Ah, back to school — ‘tis the season of loose homework assignments, stray pencils on the table and shoes going missing right as the bus arrives. Do you ever ask yourself how some parents run things so smoothly? You’re in good company. Read on if you’re wondering how to stay organized this back-to-school season.
De-Clutter Your Home
Before school season is underway, it’s a good idea to donate clothes that are too small, toss out last year’s homework and clean out a cabinet where you can store school supplies. A drawer or shelf could also work for supply storage. Make sure it’s within your child’s reach so they can easily access it.
Create Places for Every Item
Do your kids leave their homework on the table and forget to take it to school the next day? Have their backpacks made yet another disappearance?
It’s time to create a designated spot for every item in the house. Gone will be the days of tossing things on the nearest couch or footstool. You can group items into categories — like pens and pencils going in the same jar — as long as you make sure you have a system.
Label Things
Do you own a label maker? Make it earn its keep. Label lunchboxes, water bottles, binders, books and pencil bags with your children’s names or different school subjects. Then, put the items in their designated place. It’s much easier to do this when you clearly label them.
Use a Calendar
Hang a calendar where everyone can see it. You can write upcoming test dates, band practices, bake sales and extracurricular activities on it. Use a different colored marker for each child’s schedule to further organize things.
It’s up to you how far in advance you want to pencil things in, but try to put upcoming events on the calendar as soon as you hear about them. The farther away a deadline is, the more likely you’ll forget about it.
Make a Chore Chart
Just like the calendar, the chore chart should be in full view of everyone in the household. Delegate responsibilities to each family member based on their age and abilities. You can write this on a whiteboard to easily erase and rewrite people’s names and chores.
Use a Planner
Give each child a separate planner to use for school assignments or daily tasks. You can divide it into sections with sticky notes, write in different colors or rearrange your schedules — whatever works best for your kids. Make it a habit for them to check their planners every day before and after school.
Buy Lunchboxes With Compartments
Segmented lunchboxes are much easier than buying an empty metal box and stuffing it with individual containers. A food storage container with dividers can help eliminate clutter and pack lunches faster.
If you usually use disposable sandwich bags to organize your children’s lunch, getting a lunchbox with dividers built in will help the environment, too. You’ll dramatically cut down on your single-use plastic consumption.
Prepare Meals in Advance
On the subject of mealtime, it’s far easier to pack a lunch the night before — or even several nights before — your child will eat it. Don’t worry about cooking an elaborate meal every evening. It’s more convenient to make a big batch of food and pack it several days in a row. If it makes you feel better, you can serve the same main course but swap out the sides or dessert. This is just one of several meals your child will eat in a day, after all.
Organize Clothes for the Week
Ideally, you can wash, dry and set out a week’s worth of clothes on the weekend. When Monday morning rolls around, your child can simply grab an outfit — complete with pants, a shirt and socks — off a hanger or from a drawer. Plus, you can veto your first grader’s suit-jacket-and-mismatched-socks idea before they even try to run out the door wearing it.
Check In
Begin a regular conversation thread with your child’s teachers. You can find out if your kids have any upcoming tests, how they’re performing on homework and whether there are any supplies they need to bring to school. Your child’s teacher might even have some good tips for how to organize binders or folders.
Establish a Routine
To make mornings run as smoothly as possible, set a consistent routine for your child before the school year begins. They should start going to bed, waking up and eating breakfast at the same time every day, even on weekends. Pretty soon, it will be automatic.
Use Bags and Pockets
Rather than throwing stationery supplies directly into a backpack, you can buy some inexpensive cloth bags with zippers to organize pens, pencils and erasers. If it’s within your budget, you can also get a backpack with extra compartments for separating homework assignments and folders for different classes.
Embrace the Chaos Before School Starts
Even the world’s most organized people are still human. There will be days when your kids are late to school, forget a homework assignment or leave their lunch at home by mistake. That’s OK! Use the tips above to stay organized this back-to-school season, but let the little things slide. Come next school year, you’ll be even more prepared.