New pencils. New markers. New glue sticks. Wouldn’t you agree that there is nothing better about back to school time than new school supplies? Well, and of course, shipping the kids off to school. Ok, ok, there might be just a few more reasons to do the happy dance for back to school time but this is definitely up there in the Top Ten.
Back to school also means the wonderful life of routines. Sure, you might fly by the seat of your pants on the weekends but during the week, if you are anything like me, or your kids are anything like mine, they crave routine. They thrive in routine. Now, I am not saying to go crazy and never be flexible. Rigid Roxanne. No way! Life has a way of showing us differently, guarantee you that.
However, I am suggesting setting up some routines. Not a schedule….boy does school provide enough of that! But routines? YES, PLEASE! Sign me up!
So, why do I suggest this? I think kids love routines. Having an after school routine sets kids up for success for the next day. Let me tell you, I am a teacher. Well, currently, I am on an extended maternity leave. (wahoo!) And from my experience, what I have learned is that when kids understand the expectations, they thrive. It allows them to actually be *more* creative. Crazy-huh?
This isn’t rocket science, I am sure you’ve heard this productivity tip before, but guess what? I have a free printable for you to put this in place. To create an action. Just for you. For free.
If you’d like to get more of these kinds of free printables, I’ve decided to add a parent corner to my blog, A Modern Teacher. You’ll only see ideas related to parents by signing up for a newsletter HERE. I have been seeing things on “the other side” for awhile now and I’ve got some things to share with parents from a teacher’s perspective. I’ve taught for 11 years and I’d love to share!
A couple of things about the printable:
*Download and decide if you will add the routines on the computer (meaning you will print it out), because you can do that! Or print it out and handwrite the tasks. This is an editable document, meaning, you can type in it or you can just print it out. You could even keep it on an ipad or iphone and have the kids reference the list as the year goes on.
*If you decide to print it, laminate it and place on a clipboard with a dry erase marker. This way you won’t have to worry about printing until the routines change. You could also print 5. One for each day of the week and then change them out but use them week after week.
*Use Adobe (the free one) to open the pdf and type away (or print).
That’s it! Download HERE.
Again, here is the link to sign up for the parent corner, including free printables and ideas!
Here are more back to school ideas!
What things do you put in the “everyday essential box” ? Thanks!
Also very curious of what’s in the everyday essential box? All such great tips, thanks!
I’ve added that information into a comment above. Hope that helps. 🙂