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Moving from the sun-filled days of summer to the cool, brisk days of fall can bring back-to-school jitters to almost all children. During the summer, planning out tasks, organizing notebooks and backpacks, and turning in completed homework assignments all fall to the back burner. Yet with the start of school just around the corner, these organizational skills will quickly become paramount. Try the five tips below for helping your child become organized for the new school year.

During the school year, afternoons are often filled with studying, completing homework assignments, and rushing from one activity to the next. There is soccer to get to, piano to practice, and papers to be organized. Yet over the summer, this frenetic pace tends to slow down and there is more wiggle room for exploration and experimental learning. Summer is a great time for performing hands-on, fun, eye-opening science experiments.

During the sunny months away from school, reading, writing, and math frequently take a back seat to summer fun. Students can lose important skills they gained during the school year without continuous instruction over the summer. In fact, research tells us that students score lower on standardized tests at the end of the summer than at the start of the season.

Math is immersed in our daily lives. When we weigh fruit at a supermarket, receive change at a store, or measure flour for a favorite brownie recipe, we are using math concepts. When children reach grade school they begin to “formally” learn mathematics. Yet even at a very young age, children can develop an understanding of basic math principles in fun and engaging ways.