Hey Friends!
School is one week away, and can we just say it? We are ready! Bring on the routines, bring on the structure, bring on somebody else being in charge of snack time for eight hours a day. Can we get an amen!
None of that structure happens without the people running the classrooms, though, and we want you to meet one of them.
Know a teacher who deserves this too?
We would love to feature them. If there is a teacher in your life who goes above and beyond for their students, tell us about them and we may feature them in one of our upcoming issues this summer.
With school starting in a week, we got to thinking about the best way to help you prepare, and figured, why not go straight to the source?
So we sat down with Mrs. Nater, a local teacher who has seen more first days of school than she can count, and asked her exactly what helps most in that first week. Here is what she told us:
Start running the routines now, not on the first day. Lunch, bedtime, morning, whatever the new schedule looks like, Mrs. Nater says practicing it this week means day one is not the first time anyone has tried it.
Let your kids practice opening their own lunch containers, ziplock bags, and water bottles a few times before school starts. Mrs. Nater says it is one of the most common things that trips kids up in the cafeteria.
If you have a little one, keep a spare set of clothes and shoes in the car. Accidents happen, and having a backup on hand means you are not scrambling.
Map out the week's after school activities in advance. Kids handle transitions so much better when they already know what is coming instead of being surprised mid-week that today is the day they have practice.
Nut-free lunches are required at every school in our district, so if that is new for your family this year, now is the time to figure out swaps, not during the first week.
Lunches sorted! Next up is everything else on the school shopping list. Here are a few stores offering teacher or student discounts right now, so you know exactly where to save before the first bell rings.
Educators:
JOANN: Up to 15% off every purchase
Office Depot: 25% back in Bonus Rewards
Staples: 20% off, in-store only
Adidas: 30% off online and in-store
Adobe: Over 60% off Creative Cloud
Apple: Special education pricing
Oriental Trading: Up to 75%
Students:
Nike: 10% off
Aeropostale: 15% off any order
Madewell: 15% off, online and in-store
Microsoft: Free Microsoft 365 Education
ASOS: 10% off any order
Puma: 10% off any order
AMC Theaters: Discounted movie tickets
Arby's: Up to 10% off
Buffalo Wild Wings: Up to 10% off
Your AI Corner
Ready to get the whole house back on a routine, not just the kids? Skip the guesswork. Copy the prompt below into ChatGPT or your AI tool of choice and let it build one with you.
"I want your help building a realistic daily routine for my family now that school is starting again.
Act as a friendly, practical family routines coach and interview me one question at a time, waiting for my answer before asking the next one. Cover all of the following over the course of our conversation: what time everyone actually needs to be out the door in the morning, how many kids and ages I am managing, what our evenings usually look like right now, how much time is realistically available for homework and screen time, and what part of the day tends to fall apart first.
Once you have asked all of these questions and I have answered, summarize what you learned about our family's rhythm in a few sentences, then build me a simple morning and evening routine that actually fits our life, and end with one tip for getting everyone to stick with it past the first week.”
We would love to see you at one of our open houses this week!
3113 Orchard Ridge Circle, Duluth - Sat, Aug 1 from 12-2
8805 Saddle Trail, Ball Ground - Sat, Aug 1 from 2-4
101 Attwater Circle, Dawsonville - Sun, Aug 2 from 2-4
Happy last week of Summer vacation, and as always, we are here for all of your real estate needs!
With Gratitude,
Summer Berg and the SB Realty Team