Organizing for School

• Set the school-night bedtime before school starts and begin to stick to it.  Get up early yourself and get things going on the morning schedule you'll follow on school days.
• Get school clothes together and involve the child as much as possible in the selection of new ones.
• Start the routine of selecting and laying out the next day's clothes the night before, including shoes an socks. Have your child begin the habit of dressing completely before breakfast.
• Walk to school or the bus stop with your child several times. Discuss the best ways to get there and talk about any dangers along the way, such as busy intersections.
• Draw a big map including the home-to-school route and put in  major landmarks.  Let your child play on it with small cars or dolls.
• Talk a lot about what school will be like, but be careful not to promise anything you're not sure will happen.  Listen carefully to your child to discover fears and worries he or she may have. Try to put yourself in the child's place if some fears seem silly to you - they're very real to  him or her.
• Rehearse your child in reciting his or her full name, address and phone number.
• Try role-playing, and let the child play both pupil and teacher.
• Give your child two gifts to help him or her with scheduling: an alarm clock - and start setting it for bedtime and wake up time - and a calendar on which he or she can mark and cross off special days.

Off To School Routines
     It's usually helpful to a child to let him or her visit nursery school or kindergarten and meet the teacher before the first day, if possible.  Many schools have a "get acquainted" day or open house to which both parents and pupils are invited - if your school does, try not to miss it.

• Set a timer to help your child know when it's time to gather belongings and get ready to leave for school.

• Attach name tags to any clothes that will be removed at school - sweaters, jackets (back packs) and such.

• Supply your child with an empty paper towel tube for carrying important papers to and from school.  In rainy weather, the tube can be slipped into a plastic bag for extra protection.

• Or get the child a regular school bag or small backpack - either is very grown up (and a backpack won't ware out from being dragged on the ground, as a bag will do)

• Keep old diaper pins handy to pin notes to the teacher on the child's clothing.

• Let Dad drop your child at school the first few days, if he's the one who usually goes off to work.  The child will be accustomed to saying goodbye to him and it won't be so hard.

• Be sure your child understands that that no one but a parent (or other designated person) can pick him or her up from school without written permission.

• Don't forget to inquire each day about school activities.  Listen very carefully to the answers in order to head off any problems.  (Some children will share more than others; don't give your child the "third degree"!) you may find that the best time to ask about th day's events is at night, as you are tucking your child into bed.