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Summertime to School Time: How to Make it Easier

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Written by Alicia Hutchinson of Investing Love.

The seasonal section at Target is predicting our near future–school is coming, and it’ll be back in session before we know it.

If your house is like ours, there’s not a math book in sight, and there’s a lot of barefooted, lake-bound kids running around. We’ve had a busy summer, and I honestly haven’t given school a ton of thought. But I know that by taking a little time to think about how this summer-to-school transition is going to go, I will always steer this ship a bit better.

Summertime to School Time: How to Make it Easier

So, this is my plan – even though we’re not ready to give up our summer days.

Making Summer to School a Little Easier

Make the first day a big deal.

Now is the time to start stashing away little treasures to give your kids on the first day. A bag of gummy worms with a new book or a new backpack for co-op with their new school shoes tucked inside for the first day–these are little ways we can add some excitement to the first day.

Back-to-School for Homeschoolers

Plan to make a special breakfast and post the menu in the kitchen the day before. Or go all out and order fancy cupcakes or donuts and set them up on the table with the new school supplies.

Let the kids in on the planning.

Sitting down with the kids and asking them about the last school year–what they enjoyed and what they’d like to do again–sets us up for a more harmonious year.

Of course asking them which things they don’t want to do this coming year always leads to the I hate math conversation in which case, we move quickly along as math is a necessary evil in our home. So not everything is negotiated, but at least having some conversations gives us all a chance to talk about the upcoming year.

I also like to share with the kids the upcoming field trips or activities I’m planning and see if they have any ideas–they always seem to have several excellent ones!

summertime to school time

Telling the kids my book picks for read-alouds is another entertaining way we plan together. I like to read them the synopsis of each one, and we all get excited about what we’re going to read. I’m actually getting excited about telling them just typing this out! 🙂

Build the Excitement for the new Year

Purge the old stuff, bring in some new, and build the excitement.

Grab your kids and a snack, turn on some fun music, and head to the school room. Have fun sorting through the old papers from last school year. Maybe you could have a fun bonfire and use the spelling lists for kindling while you roast the last s’mores of the summer!

Pitch the old stuff and make room for the new books. Have the kids help you stock their school cubbies or desks with their new books. My kids don’t always admit it, but I know they love cracking those new books.

Tie up summer in a neat little bow.

I always say a fun, long weekend to end out the summer is an excellent way to go out. You don’t have to do anything over-the-top, but just a way to wave goodbye to summer and enjoy the weekend talking about the fun season you’ve just had.

Transitioning back to school time

Another idea: A few days before school starts, I’m planning on printing out some photos or creating a special Chatbook for Summer of 2017 with my kids.

Of course, starting to wake my kids up at a more reasonable time a week before school starts is a smart idea. Or working some math review back into our daily routine–that is probably a good one.

Summertime to School Time: How to Make it Easier

But honestly, I just love summer, and I love being just a mom for a while instead of mom and teacher like I am for most of the year. So, I’m going to hang on till the end.

How about you? How are you transitioning back to school time?

 

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2 Comments

  1. We are going to decorate the cover of our interactive notebooks and our bank boxes for storing this years treasures and work in.

  2. We have been doing some schoolwork each day during the summer, so it won’t be too difficult of a transition. I know my kids will be excited to have things to do again during the day and not be bored. For school supplies I buy binders that have see through covers and the kids can decorate the covers.

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