School is back in session for us in two weeks, so we have been spending some time getting things in order for the new school year. I have one child entering 4th grade, one entering Kindergarten (sniff, sniff) and one continuing on in a Preschool program. I can’t believe how big these kids are getting!
Here is what we did this year to organize our school shopping experience:
Consolidate Your Lists
With three kids I was done shuffling multiple lists around so we consolidated everything we needed into one big list. After the fact, I thought it would make a great printable for my readers so if you need one, you can get your FREE School Supply Checklist here. Having a master list saved on time dramatically which is a necessity when shopping with the kids in tow!
Shop For Sales
The school supply circulars are starting to come out in the newspapers, so be on the lookout for the best deals. If your state has a tax free weekend take full advantage of the savings. Tennessee’s Tax Free Weekend is August 6th-8th. Since our school starts before that I went ahead and stocked up on supplies. I find that if I wait until the tax free weekend the more specific things we need are already gone.
Sort It All Out
While you most certainly don’t have to dump everything out to begin the sorting process it definitely got the kids excited. They loved rummaging through the pile of school supplies. Ok, I liked it a little bit too :) To make sorting easier and to coral all of the school supplies I used a separate bin for each child. As we checked the supplies off of the lists we then put them in the designated bin. Now we can tuck them away until school starts and easily add the few extra things we need to pick up.
Label It
Now that you have all of your school supplies neat and orderly, don’t forget the labels! Every school has different rules for what should be labeled. My daughters preschool wants each and every crayon labeled so this year I was really excited to have my Mabel’s Labels! (I have a nice stash as one of the perks for blogging with them.) Make sure you label backpacks, lunchboxes, clothing and outerwear too! After you make the investment on all of your back to school gear you don’t want it to end up lost forever!
Have you started back to school shopping yet?
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I love rifling through the school supplies, too. :)
I can’t believe they’re making you label each crayon! When I taught first grade, I just combined the crayons into baskets for each set of tables, and the kids learned to share. That’s how our schools here do it too.
That IS a lot of labeling! We start school soon, too! What label maker do you use? It’s looks like a fun one!
I love the look of having every crayon labeled, but I think I’d be annoyed if I was a parent!
Oh it was much more annoying when I had two children there and when I was handwriting the names on the crayons. For me labeling is sort of a zen like state for me. LOL So I didn’t mind so much this time… :)
Wow school here doesn’t start for another 6 weeks! Love your pictures :)
That’s what I was thinking! Who decided to send kids back to school *in the South* during the hottest month of the year?! LOL!
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