Going back to school

Some of you have already gone back to school, but my son is due to go back in two weeks and will be a new one and I am apprehensive, but that is normal, right? His first week is going to strange for all of us, but more so for my son, and it is my job to make sure that he settles in and we are ready for this change.

Photo by Yan Krukau on Pexels.com

School can be daunting, so children can get the jitters, like my son did and that is okay, but help prepare them as much as you can and if you can visit the school before they start, this will help them to get to know the environment, like the classroom, the teacher and where they will be having lunch and assembly. Along with discussing any fears you have, to ask their teacher and school staff.

Kids starting school can be daunting for us too, and it was strange to me at first and getting to school was such a mission, but did get better, and so I hope this new school is it, that will really help him progress and say if your child has any learning difficulties, so they can put things in place to help them.

Henry has ADHD and suffered being in school with large amount of kids, so in his new school, he will be in one class, which he wasn’t at his second school he went to, he would be in Year 1 for part of the day, then in a class with other children with learning difficulties and then be in his mainstream classroom, year 4 and so won’t be moving around and will be with smaller size classes.

Then there is uniform. It can be expensive, but there are ways to get pieces cheaper by buying secondhand uniform at schools. The schools that my son has attended would sell secondhand uniform and we donated items to one of Henry’s schools, so they can be worn by another child. We washed them first, and then handed them in and stores such as ASDA and Sainsbury’s do some really good sales on uniform. Along with Pepco at various Poundland stores.

The good thing is we don’t have to buy is any stationary supplies as these items are supplied from the school, but if your school doesn’t then it is worth checking stores, like Wilko’s who are sadly gone into administration. I find Whsmiths expensive and Rymans, but they do some good deals on notebooks. Then items such as pens, I always order from amazon.

If you have any tips on getting ready for school then please to share. You can leave a comment below.

So I really hope your children settle in to the school and everything goes well.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

Getting back to normality and usual routine

Yes it will be time to return to the usual routine and that means travelling, making dinners for Henry and writing in the mornings, and in the evening and managing my content around all that and preparing my son for school, and the week my son goes back he will be going on a Residential trip with his class at school and so making sure he has everything he needs for that.

Photo by Thirdman on Pexels.com

It is going to be checking transport and managing my time to make sure I check my emails and I am nervous always am, but that is because I want it to go well and everything goes to plan.

Thankfully my husband tends to wash his clothes for school and am grateful for that, and I will be making sure that I wash Henry’s bedding as it is hard to get these things done everyday and so I wash his bedding at the start of the week, Mondays and that he has completed his homework and written down what he has been learning whilst on half term and put it in his bag and folder for school to encourage him to share what he did during the school holidays and going to do a photo book to help and you can do this on google and is a great item to keep, and also getting him excited about seeing his school friends again, and this term he has a new teacher, he spends time in a different classroom and planning for when it comes the changing of the weather and that I have sunscreen for when we have warmer weather and be good to play out in the garden again after he has finished school and fit in some learning after school, and what he has not learned at school I have been teaching him at home, like today we learned about the Solar System, because on the news there will be astronauts going to get near to Jupitar and wanted my son to know about it as these things are historical and something that should be taught.

I will be recording this to go into his book so his teacher can see what he has been learning and continue to do this too and share the different the topics we have been teaching Henry, and his dad (my sons) dad put up a world map on the wall so he can learn about the world and different countries.

When it comes to kids it is knowing when to start and when they have had a different schedule to when they go back to school can be a huge adjustment still, and I mean for everyone.

It means setting the alarm again, if you haven’t done this throughout the half term, with my son who is an early bird, he never lays in but is awake early all the time and this can take its toll but I don’t set an alarm only when he goes to his holiday club called Youngstars, but whilst he at school I can take my time taking a shower and putting make up on, but I tend to feel a bit lost after the half term, and my son does get separation anxiety.

So yes time to get back and we have a few more days to still have of this half term fun, but then it is all systems go again and I bet the weather will be lovely which is typical but living in Britain you never know.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

Back to school Monday and Co-parenting/Not having to rush

Hello and it is the first day of my son, to go back to school and it means getting the school uniform washed, his school bag packed with his books, coats and snacks. Thankfully because he lives mainly with his dad as its convenience really and I have been unwell with mental health, it is good to be back looking after him, so all his main bits and pieces are there, and when I have a place of my own again, it will be possible for me to take care of Henry fulltime again, to ease the pressure for his father.

Until then now it is getting up early and me taking over from his father until his transport to school turns up, and good to spend some time with him before he treturned back back this morning, and he is has been looking forward to it and kept asking when he will be back at school, and so different from when I used to go to school, it was the last place you wanted to be.

So I had to also sort my bags out for thie morning lastnight, being that I had to get up at the crack of dawn to be there, and I take two bags with me. This is due to being a writer, and if any ideas come into my mind whilst en route, and tomorrow like today I am birthday shopping, as I have two this week, my brothers and my son’s and so still is a mad dash for it.

This means checking the trains and buses of when they are due, and if there is a disruption. I have topped up my Oyster Card and again prepping for a new school week, and so I don’t neccessarily write a list, but keep it in my head and make sure I have a magazine and a book to read to help me take my mind of the fact I have gotten up so early and whilst travelling, and because it is at the time 5am really cold now, I have enough layers on me for the bitterly cold weather.

Then in the week just keeping up with him doing some homework my son has to do, and this week being his birthday, I will be writing a blog on my other The Parenting Adventures blog:

http://theparentingadventuresthebirthofmyson. wordpress.com

Then it is the Christmas season and planning for that. I find from September to December it goes so fast and keeping up can be overwhelming so I will start planning for Christmas once the birthdays for this months, are over. The actual buying will not be until next month, I just like to prep and have an idea of the gifts I gonna be buying for 2021.

I have filmed a Truth About Parenting video, as I one weekly and so check this weeks out today:

https://youtu.be/00LKy–Fzn8

So have a good week and I will be back with another blog next week.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

Getting back to school half term/Co-parenting made easy

Hello so thank you for those who have been loving my blogs it really means the world to me.

So some kids had just a week and others have had two. My son has two weeks, and so goes back next week, and so it means the school run is upon us again and means all uniform will need washing, if you haven’t done this already and brings us closer to the festive season and boy “NOT READY”, but yes and for me it is a busy time.

Getting back means going back into the routine, and means for me getting up at 5 on some days or getting home late for when my son gets dropped back from school. I am lucky in that Henry gets a lift by taxi, to and from school, but it still is pretty stressful, but you find you, and find your own way of getting kids to school and its about getting there on time and when it is raining it makes it even more challenging especially like I was doing, crossing a very long busy road and would cause me so much anxiety.

When it comes to getting back, try and prepare for it, and like me if you co-parent like I do, set the time you are gonna get to your child’s home to take them to school, and switch the times so one is doing the drop off and the other doing the pick up.

Have a set of unform between the homes that you and the other parent cleaned and ready to wear, and have duplicates of certain items, like trousers, shirts, and non school uniform outfits they can change into. This depends on if you take them to school from both of your own homes, for me its all at his dads because that is his main home still and nearer for travelling to his school, so this applies to when parents don’t have one base and they take them from different homes.

When it comes to them doing homework be on the same page as the other parent and work with your child. Does because you as parents live at different homes and lifes now, doesn’t mean you have to be against each other, and so talk about this and be on the same page.

Make sure you transfer items to and from your home you son lives in, so for example when Henry stays with me, his dad will bring his school bag over, so we both know what homework he has got and keeping tabs on how he is getting on at school.

Have again a duplicate bag if this helps.

When it comes to what the kids did during half term write it down in their school books, and really helps the teachers at my son’s school to see what they did and gives them so much to talk about, and for the summer holidays I created Henry a photo book via google and they loved it, and gonna do the same for half term aswell.

Once this is done then have both parents see it and talk about it to your children to and that you both stay on board with your kids even if you live apart.

So I am not gonna shortly film a few video to day, and if you didn’t know I film a series of videos called Truth About Parenting, so go and check them out, via my channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUDFIqjVKLy7NhtcR6Hy0Tg

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

5 Tips# in Preparing kids for school without too much hassle

Hello and welcome! So each week I do a video as part of my Youtube series Truth about parenting, and this week the video I did was talking about Parenting Mental Health.

So now your kids should have returned to school and being Friday it is time for them to be off again until next week. Five Tips in Preparing kid for school without a hassle, is the topic of this blog post.

Tip1# If they have a weekend first before they return to school get all uniform, bags and snacks packed in plenty of time, so I do this the night before, so there is no rushing around.

I find kids respond better too when things are set out, and Henry will often grab his bag himself and I put all bags and coats by the front door.

So the next tip,

Tip2# Always have a Get Ready with me place for you and your kids where you usually spend time in the morning. This saves so much time and even have breakfast ready the night before.

This means having cereal already in a individual plastic container so they can just pour in the milk, or even in a bowl.

Tip3# Write a diary to prepare your childs mindset, as some kids might be a bit anxious about going back and this will help prepare them mentally so its not a drastic shock to get back into the routine of school.

This is a great pack for kids for you and a child to use and they are just fun and beautiful and found this on amazon.com

Going back to school for me was an adjustment at times and often will have the fear of school because I work better on flexibility rather than a set structure and I think is one of the factors why I struggled at school.

Tip4# Good hack, put in their bags if they are in the early years and toilet training and you can even do this when they return to nursery, and that is use reusable clothes bags, that new clothes ordered online come in now, and put in for wet and dirty clothes, so if they do have an accident or get their uniform dirty by painting for example so it keeps rest of the items in your bag dry and clean. Let the teacher know that you have done that so they know and can use it.

This one is from Amazon and they have other colours and styles of these bags

The bags I go for is one that have the pocket at the front and ones at the side, as they are good to carry water bottles and putting sun cream in and other bits.

See these which are great to put snacks in and use as laundry bags for your kids to take to school and thesre are from amazon and do different sizes.

Tip5# Have a check list on the wall by the front door or in the place where you spend your mornings so you can go through whilst they eat their breakfast that they have everything.

I find using a White board to tick a check list is great as you can wipe it away and then do one at the beginning of each week.

So I hope you have had a good week and yes I am too looking forward to the weekend and soon I will be moving and so lots more blogs on this site and and my others.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

P.S: If you would like to see more of my blogs and video content please visit my blog network site:

https://carriesblognetwork.squarespace.com

Back at School after the Lockdown

Today Henry went back to school, the first time since lockdown and I am kind of relieved that some normality has begun.

Getting kids ready for school is no easy task especially when their first initial answer is NO, so with Henry we do try bribery.

Now I know some people may frown upon that, but do I care, No I don’t.

At the end of the day you do what you gotta do, and when a kid is screaming blue murder you know there is no further option.

Henry got a little stressed because we didn’t cut through the large playground like we normally do, and all the classes are mixed at the moment, and so we have to follow the rules like everyone else, and so I just calmed him down as much as possible and passed him over to the teacher, praying that I don’t get a call later to pick him up because he has had a difficult day.

Children with ADHD like my son has, they can find change difficult so we did what we always do, and when I say we, me and my mother, showed him images of where he will need to go and what his classroom is like, as getting them prepared as much as possible does really help.

Also letting him choose an activity he can do in the car beforehand is a good distraction away from the new transition.

I would recommend planning the night before and saving yourself time is the key to a successful school run. I hate panicking and getting into a friendsey when if it had been done the night before like have all  their uniform ready and ready to grab, have his book bag filled with his school books and snack for the day and even getting out his shoes, are great time savers.

It really does and I even got up extra early today to give myself time to get ready. This meant having little sleep, but now after feeling like zombie fill right and rain.

So keep safe everyone and many thanks for reading,

 

Carrie X

 

 

 

Getting back into a school routine

After the school holidays of six week of should I say bliss or at least no rushing around.

I would say lie-ins, but since becoming a parent I have discovered that because my son wakes up so early there really is no such thing anymore.

However there is no rushing around like there is on a school day, and the routine can often be lost as you are more concerned in making sure you make the most of the school holidays and take a good well earned break from the norm of a school day.

“So how do you get back into a routine?”

We began to recreate the routine for Henry a week or so before the school returned, by making sure that the first thing he has is his breakfast, without any distractions, we get him dressed by half past seven, brush his teeth at about quarter to eight and between 7:45-8am get his shoes on and then get him ready to leave at about twelve minutes passed.

Once he has eaten his breakfast then he can play, watching a bit of TV or watch his tablet.

The other thing we did during the six weeks holiday, as he was due to move up a class and finds change often quite overwhelming, prepared him for the year ahead. Our sons school kindly created a little book going through the changes that will be happening in the year head, by showing who will be his new teacher, the one to one teachers who will be looking after him, his classroom, where he will be playing outside and where the toilets are etc. This has really helped.

The Book his teachers made for him to help get him ready for the new year ahead

The other thing we have done to prepare him for the school year ahead is getting him more familiar with the roads and knowing when to cross when to stop and to keep watching at all times for his safety as last year he wore reins to school as he did have the tendency to run off, but this year we didn’t want to use the reins and have him walk to school without them, and I got to say this has really worked.

I really thought he would kick off on the first day, being that he will be heading into a new entrance and new classroom, but so far not a murmur, and when he has completed his day without a fuss we give a little reward afterwards.

In his first week we then began to reintroduce him back into doing his homework after he has had his treat, again with no distractions and the homework includes doing a bit of writing or reading his book.

His homework books

Henry’s current reading book from school

I also made sure that we took him in his PE kit on Monday too. If you find it hard to get into the routine to start off with introducing the routine in gradually.

The other thing I would suggest is if your child’s school do Meet and Greet session where they tell you more about what is happening in your child’s school year then go, because this will help prepare you and and your child too, and with Henry’s one we got to see inside their classroom, so you get an idea of where they will be learning and what activities they will be doing.

Remember you can keep up to date with my blogs by following me on WordPress.com and if there is a topic you would like me to cover regarding parenting and I would love to hear of your getting back to school routine is, by commenting below.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X