Simple School Checklist to Make Life Easy for Busy Moms

We all know this time of year we need to restock our kids’ school clothes and supplies. However, there is more to a school list than just the items we purchase. All the meetings, extracurricular activities forms, and well everything! 

An academic checklist should make getting everything organized for the year easier. Such as meeting teachers, first parent-teacher conferences, fun activities the school coordinates, school out days, daycare pickup/drop off routine and emergency plans if a child is injured.  School contacts, special ed coordinator, principal, and teacher.  

Not to mention if more than one child the endless mountain of paperwork is required – all types of doctor visits and the new school routine. Do you have all the paperwork submitted?  All those first appointments are scheduled. Our Free 10-page checklist helps simplify the process.  

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Getting School Supplies 

Getting school supplies can be a haphazard shopping experience. The best way to know is to get a list of items from the school for your child’s grade. However, more recently, they just have them on a school website and don’t mail them out to parents. So, check with your school.  

Another approach is buying on Amazon by grade. I have done this and anything in the package they don’t need, I simply donate to the school to use.

Even if this isn’t everything your child needs it’s a good starting point with the school essentials. 

Communicate with the teacher on any other needed items. Or in the case of my children’s new school districts, they provide everything the child needs.

However, they love having items donated, as many teachers buy extra items out of their own pockets. So, find out the most in-demand school supplies from the teacher.

What Paperwork Needs Done 

School preparation for parents means a lot of paperwork. Start of school means paperwork and forms we must fill out and get signed. And it seems that with the more kids you have, the more paperwork you have!

Of course, the first thing you need to do is register your child for the next school season before the first day of school. It doesn’t matter if this is your first time as a school mom or your tenth.  

Again, a lot of schools have gone paperless and now give you the option of doing it online. I love that because it eliminates the piles of paper on my desk, and there is more of a chance of getting it done sooner.

However, make sure that you read everything, and make any updates or changes. Let’s cover some of the required information you’ll need for registering your child for school.

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Doctor Verifications & Vaccination Records 

Every child needs to be seen by no less than three doctors before starting the school year. You can begin getting these scheduled in late June.

If you do so before, the school may require you to do so again. It’s all about keeping the information up to date. 

Your child will need to see their regular doctor, who will do just an overall physical. This is to ensure your child does not have any illnesses, give any new vaccinations, and lists any allergies or medications, and is overall healthy.  

A note on vaccinations, make sure your child is in the correct age range for any received. One of mine received his 4 days earlier than the stated age range, and it was caught when registering for high school. They made him get it again, which caused him to contract the virus. Not fun! So do your research beforehand. 

If your child is involved in sports, a more extensive physical may be required as well as an additional form for the doctor to fill out. Make sure to have all forms filled out before leaving the office!  

Next, is the dentist. Make sure all cavities and soft spots are treated. During the dental cleaning make sure fluoride treatment is given and teeth in good working order.

Also, a visit to the eye doctor. All children have some level of far sightedness but outgrow it. However, making sure your child is within range by getting yearly eye exams.

Again, make sure you get signed forms, or you may have issues later. 

School Paperwork 

Most schools have an Open House night. This is where students will get to know their lockers and classes, meet with teachers, and sign an agreement to follow the rules of the school.  

Parents are also to sign up for the first parent-teacher conferences at that time. Since this is a hectic evening, it is best to have your school agenda with you to write down these appointments. Because if you are like me, you’ll have forgotten by the time you get home! 

You also may want to make note of other important dates and times on your school checklist paperwork. Such as, safe walk to school, test run day of new class, lunch account, yearbooks, photos, school drop-off & pickup information.

In addition, schools now have students sign an expectations agreement and classroom procedures checklists with the daily timeline.

Make sure to update emergency contact forms. You never want to worry that the school can’t get ahold of you if something should happen.

Other paperwork that should be looked at is the lunch paperwork. Again, many schools offer a free/reduced lunch plan. If you believe you qualify, or would like to find out, get this form and fill it out.  

If your child eats a school lunch, but you don’t require reduced pay, investigate prepaying for school lunches. This can be done online in most cases as most schools now have the lunch menu posted online.   

If your child is bringing lunch, some schools have guidelines on what it is acceptable to bring. Make sure you have a copy of this before sending a home lunch.

This helps make sure your child is set up properly and avoid disastrous lunchtime issues. 

Paperwork for IEP  

If you are a parent of a special needs child, you may have paperwork for the IEP. IEP stands for (Individualized Education Plan). There are so many people and departments involved with the IEP plan.

Making note of all these people in the notes section of your school checklist is beneficial if you have questions throughout the year. Generally, the team will stay the same from K through fifth grade – all through elementary school. 

To help determine the type of special education and related services a student needs, typically an IEP team will first review a child’s evaluation results, such as class tests, one-on-one tests given to determine the student’s eligibility, as well as observations from teachers, parents, paraprofessionals, referring service providers, administrators, and others.  

The children’s evaluation results will help the IEP team describe a student’s current educational level at transitional age-in other words, what the student is doing currently in school. Gather any ongoing health information that may help the IEP team determine services needed.  

If you have a special needs child, you may not just have an annual IEP meeting. You may also have MAP meetings (Making Action Plans). There is so much information contained in these plans.

What you want your child to achieve in class. Even something as simple as learning to tie their shoes, or self soothe. And the necessary steps to get your child to reach these goals, as well as any specific safety measures your child may need. 

If you are new to IEPs, then checkout this IEP Planner. Both meetings are scheduled for the year, so have your checklist ready to write down the dates.  

After School Checklist 

Getting your child to school is only part of the battle. If you work until 5PM, you need to have arrangements on who is picking your student up.

Be this a daycare, or a relative. And you will need to let the school have contact information. 

Make sure your child is aware of the pickup routine. In the mornings, go over who will be picking them up, and if there may be something that keeps the regular routine for happening. 

Pickup Arrangements 

In case of early closure, parents are responsible for following a parents emergency plan for ensuring that their children are picked up by closing time.

Most daycares are familiar with these early out days, but not all of them do pickups on these days. Make sure you cover that with your daycare, so you know before school starts.  

Also discuss their inclement weather schedule. Some daycares are closed if the schools are, so have back up arrangements. 

It is an innovative idea to have two to three people available to pick up children if your regular schedule is disrupted. Keep information like this easily available on your school checklist. Also, let the child’s school and the child’s teacher know as soon as possible. 

Time to Celebrate  

To really prepare for the new school year, test run your morning routine for a few weeks in advance. Pretend it’s a school day.

Go through the entire routine from getting up and dressed, eating breakfast, gathering school items, and out the door on time. If you have been working through summer break and your children going to daycare, you may simply need to adjust the timing. 

If not, make sure you have an established regular bedtime school routine. Start getting everyone ready weeks ahead of time and be sure to put together a childcare plan. Build the anticipation with your child. 

Let your kid choose some school clothes to build excitement about going back to school and take along a list of school supplies that cannot be purchased online.

Consider this your first phase of back-to-school shopping, with an emphasis on backpacks, lunch boxes and lunch bags, water bottles, back-to-school supplies, and basic school clothes your child helps pick out. 

You will be exhausted, but happy when your kids are back in school well prepared are ready to succeed. Breathe deep momma, you’ve earned it. 

Don’t forget your free printable checklist.