Get Ready for School with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America

This is a sponsored post

Where has the summer gone?  My kids have less than a week before they start school!  We are all freaking out, but it is what it is, so we try to ease the "pain" of transitioning from summer to school by planning ahead.  Here are five things we always do before school starts:

1) Start transitioning from our summer bedtime schedule (sleep and wake up late) to our school time bedtime schedule (sleep and wake up early).  I've gotten pretty lax about enforcing bedtimes, so much as I hate to do it, we're going to stop weekday movie nights, after-dinner ice cream runs and other late-night activities.

2) Find out which teacher and classroom my kids are getting.  They don't release this information until two or three days before the first day of school, but my kids find it incredibly comforting to know in advance who will be teaching them and which of their friends will be in the same classroom.

3) Check the kids' shoes and clothes to see whether they fit and take them shopping to replace anything they've outgrown. It's amazing how much kids can grow over the course of just a few months!   I never buy a whole new school wardrobe every year, but I might buy a special shirt to commemorate the start of the school year.

4) Check the kids' lunchboxes and backpacks to see whether any are worn and need replacing.  I prefer to invest in high-quality school gear that lasts instead of buying trendy-but-cheap things that break down by the end of the school year.

5) Check the kids' school websites to see whether they are required to purchase any school supplies for the upcoming school year. We are very lucky in that our school PTA has the funds to pay for most school supplies our kids need in the classroom, so most of what I have to buy are binders and locker trinkets for my middle-schooler!

The Disney Company wants to make sure all kids start the new school year right, not just the ones whose parents can afford to pay for school supplies.  That's why they've teamed up once again with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) to launch an online school supply drive.  By simply playing a pop-quize style game, you can help donate school supplies to local BGCA Clubs.  For every five correct answers, a donation of supplies will be made!

I took the quiz several times, and it's super easy.  You'll be asked questions about the BGCA and education statistics like the number of high school students who fail to graduate high school in the US every year (hint: the number starts with 1 and it has 6 zeros).  If you get the answer wrong, you get a second chance to guess the correct answer!

You can take Disney's and BGCA's Supply Drive Game at www.greatfutures.org/backtoschool.  This website also has useful tips for kids and parents to prepare for the school year.  The more times you take the quiz, more more supplies will be donated -- Disney will be giving up to 40,000 supply kits!

Disclosure: Thank you to the Boys & Girls Club of America and Mom Central Consulting for selecting me to be a BGCA Back-to-School Ambassador! As a Back-to-School Ambassador, I am participating in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and I will be receiving a promotional item as a thank you for participating. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.
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