It’s Time to Get Organized for School
It’s Time to Get Organized for School
The lazy days of summer are almost over. Now is the time to get organized for the new school year. The school bell will soon ring, announcing the start of another year. How can you make this year a little more successful for your children and a little less stressful for you?
Establish storage areas for school items.
When it is time for you to store backpacks and lunch boxes for the next day, where should they be placed so that they are ready to go in the morning? What door do the kids use to enter and exit the house? Consider putting hooks up on the wall near that door for their coats, hats, backpacks, and lunch boxes. Assign each child his or her own space. Keeping their belongings separate is important. You will be able to see, at a glance, who is not practicing their organizing skills.
Create a homework area with everything they will need.
Place all the supplies you need for your student, such as a calculator, ruler, markers, and whatever else is appropriate for their age, in one location. Help your kids to choose a spot where they will do their homework. Locate the supplies there. Schedule study or quiet time for the whole family, during which the kids will do their homework, work on a project, or read. Being available to support your children will show them how vested you are in their school life.
Take the time to plan out a morning routine with your children.
Do you have a battle with your kids regarding what to wear? Laying out clothes the night before, or possibly on Sunday night for the upcoming week, can help. Make as many decisions as possible the night before and you’ll avoid the morning rush and help the whole family start the day off on the right foot.
You can spend time with the kids developing organizing solutions and make it a fun and rewarding family activity, which will teach them early on the value of being organized.
The lazy days of summer are almost over. Now is the time to get organized for the new school year. Share on XNeed more organizing ideas for your school-aged kids?
Check out some of our earlier posts.
Back-to-School Time Management
Organization for School-Aged Children
Back to School – Locker Organization
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Sue
How is the summer almost over? It was a good one, but it went by so darn quickly! I love your suggestions for helping parents prepare their kids for the new school year. It can be such a busy time of year. Putting some structure in place before the ‘craziness’ starts can make life flow more easily.
Thanks Linda. Yes! My sister is a teacher and she goes back tomorrow. The summer flew by! We all know that a little planning and strategizing goes a long way to start the school year organized.
I love that you mentioned that those who don’t practice their organizing skills are more noticeable when they separate the kids’ things. That is a great point. Plus, you can see who tends to forget a particular thing and then modify the system to help that particular child remember that item more easily.
I’ve heard that it becomes noticeable which students don’t grasp organizing concepts when they reach middle school, when they have more independence and not as many rules. That’s when we need to work with them.
I hate to even think about it – I want more summer LOL!
Alas, you are correct. At least shopping for supplies and setting up an area (or areas) to work and study can be fun. I used to try and combine it with a lunch outing and some new clothes.
Love that you can “see at a glance” who is not using the system via the empty wall hooks. So true – makes it easy to know who might need some extra encouragement to get on board with the system. Of course, the first few days is when you have to really stay strong on getting everyone doing what they are supposed to do!
I agree! Stay strong! I remember one year my son played by the rules and the next year he didn’t. I had to keep him reminding him the entire year.
I can’t believe it’s time to start talking about Fall!
I agree with all your suggestions. Planning where to study, having the supplies, and knowing where to keep them so all the children have what they need at home is key to keeping peace. The time between when the children arrive home from school and they have dinner can be time to unwind, do homework, and get ready for the next day. It’s good to teach them these organizing skills while they are young.
I agree Diane. Families should mirror what’s done in school. Set the rules at the beginning of the year, remind people of the rules through out the first month of school and then follow the rules through the rest of the year.
Excellent points! It’s funny, but because I grew up in a ridiculously organized house, I didn’t ever think about these things. Everything always had one place where it lived, so even though I was in charge of picking out my school supplies and returning them to where they belonged, there wasn’t even a discussion. (With the exception of folders, a compass, and a protractor, all of my supplies were interchangeable from the household’s office supplies, so it was easy to find more when I ran out.
But a study area? That was wherever I plopped down wth my book bag (and eventually, backpack). My stuff was contained, but I was sprawled. (Reading, on the couch. Math, splayed out on the shag carpeting in my room. Writing, at the kitchen table. But if I were out of my chair for more than the two minutes it took to get a snack, everything got tidied and put away. One study area where things could “stay out” would have probably been better. And thank heaven for a morning routine! I’m always amazed at how people who do each morning differently from the last to the next manage to be awake enough to make it out the door. Without the routine, I’d never have survived the morning sleepwalking that lasted until I’d been on the schoolbus for a while. 😉
A morning routine is key.
Sounds like your way of completing your homework worked for you. Everyone is different.