It’s that time again!

Time for back to school, meeting new teachers, making new friends and looking forward to adventures ahead.

Adventures, that is, after the dreaded preparation of purchasing and organizing everyone’s school supplies.

This year, my 11-year-old daughter joyfully completed the task. She printed five total school supply lists, she logged onto the Target website, and she systematically went through every list and marked off items as they entered her virtual shopping cart.

This year, we have two middle schoolers, and in my minimum engagement with the process of organizing supplies, I noticed the vast difference in what it means to be prepared for kindergarten kiddo, versus a second- and fourth-grader, versus a sixth- or seventh-grader.

The younger ones still need Clorox wipes, while the older ones need Kleenex … I guess come cold season the lower school needs more sterilization whereas older kids are more apt to conduct appropriate tissue use.

The younger ones still need washable markers, and crayons of a specific width and color scheme, whereas the older ones have moved on to permanent and non-erasable red, blue and black ink pens. I assume that the older kids are held to a higher standard of accuracy.

Review the rest of this article on McKnights.com: https://www.mcknights.com/blogs/rehab-realities/pdpm-checklist-for-success/