Back-to-School time is almost here in the McClelland household.

The magic date is August 27th.

With 4 sons heading to school this year – 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade – it makes the most sense for us to be prepared and as ready as we can be ahead of time. It can get crazy and busy and chaotic with back-to-school time, so being ready… it’s what I need to do for our family.

Believe it or not, my sons can’t wait to start school. They miss their friends. They’re excited to see who their teachers are (we don’t find out till the 1st day). They’re excited to open their new supplies and dig right in. We’ve even started a countdown for school to start! My son Henry is a 1st grader this year, so it will be the first full-day for him. Oh, yes… that means lunch at school and recess with his brothers, he’s ecstatic!

As back-to-school is just a week away, the preparation for back-to-school time started weeks ago for my sons.

We’re been doing these 4 things since the beginning of August to get the boys ready:
1. Bedtime back to 8:30PM (Gone are the days of bedtime around 9:30PM)
2. No electronics after dinner (They need to get into this mode NOW)
3. Reading before bed (It’s important for them to make sure they’re consistently reading and working)
4. Regular breakfast, lunch and dinner times (Designated times for eating throughout the day)

We’ve also been doing the necessary shopping tagged along with back-to-school time, too.

School supplies: Notebooks. Pencils. Crayons. Folders. Markers. Scissors. Erasers. Calculators. Rulers. Highlighters.

Essentials: Backpacks and lunch packs. Shirts. Jeans. Shoes. Shorts. Socks.

Everything is ready and bought.

The back-to-school lists are long, but for the teachers, they’re even longer.

As the daughter of 2 retired teachers, I know first-hand from watching my mom and dad how much time, effort and money goes into making back-to-school time special for their students.

Teachers spend more than $1 billion a year stocking their own classrooms and they’re buying more than just school supplies. In fact, three in five K-8 public school teachers say their students regularly come to school hungry, and as a result these teachers typically spend $37 per month from their own paychecks on food for their students.

Unbelievable, right?

Quaker understands the importance of helping to fuel health and wellness in schools – so they are teaming up with AdoptAClassroom.org to help teachers give their students the tools that can help them succeed.

I have to say, this touches my heart.

It means so much to me to see a company like Quaker Oats, especially a brand that we use every single day in our house (we LOVE Quaker Oatmeal and Quaker Chewy Granola Bars!), reaching out and making a difference. Back-to-School preparation is something that is difficult for many families to fulfill and it’s just incredible to see Quaker Oats making this time easier and doable for so many teachers and students.

I’m honored to be working with Quaker as a Quaker Classroom Ambassador this Back-to-School season. I’m encouraging you to join Quaker in supporting teachers nationwide now through Sept. 30, purchase specially -marked Quaker products and enter the unique package codes online at www.QuakerUpForClassrooms.com. For every code entered online, Quaker will donate $1 to AdoptAClassroom.org up to $250,000 (minimum donation of $150,000) to help fuel classrooms across the country.

Plus, you’ll get a coupon for $1 off Quaker products.

Just amazing!

To see more great back-to-school content from myself and the other Quaker Classroom Ambassadors and join the conversation with your own teacher appreciation stories, simply follow and share with your social networks via the #QuakerUp hashtag.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored posting with Quaker. All opinions are 100% my own.