Parenting & Young Children

Getting Ready for Back to School

1 Month—1 Week

Spend time talking with your child about school.

Practice separating for hours at a time.

Read stories about the first day of school to your child.

Plan a back-to-school shopping expedition.  Let your child pick from a few options for their back pack or other items they will need.

Buy or gather supplies your preschooler will likely need to bring to school.

Buy supplies your preschooler will likely need to use at home.

Put your child's name on her supplies, lunchbox, mat, blanket, pillow, and inside clothing.

Teach your child important safety information and make sure she commits it to memory.

Week before school

• Whether your child will walk, ride the bus, or be driven to school, take a "dry run" of the route with your child.
  
  Attend an open house or get-acquainted day at school with your child.
  
  Schedule an appointment to take a tour of the school building with your child. 
  
  Put your child to bed earlier each night until she's turning in at an appropriate school-night bedtime. 
  
  Get your child used to waking up in the morning at a school-day appropriate time. 
  
  Spend the last day or two before school starts at home with your child.

Night before school

Pick out school clothes for the morning.

Tuck in your child at an appropriate school-night hour. 

Before your child goes to sleep, listen carefully to her fears and respond. 

Read a bedtime, back-to-school storybook to your child. 

Pack stay-at-school cubby supplies in a bag that can stay at school. 

Pack your child's lunch for the next day and refrigerate it. 

Gather in one place everything that's going to school with your child in the morning.

 Morning School Starts

Take care of any last-minute tasks. 

Even if you can't do so every day, try to bring your child to school personally on the first day and say goodbyes there. 

Let your child get used to the environment before you leave. 

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