Back to School Tips

This year is the first year of school for my daughter, she's four - and I am probably more nervous than she is. 

I couldn't decide last year which school I was going to send her too - I was debating between Catholic and Catholic French immersion and finally decide on Catholic, it's a more convenient location, we are a one vehicle family, and my cousin who was in French immersion through out her schooling said she still isn't bilingual.

 

Okay with my mind (finally) made up I called to register. And gasp? There is no one in the school until only a couple of days before school starts. I thought you could register all summer. My bad. 

Alright obviously I am not the most organized person (understatement of the year) so I decided to try to be a little more organized, especially when I'm starting a new job a couple weeks before. 

 

I got all the paper work she needed ready:

• her health card
• immunization records
• birth certificate
• baptism record

And I printed out a calendar for the whole school year... Find 2015 calendars here or 2016 calendars here 

 

 

I bought the school supplies I thought she needed; she already had a Tinkerbell pack sack for her sleepovers at Gammies so I bought her a new insulated Lalaloopsy lunch bag and some lunch containers.

I labeled everything her back pack lunch bag, coat, boots, mittens and hats with a magic marker on recommendation by the school secretary. It's not uncommon for two students to have the same boots or coats as one another.

I found an awesome list of different ideas for school lunches from Passion for Savings Which will be a huge help because I am not used to packing lunches for my children, and she also gets two snacks a day.

 

 

She's still young so we didn't buy a ton of new school clothes - she hasn't had a growth spurt in a while so most of her clothes still fit. But I did buy her a few new jeans and t-shirts - see how I only paid a fraction of the cost in my article: how to save 60-80% on children's clothing

I didn't want to miss any of the special moments from school nor did I want to keep absolutely everything ( thanks mom I really appreciate all the artwork I did when I was 6) so I bought her a school days book, and I also got a matching one for my 2 year old so they would have the same. Now I can keep her report card, school picture from each year and a few special mementos from each different school year.

 

 

Did you have any helpful tips for a first time {grade school} mom? I would love to hear them!