It’s that week. The hype of the festive season is fading. The holiday bags are unpacked. And our brains are slowing moving back into gear. Is it really only 3 weeks til school goes back?!?!
To ease the stress and get you back to school like a cool waterslide on a hot day, we have asked some of our favourite mums how they prep for Back to School. Here is what they have to say.
Jade Warne
Business owner of Hipster Mum Social and mum of 3
Photographer, content creator, social media mega-mind and straight talker, Jade shines some light on some common myths of Back to School, along with a couple of tips you don’t want to miss!
“One thing I do is set every clock 15 minutes forward, including my watch, the oven clock and the car clock. 15 minutes is the bare minimum of the extra buffer time I need to get everyone out the door. It is a monumental daily task that we achieve.
The other thing I do is have a basket at the end of each bed with all the school clothes in it – the school uniform basket! Jumpers, hats, socks, everything so I can just ask the kids to look in the basket when they are getting ready.
I’d also say it’s really important to have a proper conversation with your partner about who is doing which drop offs and which pickups. Try and allocate them evenly. It’s such a big task, it should be dispersed fairly.
Finally, I always have spare drink bottles, snack packs and apples at every drop off and pick up. The kids are always starving and it gives us freedom to stop and play with them getting even more starving.”
Erin Dove
Owner of Dove and Dovelet and Mother of 3
Dove and Dovelet is a Minty favourite with its emphasis on conscious functional design.
Running a busy online business and home schooling 2 children is no mean feat. Here is what Back to School means for Erin and her family this year.
“This year brings the excitement of a routine and more structured home education for our two eldest after a year of “deschooling”.
We’re busily organising the curriculum we will loosely follow for the next 12 months, scouting new locations to explore and activities to participate in.
Home education is not always easy but the rewards are worth it and we get the public pool to ourselves during the week!.”
Nicola Greenaway
Mum of 2 and business owner at Concrete & Honey and Green.A.Way
As an established stylist, photographer and content creator, Nicola combines her desire for creating beautiful spaces with her passion for sustainability.
Here are Nicola’s top tips on sustainable way to get Back to School this year.
‘Take stock of what you already have around the house. I’m sure there are plenty of colouring pencils, highlighters, pens and glue sticks around the house that you could put together to make the back-to school-pencil case complete for a primary schooler.
While you’re at it, declutter your stationary – test your pens and markers and take any that don’t work to Officeworks for recycling.
Then organise and tidy your desk area.
My other fave products are book covers. Unlike contact paper, they slip on and off are reusable year after year.”
Dr Kathryn Bown
Academic, Social Justice Advocate and Mother of 3
Kathryn Bown of Lifelong Learning Family is passionate about sharing her perspective on educating without traditional schooling.This is how the start of new year looks for Kathryn and her family.
“My three daughters and I are excited to be exploring a brand-new area and home education community after moving 3.5 hours away from our home town of Sydney in December 2020.
As unschoolers, our educational philosophy means learning is supported throughout the year, every day of the week, as we go about living our lives. But I must say, it’s wonderful to be thrust into a new location and community for us to explore and get to know.
We are looking forward to linking up with the existing home education networks and attending the many activities and play sessions that have already been planned for the coming months.
We have already been busy exploring on our own and I realized quickly I needed to get some staples organized so I could keep up with the summertime pace! As we are close to the beach, rivers and lakes, lots of swimming and water activities are on the cards for us.
My system of organizing the swim gear means it’s relatively straight forward getting our 4, 6 and 10 year olds out the door for a day a the beach or river. All our swimwear is kept in a storage crate in the linen closet. I keep the beach bag beside it. Depending on what they need to be wearing (swimmers, rashies, wetsuits etc), I can quickly stock the bag from the crate. Goggles and towels are also stored in the crate. I find this method so much easier when the children are little because I know where everything is and no one is running around last-minute trying to find something.
As Unschoolers, we are constantly looking at the world around us to facilitate our children’s interests and learning. It’s often so easy to forget that so many interesting things can be at our fingertips.
Having just moved to the area, our real estate agent left us a handful of brochures and information about the local area, sourced from the information centre down the road. It made me realise how many interesting places I had no doubt missed when we lived in Sydney. Visiting your local tourist information centre might start your unschooling year off with a wonderful boost!
Seriously, so much wisdom from these incredible women. No matter how your Back to School path looks, this advice is bound to help in some way.
We are excited to continue sharing our Back to School series over the course of this week. Be sure to check back in for more inspiration, practical tips and tricks to get your year off to a great start!
If you’d like to learn more about unschooling, you can read Kathryn’s journey here