Here are few final tips to ease your transition from summer to school:

• If summer started with a reading list or other assignments, now is a good time to check in on progress. Your high schooler isn’t likely to read The Grapes of Wrath in a single night. Plan ahead.
• It’s not a bad idea to encourage students of any age to spend at least 30 minutes a day doing math or word problems, writing a short story or description, or just reading. Some kids have had so much screen time all summer that other skills have atrophied.
• Designate two folders for each child: one for papers to be signed and one for papers to be kept. The latter folder could be replaced by a computer file into which you scan papers.
• Consider putting school outfits on hangers or in bags to make the morning routine easier.
• Prepare a school lunch menu, listing the components of a healthy lunch: proteins, grains, veggies, fruits, water. (Note that chips and candy are not on that list.) Consider keeping several from each list in stock and allowing kids to pack their own lunches — as long as they choose one item from each list. After all, do you really care if your child picks hummus and whole wheat crackers instead of turkey breast on a whole wheat roll? Or pepper strips instead of carrot sticks? I didn’t think so!