Back to School Shopping Essentials

WESTLAND, Mich.,–– As summer is coming to an end, it's the perfect time to prepare your kids with the items they will need when they head back to school. Students around the world dread this time, but one of the best ways to take away the misery of going back to school is with some fun back-to-school shopping! We've put together a list of back to school shopping essentials that you can use as a checklist to make sure you and your children don't miss anything they may need for class. Whether they're attending elementary, middle, or high school, we've got every category covered so your kids are prepared and ready to go this school year!

Elementary School

Elementary school is the first time kids really get to pick out their own supplies. From notebooks to folders, the chance to allow your children to express themselves really starts to shine at this point in time. Keeping a checklist is helpful, but don't forget to let them pick out the designs and styles that they'd like, since they're the ones who have to live with the purchase afterwards! These are some important items that every elementary schooler will need at one point or another:

• A box of 16, 32, or 64 crayons
• 1 backpack large enough to fit folders, lunch, and notebooks
• 1 pencil case to hold pens, pencils, and colored pencils
• 1 box of 10 pencils
• Pocket tissue packs (especially during cold and flu season)
• 1 small pencil sharpener
• Hand sanitizer or hand wipes to prevent the spread of germs
• Glue sticks or 8oz bottle of glue
• 4 folders, one per each subject
• 1-2 notebooks, ruled

Middle School

Middle schoolers are a little tougher to shop for. With more work to do and less time for fun, keeping your middle schooler organized is a priority. Our list covers some organizational items that can help them keep their lockers, backpacks, and workspaces neat. At some point or another, every middle schooler will need these items:

• An agenda to keep due dates in mind
• 1 binder per school subject
• Binder dividers to organize tests, homework, notes, etc.
• Loose-leaf paper
• USB drive to save work from computers at home/school
• Backpack
• Highlighters in multiple colors
• Magnetic pencil holder for locker
• Pencils, pens, and other writing utensils
• Mini stapler

High School

By now, shopping for school should be a breeze! You've done it for your kids in elementary and middle school, so high school shouldn't be too bad, right? Letting your high schoolers have full control with choosing their supplies will give them more independence and help them remain organized on their own. However, it never hurts to double check what they picked out before checkout, just in case they miss something! Make sure that your high schooler has all of these supplies:

• Calculator or graphing calculator, if needed
• Agenda or planner for organization
• USB drive and backup flash drive
• Loose leaf paper: college-ruled or wide-ruled
• 2 packs of No. 2 pencils or mechanical pencils, if allowed
• 1 binder per subject, binder dividers
• 1 folder per subject for handouts, homework
• Backpack
• Three-hole punch for organization
• Index cards, ruled and unruled for flashcards

Additional Items to Have on Hand

Whether you have elementary, middle, or high schoolers, it can never hurt to have these extra supplies. You never know when you'll need them!

• 2-3 poster boards for presentations
• Extra printer ink
• Locker accessories (pencil holders, mirror, magnets, etc.)
• Portable stapler
• Combination locks for gym classes, locker rooms
• Rubber bands
• Thumb tacks
• Paper clips
• Sticky notes
• Binder clips

Buying school supplies can be made fun with an easy-to-follow checklist! You'll be able to keep your children organized and teach them the value of planning ahead. Plus, with a comprehensive list and prior planning, you'll be able to beat the back to school crowds so that you get the best deals. Use our list of back to school shopping essentials to prepare your kids of any age for school this year! Before school begins again, take a look at our Summer Sales Event to find a new vehicle that has 0% APR for 72 months! If you're heading out to dinner before the end of the summer, check off a few restaurants on our Westland restaurant bucket list! 

North Brothers Ford is located at 33300 Ford Rd Westland, MI 48185 and proudly serves as one of the premier dealerships in Metro Detroit, and is committed to exceptional customer service! Stop by or give us a call at 888-806-7163, our knowledgeable and helpful sales team will be more than happy to assist you!

Visit our website: http://www.northbrosford.net

Follow us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube and Google+

How to Get Ready for Back-to-School

WESTLAND, Mich.––The backpacks, school supplies, and clothes are taking heavy reign in stores, which means it's back-to-school. For children it might mean the end of a fun summer, whereas for adults it means a new schedule to adopt and extra effort to make everything go smoothly. You can buy all the supplies and start putting the kids to bed earlier, but what else can you do to get ready? We've got some tips on how to get ready for back-to-school that'll make the transition into the new school year a breeze for both you and the little ones!

1. Start eating meals around your future school schedule. 

While it seems silly to start this ahead of time, it'll help your body adjust as a whole. This will especially help kids get into a good morning habit of eating breakfast, and doing it on time, so they're not eating on the run. It'll also help their tummies adjust to a different schedule so they're not gurgling out of hunger in the middle of class. You can take it one step further by creating a meal plan for the first week, or prepping with some freezer meals that'll make dinner easier!

2. Start a new sleep schedule two weeks prior to the start of school. 

Did you know there's good and bad times to wakeup based on when you fall asleep? Your body sleeps in stages, and waking up in a deep-sleep stage can set the mood of tiredness for the rest of the day. To help your kids be the most focused in class, start a new sleep schedule based on the chart above as soon as possible so they're ready to roll when school starts back up. You can find a way to do this yourself by using this sleep calculator.

3. Review pick-up and drop-off procedures for before and after school. 

Even if it's the same as last year, review when you'll leave the house in the morning, when you'll drop them off at school, and when you'll pick them up at the end of the day. If you're not the driver, make sure you have the correct bus or carpool schedule, and review with your student. Get them as familiar as possible with the schedule so there's no running after the bus in the morning, and so you can rest easy.

4. Talk to your student regarding their feelings of going back-to-school.

You might remember your feelings about going back to school, or going for the first time. Were you anxious? nervous? excited? Making a note to talk about your kids about going to school and their feelings about doing so may make the process easier. It'll give you insight on what steps to take. If you have a nervous student, you can take extra time to prepare their day with them, or help find them an activity or group to join that'll help them have fun and relax with their peers. Simply talking to your student will help them get in the mindset, and allow them to ask questions or for help if they need it.

5. Schedule times for doing homework and physical activities.

Physical activities must be done just as much as homework. There should be a fine balance of these things throughout your child's day. You can help by establishing a time and place homework should be done, preferably when you're available for help. You can also help to establish a time for physical activity by getting your student involved in extracurricular sports or even neighborhood groups. Setting a time for these things will allow your student to not feel limited to one or the other and will help them learn time management.


No matter where your kids are headed this year, we hope these tips on how to get ready for back-to-school will help your entire family be prepared for the transition. If your students won't be using the bus to get to school, you'll want to make sure you have a safe and entertaining ride for getting to and from school! This could mean taking care of routine maintenance like with filters and fluids so your family is always safe on the road, reviewing our Dashboard Warning Light Guide so you're prepared for any situation, or it could mean taking a second look at your Ford SYNC to see what it can do to make your mornings a little better! It might even mean you need a new or certified pre-owned car. We'll help you and your family find just what you need at your budget. If it's service you need, we can help with that too. Make sure to check out our coupons page to see how you can save.

North Brothers Ford is located at 33300 Ford Rd Westland, MI 48185 and proudly serves as one of the premier dealerships in Metro Detroit, and is committed to exceptional customer service! Stop by or give us a call at 888-806-7163, our knowledgeable and helpful sales team will be more than happy to assist you!

Visit our website: www.northbros.com

Follow us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube and Google+