The Grandparents Guide for Back To School

This Grandparents Guide for Back to School will help you know the tangible things you can do to help your grandchildren successfully through their school year.

We love being involved in our grandchildren’s lives and having the opportunity to offer support and positive influence. We are very involved with the back to school process and look forward to it each year. 

I once saw a bumper sticker which read “If I had known grandchildren were so great, I would have had them first!”

Do you love being involved in your grandkids lives? See my Grandma Summer Camp Ideas

We have six grandchildren and have always gotten involved and helped out with anything we could during their school year. This information is from our personal experiences. Out oldest grandson is now grown and working as a firefighter. The youngest started Pre-K this year so we are still on duty as active grandparents with school age grands.

How can you be involved in your grandchildren’s school year?

Attend open house and meet the teachers. Allow the teachers to put a name with a face and insure child safety. This is always a fun time. I have fond memories of doing this with the oldest grandson for his first year of high school. We walked the halls and found where the lunchroom and gym were located as well as his classrooms. I met his teachers.

Academic calendar

Download or Print a copy of the current school year academic calendar. It is called the Academic Calendar and can be found on your county board of education website. You will know when all the holidays are scheduled in advance. If you have grandchildren in high school, there will be sporting events calendars on their school sports page. However, those dates are subject to change based on the weather or other unforeseen circumstances.

Get on the pick up list

Be Sure Your Name Is On The Pick Up List. Remind your busy son or daughter to put your name on the pick up list. If you are not on the list, you will not be allowed to pick the grandchildren up from school in the event you are called in unexpectedly. 

Get the windshield pick up number for your car

Gain your own set of Pick Up Papers/Windshield Name Signs. Most schools assign each child a number and a small paper sign to display in the windshield of your car for car riders. If you are called on at the last minute to pick up your grandchildren, not having that sign can create a delay. You’ll have to park and go into the office with your photo ID.

Take the school tour

Tour the Middle or High School with transitioning grandchildren. Transitioning from a smaller school into a much larger one can be just a bit traumatizing for young preteens and teens. Our school system always hosts an open house to allow students, parents and grandparents to ‘walk their schedule’ and meet the teachers.  Be sure to attend this event! It will help you to understand what they are experiencing. Our grandchildren attend a very large high school where it is a one mile walk from the front door to the back. If I had not visited, I would never have believed it for myself.

Volunteer

Get your name on the Volunteer Rooster.  There is a plethora of volunteer jobs and tasks which must be completed. Some require going to the school but there are also tasks you can do from home.

Be sure to let your grandchild know each time you volunteer, so they get the joy of feeling special.

A few possible volunteer tasks include:

• Classroom (grading papers, reading stories)
• Tutoring
• Reading books to children
• Office
• Media Center (shelving books, reading..)
• Field trips chaperone
• Science lab
• Musical assistance
• Lunchroom supervision
• Booster Club activities (for band or sports)
• Art
• PTA (fundraising, labels for education..)

Eat lunch with your grandchild

This is why you want to write down their lunch time. Call the office and ask if you are allowed to bring in outside food. Our grands always love when we eat lunch with them and bring something from one of their favorite fast food places.

Attend their performances or games

There are many extra curricula activities for school children. Band, Chorus, Theater, Sports to name a few. There will be a performance schedule you can get if possible so you can plan to be in attendance. TIP: Go a little early to get a good parking spot and a good seat. These events can be quite crowded.

Grandparents Day

Grandparent’s Day is a big deal at the elementary grade level. Our schools tie Grandparent Day in with their annual Book Fair fundraiser. You see what they are doing there! Take some money. The usually feed the grandparents a little snack in the classroom and encourage us to have lunch with our grandchildren on that day as well.

Help pay for the many things they need

Public school or Private school, it doesn’t matter which, there are many things the kids will need or want throughout the school year. It can become a financial strain on the parents. We always helped out any way we could. It takes more than just basic school supplies these days.

We bought yearly passes for the high schoolers to be able to attend all the sports events. It is less expensive than buying tickets to each game. One of my personal favorite ways to help out was to take the high school boys shopping for prom or homecoming dance clothes. I love going shopping with my grands. We have six grandchildren and only one is a girl. We have established ourselves as her go-to for clothes for special events and we love every minute of it.

Save this information for each grandchild:

Free Printable Info Page for each child (print as many as you need)

• The teacher’s names for each of your grandchildren.(that can be between 5-7 different teachers)
• What time the school day begins officially
• What time the school day ends
• What time the student is considered tardy in the morning
• Lunch time and duration and lunchroom location in the building
• Which days are PE (sadly, PE does not occur every day) If your grandchild is spending the night with you on a school night and the next day is PE, they may require special clothing or shoes.
• The bus number and driver’s name if your student rides the bus
• Request the windshield number for child pick-up at the beginning of the school year. This is a really big deal and of utmost importance. Thankfully, just anyone cannot get those windshield signs! There will undoubtedly be times when you may need to pick the grandchildren up from school. School officials will not be able to release your grandchildren to you without proper identification and the required documents (those windshield number signs).

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