidays to back to school – for parents! – The end of the summer school holidays can be a challenging time for parents as well as kids. These are some strategies I use to help make this time of transition as smooth as possible for me, including managing my expectations.
7 tips for new school mums – Along with the new school year for 2019, comes a batch of new school mums. I think that the first year of school for your first child, is just as big of a learning experience for mum as it is for the child! These are my tips for new school mums to help them get organised around school life.
Getting ready for year 7 – Some simple tips and ideas on how to approach getting your child ready for the transition from primary to school to secondary school.
When the kids are all at school…..part 1 – In 2019 some parents will experience having all their kids at school for the first time. I wrote this post back in 2014 when this happened to me. There were times when having all the kids at school seemed so far away! Once it arrived, it didn’t feel like I thought it would.
When the kids are all at school…..part 2 – this post was written towards the end of my first year with all the kids at school and I share the lessons I learnt. The year wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be.