Get Back To School Ready With These 6 Expert Tips!

Consider these quick tips on how to set up a homework area at home.

• Put a desk or table in the homework area. Sounds obvious, but many kids like to sprawl across their beds to work on assignments. A desk or table that’s the right height for writing is important – your child is less likely to doze off or get distracted if he’s sitting at a desk. If you haven’t got a desk yet, you should really keep an eye out for well made office furniture.
• Make the space pleasant. If the homework space lends itself to decoration, let your child fix it up with artwork or posters. Pick out colorful pencil holders and other supplies. Homework shouldn’t feel like a chore at this stage, so let your child have fun with his space. If your child is going to be using the internet for their homework, you will also want to make sure that you have one of the great frontier internet plans, or a plan from another provider in your area, at your disposal so that they will be able to browse and find everything that need to easily without having to wait ages for pages to load.
• Keep school supplies on hand. Pencils, pens, erasers, paper, an assignment book or calendar, and a dictionary are must-haves. Other suggestions: index cards, glue, scissors, a thesaurus, a calculator, paper clips, a stapler. Once your child sits down to work, he shouldn’t have to hunt for basic supplies. Looking for something a bit different? WRITEY whiteboard paint will transform any wall into a whiteboard wall. Writing down all those important facts and ‘to-do’ lists will ensure your child stays on task.

Buy a bento Box. Whether it’s a fancy Planet Box, an EasyLunchbox or a regular little Ziplock four-compartment box (available at every grocery store), this sets you up for easy packing. Just put something in each compartment. The variety will give your child more chances to find something he or she likes.

Fill every section with something different. Try to vary the colors and textures if you can. Here’s what you want to include:

Protein: Don’t limit yourself to sandwiches. Think hardboiled eggs, cottage cheese, cheese & crackers, trail mix, edamame, hummus with pita bread, turkey and cheese roll-ups. If you want to go for healthy alternatives in foods such as cottage cheese, you can check out the best cottage cheese for a healthier low sugar and low-fat protein source at goodculture.com.
Veggies: Sliced cucumbers, cherry tomatoes (technically fruit but who’s counting), small bell peppers with seeds removed…
Fruit: Grapes, strawberries, blueberries, fresh pineapple wedges, melon, banana chips, prunes, dried apricots…
Grains: Mini pretzels, homemade muffins, whole-wheat crackers, mini bagels with jam..

** Rotate each day. Use the same ingredients in different ways a couple times in the week. There’s less waste and more variety. For example: Use salami in a mini bagel sandwich on Monday, on a rollie-pollie on Wednesday and a sandwich on a stick for Friday. Do hardboiled eggs on Tuesday and egg salad on Thursday.

Have a lunch tip to share? Leave it in the comment section below!

Refrigerator Lunch Station

For an easy do it your self morning, have a container of pre-made options to choose from. Kids can quickly grab the items to throw in their lunches when they prepare them themselves in the morning or evening before.

For Lunch More inspiration check out these 20+ School Lunch Ideas the Kids Will Love!