August is Back to School Month

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Gingerbug

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Oct 9, 2007
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It's almost August...what kind of chores, tasks, or other activities do you have to fit in...with Back to School?

Do you rearrange your evening schedule?

Do you buy different groceries for lunches?

Do you clean out the closets and get clothes ready?

How are you preparing for August?
 

HouseElf

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Oct 12, 2007
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1. Do you rearrange your evening schedule?

Not until school starts, no outings or friends on school nights.

2. Do you buy different groceries for lunches?

I start back to school baking the second week of August. Muffins, cookies and loafs for snacks and breakfasts during school days.

3. Do you clean out the closets and get clothes ready?

First week of August we go to the school for uniforms, adding bigger items usually!

3. How are you preparing for August?

Cleaning out the deep freeze, pulling uniforms that are too small or need repair. Looking out for school supply sales.
 

snowqueen

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Nov 1, 2007
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I don't have kids to get ready for school but I work at the school so I have preparations for that. I usually make a list of things that I want to remember that I wish I did the year before.
Right now, I'm getting clothes out to match up what I have and to see what I need. I am going through all of my shoes to see what was comfortable and what I really didn't wear and I plan to get rid of what I won't wear again. I'll also be packing my school bag with things I remember to take this year, like extra pantyhose, a small hair dryer, Tide To Go stick and a few other things that I wish I had for an emergency.
 

Kim Loves Snow

Santa's Elves
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Aug 3, 2008
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This is the first year I'm living with the boys at the start of the school year. I just finished making each of them a "Homework Box" which is a plastic box with a snap on lid. In the box is everything they would need for doing homework - Pencils (which I had personalized XXXX's Homework Pencil), pens, tape, scissors, a three hole punch, stapler, paper clips, eraser, glue sticks, elmers glue, markers, colored pencils, hole reinforcers, battery operated pencil sharpner, etc. With my trustee label maker I label each with their first initial so I know what belongs to which box. My hope is to avoid the chaos of "I can't find such and such" that I experienced when I moved in after the wedding.

The other thing we'll have to do when they get back is go through all the clothes and weed out the ones that are too small and probably do some clothes and shoe shopping.

Closer to school we try to get them back into a regular bed time and that's probably not going to be much fun.
 

MinnieCo

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Apr 10, 2008
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It's almost August...what kind of chores, tasks, or other activities do you have to fit in...with Back to School?
Well normally we do the normal "school supply" shopping, but with high school she doesn't have a list anymore. We're pretty stocked up, so I'll wait till the end of the season and refill my stock with clearance items. If I wait, I can usually get her stuff I wouldn't normally buy becuase it's too expensive. On a fun note, we always have had "FUN WEEK". When she was little, we'd do kiddie stuff. Go to places we didn't make it to during the summer. Now that she's older we do the same thing, but it might include some shopping, a nice lunch, pedicures. All kinds of girlie stuff and even movie days at home. This year I don't have a full 5 days, but I made sure I have the 3 days off before school starts so we can spend some time together. Once school starts, I loose her till next year. She's in the IB program if any of you know what that is, so she eats, sleeps and drinks school every day.

Do you rearrange your evening schedule?
Absolutely. With her workload, we really evaluate what we do during the week. If she has a heavy week already and we need to do something, I'll work it into a week when she doesn't already have something on the schedule. Some weeks are much easier then others. I always get excited for summer so we have NO routine, but when school starts it's all about routine. That keeps things easy for her and I.

Do you buy different groceries for lunches?
No, not anymore. She's gotten to the point, she just likes to take a granola bar or something she can grab and go. Then she'll eat something else when she gets home to hold her over till dinner time.

Do you clean out the closets and get clothes ready?
We do that 2x a year, but not usually when school starts. We do it once at the end of school and once during the Holiday Grand Plan.

How are you preparing for August?
We are. We have 1 last vacation. We need to decide what we want to do for fun week and we have to fit in school registrations and picnics and all that fun stuff. It really has flown by this summer. (as usual)
 

Princess_Christmas

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Oct 12, 2007
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I am a teacher on call, that means I never know when I will be teaching so I need to be prepared,

I ussually have all my "teaching clothes" sorted and hanging, anything that doesn't fit into the "good for teaching is either on a different coloured hanger or in my drawers.

I also need to organize my teaching bag - 3 story books for kinders, primary, intermediate and I change these out depending on the season

We listed our house so I need to clean and organize my crafting room and bedroom as well.
 

orangesforadam

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Oct 14, 2007
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It's almost August...what kind of chores, tasks, or other activities do you have to fit in...with Back to School?

We'll start working on an earlier bed time on Sunday the 8th. I hope to get the school supplies list this week and get started on gathering those items.

Do you rearrange your evening schedule?

Other than the bed time, it's probably gonna stay the same since I have only one in school right now and he's in 1st grade.

Do you buy different groceries for lunches?

DS really likes the eating in the cafeteria like most of his friends do, but once in a while he wants a sack lunch so I'll buy a few things for that, but only week by week.

Do you clean out the closets and get clothes ready?

Definitely! Most things still fit him and he has no interest in going clothes shopping so I'll make a list of supplemental stuff and hope everything fits!

How are you preparing for August?

I'm just working on Back to School for the most part. Everything else is same ol' same ol'!
 

momof9

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Dec 3, 2007
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We homeschool our brood but that just means there is more to get ready!

Do you rearrange your evening schedule?
Not in August but as the lazy (read: scheduleless and sans bedtimes) days of summer give way to the activity filled weeks of fall we have to get more structured and focus on an after dinner routine.

Do you buy different groceries for lunches?
yeppers... all summer long we eat nothing but sandwiches, kid's choice and make your own. Fall and winter we rely on the crockpot lunch menu and homemade bread for lunch.


Do you clean out the closets and get clothes ready?
ahhh.. the great clothing switchout. A week of chaos and disorganization in our house! and then the inevitable shopping trips. I HATE SHOPPING!!


How are you preparing for August?
well, lets see...
I am in the middle of a gigantic school room organizing spree
the yard will need to be put to bed for the year and, of course, decorated for FALL!!! (i love fall)
oh and interior decorating for fall (did I mention I love fall?)


so to recap...
I homeschool

I am disorganized

I hate shopping

I love Fall

yep, that about covers it!
 

StressLess

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Jun 4, 2008
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Everyone, except my husband, is in school this year. So, I will be relying heavily on my crockpots this year. I have already started collecting recipes which is a challenge with two picky girls with food allergies.

I've gotten school supplies, but I'm sure there will be more once I register the girls today.

I have already washed coats and check sizes. Our weather here is in the triple digits now but we always get these drastic changes in temperature with little warning.

I've transfered some of my older daughter's clothes to my younger daughter and have already gotten shoes for school.

I'm going to do a very thorough cleaning of the house and the attic between now and the end of next week.

We have a tax free holiday here, but I usually don't take advantage of it because it's not worth the hassle of fighting the crowds in this heat.
 

AnnieClaus

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Nov 6, 2007
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MinnieCo-
What is the IB program? What does it entail?

Annie
 

MinnieCo

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Apr 10, 2008
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It's the International Baccalaurette Program.

It's kind of hard to explain, so here's a link.
http://www.ibo.org/who/index.cfm

It's a more globalized cirriculum and often considered 1 step above Advanced Placement. When you're done, you can actually end up with a diploma for your H.S. and an IB diploma. you also test into college for credits and usually end up at a sophmore status, if all goes well. But it varies with each student.
 

Colleen in PA

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Aug 20, 2008
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It's almost August...what kind of chores, tasks, or other activities do you have to fit in...with Back to School?

Do you rearrange your evening schedule?
We have started moving bedtime a bit earlier...only 15 minutes so far, but I will move it forward another 15 minutes before school starts.

Do you buy different groceries for lunches?
DS can't take peanut butter to school so he's gorging himself on PB&J every day now...when school starts he'll be eating lots of cheese, turkey, chicken, etc.

Do you clean out the closets and get clothes ready?
I have started going through some of my son's fall clothes from last year to see what still fits. I have also picked up a few new pairs of jeans for him. He will need new shoes and new sneakers - need to pick those up soon.

How are you preparing for August?
I'm just trying to stay cool. DS picked out a new backpack and we got a new lunchbox with it for free (promotion at toys-R-us) and a new thermos. He doesn't really need to bring school supplies to Kindergarten, but I do pick up crayons, glue sticks, paper and pencils for use at home. The hard part is not buying lots of lovely new "school" supplies for myself!
 

aggy

Santa's Elves
Oct 11, 2007
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Baltimore, Maryland
Do you rearrange your evening schedule? Yes, I like to get to bed early so that I can get a good nite's sleep. I rise at 5 in the morning and during the winter months it can be hard to get up because it's so dark outside. I don't have much trouble getting up if I get the right amount of sleep. In addition, I leave the house a little early because during the school year, more cars drive through my neighborhood because a highschool is right behind my apartment. You can get caught at the traffic light three times before you get through.

Do you buy different groceries for lunches? During the summer I ate lots of cold sandwiches, salads, and such. Now is the time I start buying more vegetables, seafood and poultry. I recently did my monthly meals calendar for the next few months. It worked very well for me last year (until the holidays came around - lol). I buy groceries for the week according to the menu and cook two days out of the week (Sundays and Wednesdays).

Do you clean out the closets and get clothes ready? The closets are all ready. I went through and took out what I no longer could/didn't wear and donated them to Salvation Army or threw them out if they were damaged. I go through the coat closet and pull out what needs to go to the cleaners. I also start taking 1-2 pairs of shoes for heel repairs every two weeks.

How are you preparing for August? Other than a couple of birthday events and seeing a nephew off to college, I won't be doing much. I am just taking it day by day. By August I am pretty much done with summer and am ready for the cool, cozy days.