Back to School Countdown: What to Do When

Heading back to school takes mental preparation (for both you and the kids!). But if you're like most parents, getting everything prepped, primed and done in advance just isn't in the cards. Don't sweat it: not everything has to be done at once. Use this guide as your countdown for what to accomplish when for smooth sailing into the school year.

4 Weeks Out:

Schedule your check-ups. If your school requires a visit to the pediatrician, call to schedule your appointments now. You'll up your chances of getting seen before school starts.

Pay the school a visit. If your child is attending a new school or even just switching grades, visit the school to get her excited for the year to come. Locate the classroom, bathroom, and front office, and if your child is entering middle school or high school, suggest she walk the route of her class schedule to ease nerves about finding the rooms on the first day.

Start to get organized. Involve your kids in a fun organization project, such as creating a "project bin" where you'll store all those little plastic toys, and odds and ends that kids inevitably collect. Jamie Norak, author of The Get Organized Answer Book, suggests sending kids on a scavenger hunt to find objects to add to the bin so you can use them in dioramas or other projects that come up.

2 weeks out:

Shop! Hit the stores to pick out some back to school clothes, or at least a first day of school outfit.

Create "Control Central." Designate an area of your home where you'll keep your calendar, phone messages, and a bulletin board. Kathy Peel, author of The Family Manager, says you can also make "inboxes" for your kids. The inboxes can be places where your kids unload and pick up permission slips and forms that need to be signed.

Manage supplies. If you come across back to school sales, stock up. "It's wonderful to get good deals on supplies, but everything needs to then have a home," warns Novak. "Nothing's worse than buying items on sale and forgetting where you put them so you have to buy them again at full price." Dedicate a space in your home where everyone knows to look for supplies.

Make play dates with school friends. Between camps and vacations, your child probably hasn't seen many of his school friends over the summer. Set up some play dates so he can catch up and feel more comfortable when heading back to school with familiar faces.

Have a family celebration. "I like to plan some kind of special trip to a water park or a special cookout," says Peel. "This helps show our excitement and gives us the opportunity to remind our kids that school is their 'career' and ask them about what they would they like to accomplish this year."

1 week out:

Go to orientation. If your child is going to a new school, be sure to attend the orientation so he'll be prepared for school and is able to reconnect with old friends.

Get on schedule. Ease your child out of the lazy days of summer sleep-ins to the bright and early school mornings by gradually changing bed and wake-up times to be closer to the school schedule.