Back to school. For some, the phrase sounds like angels playing angelic music thinking about all the time alone and new hobbies you get to start while your kids are in school. For others, being stuck in rush hour traffic sounds better than kids going back to school.
But I think we can all agree, back to school does get stressful and it can be a really challenging time for parents and kids. For parents, there are a lot of things to be worried about. Things like the cost of school, homework, bullying, school field trips; the list goes on and on. For kids, they are nervous to be away from family, making new friends, learning new topics, and competing for grades to achieve a better future for themselves.
Which brings us to why I created this survival guide for back to school! According to Forbes, “Zulily surveyed more than 6,000 parents to get their thoughts about the back-to-school period.” In the survey, Zulily discovered that the three most stressful things about back to school are:
- The Cost of Back to School Shopping
- Getting Kids Up In The Morning
- Getting a Good Teacher
So I found some websites and additional sources to help you.
The Cost of Back to School Shopping
Luckily, we here at The Center of Dental Professionals want to help you with the stress of back to school shopping! We can’t help with some things when it comes to back to school, like if your child gets the teacher they wanted or not. But we can help with other things like school supplies! We figured we could try and help out some parents who need some additional help. With any child’s dental checkup throughout August, your child will get a FREE box of school supplies!
When it comes to back to school shopping for clothes the best thing to do before you go shopping is to make a budget and don’t go over it! When you pre-set a budget, and you let your kids know the budget, then they have an idea of what they can spend on clothes and how many clothes options they can purchase with the budget you gave them!
Something that my parents did was to pay us for doing additional chores around the house and if we saved up $100 for school clothes by the end of summer, my mom would match the $100, and we had more than enough money for all the supplies we needed! We got jobs moving pipe in farm fields, feeding horses, and helping out the neighbors with cleaning or other chores! It was a great way for us to learn about the value of money and we got more school supplies in the process.
For more additional tips on back to school clothes shopping tips, check out Money Crashers!
Getting Kids Up In The Morning
Waking your kids up in the morning can be a daunting task and one that a lot of parents dread. Luckily, I found a great website with some wonderful tips on how to help your little night owls wake up in the morning!
My favorite tip from the list that they share is bringing a pet into the room! I remember when I was a child going to school I dreaded waking up. I always felt like I had a headache and I was already stressed from all the work I had to do that day. But some mornings, my mom would bring our pug into the room, and my whole attitude changed. I would cuddle that cute little pup, and it would run around my bed and back over to me…it was hard to fall back asleep with a dog running all over me! But it was also a pleasant way to wake up in the mornings.
For the rest of the tips check out Parent.co!
Getting a Good Teacher
You as a parent have very little control over the teacher that your child gets and it can be frustrating. Some teachers have beliefs or teach in ways that you may disagree with and it makes for a difficult school year. It is important to know that everything will be okay. If the teacher is really so terrible at their job they more than likely wouldn’t be working at the school. It is important to be a good example for your child and let them know that everything will be okay even if they didn’t get the teacher or teachers they wanted.
You are more than likely stuck with that teacher for the rest of the school year so looking for positives would be really beneficial. I had a teacher that I know a lot of students didn’t like because I heard that she gave more homework than other teachers and she wasn’t as fun because she didn’t play games or sing songs. So from the start of the year I was kind of bitter because I didn’t think I would get to have the fun that my friends were having in other classes. I was shocked after the first few weeks of school because the rumors about this teacher were wrong. She was one of the best teachers I have ever had, and she even took the whole class on a fall hike with our parents. It was one of the most memorable experiences I have from my primary education.
But sometimes it doesn’t work out like it did for me in my situation. So I found another great article that has some vital tips when it comes to your child not getting along with their teacher that may put your mind at ease.
You can access the Popsugar article here!
There you go! Some helpful tips to help make back to school less stressful for you and your kids. Just so you readers know, over the month of August, all my blog posts will be about back to school with useful tips and tricks to ensure you have a less stressful experience than last year!
As an added bonus to this blog, we have also created a FREE back-to-school checklist that you can download and use for the new school year! It will help you organize a little better and help keep things flowing!
What information did you find the most helpful?