Get Ready to Go Back to School With These Tips

1. Stock up on school supply essentials now. Buying basic supplies before the first day of school not only ensures that everything you need is in stock, but you are guaranteed to save money since everything is on sale. Here are the priorities on every supply list: pencils (regular and colored), pens, magic markers, loose-leaf paper, spiral notebooks, pocket folders, binders, a hole punch, glue, and construction paper.

2. Read all summer long. Every school has a reading list and every library has a summer reading program. It is essential that children read something every day to keep their skills sharp. Parents should encourage children by reading every day along with them. 

3. Go clothes shopping now. If you do a little shopping at a time it will lessen the impact of sticker shock if you wait until the start of school. 

4. Purchase a durable backpack. Cheaper backpacks are usually flimsy and rip easily,  so find the well-made sturdy ones. Backpacks can be heavy. Land's End backpacks come with a great warrantee and you can purchase them at Sears. 

5. Move back bedtime. Transition the kids to their school-year bedtime as early as late July and no later than two weeks before the first day.

6. Organize the family calendar. Know what you're doing and when by organizing your after-school activities, drop-off, pick-up and child-care plans.

7. Mark your student’s flash drive. Buy a light-colored flash drive and write the student's initials on it with a marker, or put a sticker on it.

8. Review your district's technology guidelines. Before purchasing electronics for your student, including a cellphone or laptop, check your district's "technology use" policies, says Dru Tromlin, Director of Middle Level Services for the Association of Middle Level Education. “All school systems have 'technology use' policies to which you need to adhere,” Tromlin says. “Therefore, check for the system policy and then check with your school to see how the policy actually works there. Get informed and make the right choice.”

9. Help support your student’s organizational skills. “Planners and notebooks play a vital role in your child's daily middle school life,” Tromlin says. “Most schools either provide or sell student agendas or planners, and they are the single most important tool for school-to-home communication. Thus, when you get one for your child, talk to him/her about what you expect to be written every day, how often you will be checking it, and what reward they will earn if everything is filled in properly — and then follow through with that plan."

10. Find out what supplies teachers expect students to have for the year. Get lists from teachers (often online on your school district website) for specific school supplies, including “big ticket” items such as calculators, Tromlin advises. “Many parents ask about the kind of calculator they need to buy for their child,” he says. “My best advice: Save yourself time and money and ask the teacher.”