Back to School Checklist

As January comes to an end, it’s time to vacuum up the last of the sand traipsed through the house and pack away the beach towels. Going back to school isn’t just about buying the booklist—it’s a mental, physical and emotional journey that parents and their children must embark on each year. You probably have most of the important things from the back to school checklist ready by now, like paperwork, school uniforms and the booklist, but is there anything you’ve forgotten?

Here’s a handy last minute back to school checklist to help you with some of the obvious and less-than-obvious.

Early to bed, early to rise makes you healthy, wealthy and wise:
Summer sleep-ins are too easy to get used to, so crash your child’s holiday a little early by getting back into the school routine before school gets back. Enforce bedtimes, but even more importantly, enforce morning alarms! This will also give you a chance to make sure those alarm clocks are still operational after a three month break.

The sock drawer:
The sock monster will have done its best to eat a few here and there. Replenish sock supplies.

An eye test:
Don’t forget that an eye test is completely covered by Medicare once every two years.

A haircut:
The uniforms are ironed, but you’re sending Snuffleupagus back to school in place of your child?

The lunchbox: 
It probably hasn’t been used for most of the summer. Worst case scenario is that it’s still in your child’s backback. From last year. Growing a new strain of penicillin. It’s still summer on the Gold Coast, so make sure you have some cooler packs in the freezer and plenty of reusable containers to store food.

Lunch snacks:
Take your child shopping with you and try to choose some healthy snacks together—then you’ve got their buy-in for eating those snacks, because they helped pick them! If you have the time, maybe you can even make up something quick and easy together in the kitchen, like a zucchini slice (hidden vegetables!).

The backpack: 
You’ve sighted it in your child’s room, but make sure you check it out before you send them back to school with it! Any holes? Are both straps unbroken?

The journey to and from school:
If your child is walking, riding, or catching public transport to school, it’s a great idea to do the trip with them just a few days before school starts. Even if they did the same trip last year, summer holidays can erase a lot of habits.

Check the forecast:
No matter where you are in Australia, you’re probably going to need a hat on your head for most of February. But the Gold Coast has been hit with some wild weather in January, so make sure your child is prepared—they may need to have a raincoat in their bag, just in case!

Have a chat:
Sit down with your child and get them talking about what they’re looking forward to going back to school for. Focus on the positives, spin any negatives. Ask them about their friends, and what subjects they have to look forward to.

Charge the camera battery:
It would be remiss of you to see your child off to their first day of school without a happy snap.

Those are what we at Gold Coast Kids want to make sure you’ve got covered before your child morphs back into a school student. Make sure you take enough time to relax and run through your back to school checklist a few times before the first day of school is upon you! And as a final note… check the calendar so you’re completely certain about when that first day arrives.

(image source)

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