Back to School Organizational Tips

Ahhh, back to school time – maybe I can now get a little peace & some quite time, get some things caught up – truly, this is one of the most wonderful times of the year…

Honey, have you seen my keys; Mom where’s my homework; I forgot you need to sign this; Hurry up you’re going to be late – I know I just can’t find my backpack; Oh yah, don’t forget I need to be picked up after practice &…

Here are a few handy tips that may make this & everyday a little less stressful on everyone involved.

• Put a shelf and / or cubby with a hanging rack by the front door for everyone in the family.
  • Jackets, Backpacks & umbrellas can be hung on the rack.
  • Wallets, keys, phones, etc… can be placed on the shelf (creating a modified floating shelf).
  • Shoes, sports gear, or even the backpacks can be put in the cubby.
• Set up a recharging station; simply choose a shelf or area where you can plug a surge strip in & attach all the needed chargers for phones, PDA’s, IPod’s, etc… Now you have an area where everything can be charged up & can easily be found the next morning.
  • Energy saving tip – all chargers eat up power whether they are being used or not, so make sure you turn the power strip off when you leave in the morning.
• Teach your kids some basic organizational skills – setup a few baskets & label them;
  • Attention for needs to be signed or other action taken *hint hint* one simple effective rule – if it’s not in there before they go to bed, it doesn’t get signed till the next night
  • Informational for PTA meetings, fundraisers, etc…
  • Completed for graded papers, completed projects (you might want to scrap book or save some of these)
• Put up a calendar / message boardby the refrigerator where the kids field trips, school half days, business trips, church or other extracurricular activities are all written down
• Setup a homework area
  • Preferably away from the TV, close enough so that you can check on them & they can find you with any questions
  • Have them put their homework away immediately after completing it, or in your Important basket (make sure that you go through that basket & place everything checked & signed back in their backpack, cubby, or shelf that night)
• Have them (or you) set their clothes out the night before; pretty self-explanatory, but it will help eliminate the what am I going to wear, or I don’t have any socks to wear
• A few misc. helpful tidbits;
  • Have your kids should pre-fill out all the forms with their name & other known information required (homeroom, period, street address)
  • Have some envelopes already printed with your child’s name, grade & homeroom teacher – this will help the teacher’s figure out whose lunch money is whose, or where the mysterious note came from
  • Make their lunch the night before & place it in a lunch bag the night before (or have them do it)
  • Have a special hamper setup for uniforms, or clothing that needs to be washed ASAP

I hope that some of these tips will help you and your family start the day off right.