Back To School

If you are nervous about going back to school, or have a child who is about to start school, being ready is going to help reduce any stress that you and your child might be feeling.

It is a time that as a parent you need to relish, it begins a new chapter in the lives of your children and it is the start of a new and exciting journey for them to enjoy.

There are things you can do to help your child prepare for the first day:

• Talk to your child
• Visit the school together
• Discuss the time they will be in school
• Discuss who will take your child to school and pick them up, it is not always possible for a parent to pick up or drop off a child at school especially if they are working
• Set up routines to help them get ready for going to school and what they will need to do before they go to school, like brush their teeth and getting dressed.

It is important that you inform the school if other people other than yourself are picking up your children from school.

Getting back to school supplies

Being organized and knowing the items required is important, it allows what is a stressful time to become a fun activity. Plan in advance all the clothes that your child will need when they go to school, but also any other supplies like a bag and pens, before you go shopping, this way you are not guessing at the requirements.

Set a realistic budget that allows for the purchase of these goods. It is possible to save for a period of time, to make sure that you are not looking for a large cash sum for just one month of the year, but spreading it over the full twelve months can make it easier to manage.

You might be able to get a grant from your local government to help with the cost of school clothes, contact your local authority to see if you are eligible.

Many shops are looking to draw in the back to school customers and are providing good value clothing at great prices; this means that if you look for the style and size required it is possible to get it at a fraction of the cost.

An area to consider is for your child to like the item in general, they might look the same to you, but if you have too many objections you might be fighting a losing battle to get your child to wear a pair of trousers if they feel there is something not right with them. Talk to your child and find out what they dislike, it could be as simple as the fastening could be wrong.

Talking and discussing the requirement can take the stress out of shopping, planning multiple shorter trips will make sure that you and your children don’t become stressed and irresponsive to clothing suggestions.

There are many schools that have adopted the concept of a uniform; it can allow those children whose parents can’t afford to spend large sums of cash, to not feel excluded because of the clothes they wear.

There are arguments for and against uniforms and while in general I agree with them there has to be some room for adjustment, my daughter’s old school refused to allow them to wear coats in the school grounds, instead they seem to expect the children to sit in cold and wet clothing; this rule I found very irritating.

Therefore, if you are sorting back to school items, plan and set aside money in the budget, as it can get expensive even with the low prices for most universal items becoming readily available.