quick trick: make the school year a success!

The school year's in full swing around here, and I'll tell you, it has not been an easy transition for us.

Grade One is a whole different country compared to walk-in-the-park Kindergarten, and add Maddy's first year of CCD to the mix, and it's been one step closer to total chaos for us.

Although Owen and Cora are only in preschool for three mornings, the paperwork--fundraisers, information sheets, calendars, and field trips--and artwork almost had us drowning come week two.

So all I needed was (gulp!) one reminder email from Maddy's teacher asking if she had completed her homework packet (and whoops, no, she didn't because I never saw it. . .) to get my body in back-to-school organizational boot camp.

I realized that I needed to switch gears from frazzled part-time working parent of three to calm, cool, and collected classroom teacher in order to help me along the way. Of course I can do this; at one point I managed 140 high school freshmen and sophomores--a 6, 5, and 3 year old and a 7 month old puppy should be nothin'! Right?

So here is my school-year Quick Trick -- Successful School Year survival tips, in no particular order, so that I stay focused this year and so that no one else will forget (okay, lose) their kids' homework packets:

• 10 Sure-Fire Ways to Make Your Child’s School Year a Success. . . or

• 10 Tips for Making Your Child’s School Year as Successful as is Humanly Possible

1. Make early and frequent contact with your child’s teacher. Don't be afraid to send an email if you have a question or concern, or just send a note to say 'hi' and introduce yourself. Ask how you can support classroom learning at home, and ask how you can help the teacher--by classroom volunteering or doing what you can at home.

Have your child write a Hello Teacher Note before school starts or even during the first week or month of school so that she feels a special connection with her teacher. It helps!

2. Know your child’s friends. Plan a weekend play date, even if it's only for an hour or two, and don't let the kids hide away downstairs or up in your kiddo's room. Make a snack together, play a game together, or pull out a craft to do together.

Get to know these little friends now, and listen to how everyone interacts. If necessary, jump in if you don't like what you're hearing and talk about how kind friends speak to each other, how to share. or how to take turns. Ignoring behavior we're not comfortable with is just like saying it's okay.

3. Eat at least two dinners together each week. It's hard. Verrrry hard, I know, with soccer practices, lessons, and late work days. But sitting down to dinner as a family has been proven to lead to healthier kids, happier families, and stronger family relationships.

It's a great time to talk about the day, make sure your kids are chewing with their mouths closed (really!), and to actually sit down and look at your cute kids before they run off and turn into 20-year-olds tomorrow night. And the meal? Doesn't have to be fancy. Just has to be something on the table that you eat together.

Maddy's little homework spot.
No more lost math packets for us!

4. Make a home for everything. When your kiddo walks in the door, shoes make a beeline for the shoe shelf, lunchbox gets emptied then heads to his landing pad on the counter, backpack drops in the box. No questions asked.

Then when you get a second, unload the take-home folder and recycle (yes--recycle immediately!) the papers you know you won't need, hang up one 'super-star' assignment on the fridge, file the important papers in your file folder, and put the night's homework on the table where your child does homework. Done. Check. Move onto the next thing.

5. Create a structured time and place for homework. For some, it works to get homework completed immediately after walking in the door and finishing snack; for others, homework's best saved for after dinner. It doesn't matter when you choose--just make a choice and stick with it. Everyone fares better with routine, so start one for homework asap.

6. Become a familiar face at school. If you walk to school, introduce yourself to the administrators (and don't be afraid!) while they're out on bus duty and say hello each time you see him or her. Say hello to the secretaries and be extra nice to them because their job is not easy, either. Don't expect these busy people to remember your name right away, but use their names when addressing them if you can.

If you are able, join the PTA or PTO, but don't sweat it if you can't--you can still help in other ways. Consider asking the PTO President or School Director how you can help--from home. I'm sure she'll come up with something.

7. Ask your child questions and listen to the answers.

Yes: Hi, Honey, so happy to see you! What did you do in P.E. today? OR What book did you read in Reading Group? OR What was your favorite part of your lunch? OR Did you like about the assembly today?

No: Hi, Honey! Did you have a good day? What did you learn?

Shoot for specific, open-ended questions and go with whatever he wants to talk about. Close-ended questions (that result in a yes or no answer) stop conversation before it begins. And rapid-fire questions about what you want to know but what he's not ready to share are enough to make a kid want to turn around and run back to the bus for safety.

So make sure you breathe--and let your child breathe, too. And what isn't covered on the walk home can be covered during dinner or at bedtime.

8. Get your kids involved in at least one extra-curricular activity. Even if it's one little thing that gives them a chance to interact with other kids and burn some steam, it counts.

Whether it's a community sport, a craft club, a scouting group, or a youth group, it doesn't matter. Kiddos need some little something to call their own when they're young. And even if an extra-curricular is not in the budget, make it a goal to attend a free event at the library, church, or in the community several times a month.

9. Meet parents. Respond to the Room Parent's plea for help, and remember her name when you see her at Back-to-School night or at the class party.

Get to know the moms, dads, grandparents, and sitters who walk their kids to school or the bus stop. Ask parents--especially the seasoned ones--questions, and learn a little from them if you can. Learn which kids belong to which parents. Exchange contact information so that you can text someone to give you a hand if you're running late one afternoon, or meet up at the playground after school.

10. Be thankful. Be supportive. Be grateful. Teachers' jobs are seriously more difficult than most people can imagine. The amount of work that they do--during the week and on the weekends--to prepare lessons, ready their classroom, research best practices, work with specialists, grade schoolwork, respond to parents, attend meetings, and (for many) continue their own education--is insane.

So we need to be thankful for their hard work--today and every day--not just Teacher Appreciation Week or at the end of the year. Sign your emails with a sincere, 'thank you for all you do' and mean it. Ask what you can do to support them, and follow through.

Say 'thanks' to the administration, the paraeducators, the specialists, the custodians, and the lunchroom workers because they're all working towards creating a safe environment for your child to meet with success and have the best year possible. So why wouldn't you want to be thankful for, supportive of, and grateful for this school community?

Really, this Quick Trick about making the school year a success is a reminder to me to follow these steps to ensure that Maddy, Owen, and Cora have great school years this year and to keep me focused on the fact that academics is not the only part of their year.

I'm also coming clean about the fact that we needed a major organizational shift over here, and we're only just now hitting a stride. Getting organized and staying organized takes work, just like this whole parenting gig. Any other tips for a Successful School Year? Let me know--I'm sure I'm missing some!