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Being a mom to school-going kids means that you are almost as involved as they are in their school routine (if not more). It's natural to feel overwhelmed within a few weeks of schools opening. The underlying cause is likely a lack of planning and organization. There are back-to-school organization ideas that are tested by moms everywhere, and you can incorporate them into your routine. It's unnecessary that your home feels like a war zone during school weeks. Add one or two tips from the ones below, and you might just enjoy school again.
Popular back to school organization ideas and tips
A command center is that corner in your home from which all organizing is done. It could be a wall, or even a refrigerator where you hang weekly planners, meal plans, messages, hanging wall files for mail, and other day-to-day documentation. This gives you a birds-eye view of your family's activities for the week or month. Put up the center together with your children, and show them how to use it.
2. Back to school shopping
If you did not tackle your shopping during the school break, today is the best time to work on it. Sit together as a family and make a list of what's needed for school i.e school supplies, clothing/uniform items, lunch boxes, and food items, etc. Personally, I never enjoyed shopping for school supplies. If you have the stationery list on hand, take advantage of the internet and shop online.
Establish routines to take the stress off school days. Children thrive on routines and organized environments. Follow these tips for a back to school morning and after-school routines:
Make a checklist of activities that the kids must do upon waking up, in preparation for school, as well as for their after-school activities. Get a printable version online, laminate it and show the younger kids how to check themselves when they've done the activities on the list. I have a kid with ADHD, and when he was younger, these checklists saved both of our sanities. The younger kids will enjoy seeing those checks and will look forward to completing their tasks. These could be simple things like waking up at a certain time, brushing their teeth, showering/bathing, cleaning up after themselves, dressing up, and having their breakfast.
4. Plan ahead for extra-mural activities
Your weekly, monthly, or daily planners should always highlight your kids' extra-mural activities. Nothing messes up the family's organizational flow like realizing that the camp actually happens in 2 days, instead of months from now. Color code these and highlight them in your family command center.
Between us parents, correspondence from school can be ample, and kind of a headache if you don't have an organizing system for them. In and out trays labeled or color-coded (for younger kids who can't read yet) will help you and your kids organize the letters and papers that need your attention.
Encourage your kids to prioritize taking out the letters as soon as they come back from school, and putting them in the "in-tray". Once mom or dad has gone through them, it's important to put the signed ones in the "out-tray", updating your planner where it's necessary for some, and recycling the rest of the paper where necessary.
6. Homework space
A dedicated homework space will motivate your kids, and boost their productivity. First, set the homework as part of the family's after-school routine. The space does not need to be formal, as that may just depress some kids. Make it playful, and inviting, but try to keep it quiet.
The dining room table may just not cut it for all the kids, feel free to innovate and use lap desks instead. On a good day, the outdoors could work just fine as a homework space too.
Coming out of school vacations and all, it is understandable that a family's meal planning routine would be out of whack. These few tips will reduce stress, and save you time.
Invest time every week to map out the family's meal plan for the week. I'd focus more on dinner.
If kids carry school lunches, include them in the weekly meal plan.
Plan for quick and easy dinners, and save the elaborate ones for weekends and special days.
If you thrive on reminders and digital calendars, you can organize your family life using apps like Trello. With Trello, you can create a board for the family, and provide access to everyone with a mobile phone. I taught my daughter how to update our board with upcoming events from her Girl Scouts group, as soon as she knew about them. I did the same for my other two, regarding their Karate tournaments and meetings. This meant that everyone in the house knew about everyone's activities, without leaving it to one person to consolidate the information.
I gather you can use Google calendar as well, and set a family calendar that can be accessed by all.
If your kids are too young to navigate this tech, you can still use it for yourself and share it with your partner, babysitter, or anyone else involved in the kids' daily lives.
These are some of the tried and tested back-to-school organization ideas that most moms find useful. Even one of these could be a game-changer. Feel free to pin or share.
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