Hello, Friends!

Wow, school is starting shortly and now we are a little frantic. We want to be a little
more organized this year so here are some tips to pass along.

Schedule:
There is a lot that happens the first week of school, so try to keep your schedule as
open as you can that first week back to school.

Get your children into the habit of doing things the night before. For instance, all papers
needing a signature should be placed in their backpacks the night before. Along with
their textbooks, homework, and notebooks. You can even create a Checklist and place
it by the door and it can help your child make sure they have remembered everything.
Pinterest has many flavors of checklists - https://www.pinterest.com/explore/back-to-
school-checklist/

If your child struggles with getting dressed in the morning, have them choose their outfit
the night before.

Make your lunch the night before. One thing that I did was download the monthly lunch
menu and then had my children circle the days that they would eat lunch at school, so
the other days meant that they had to pack their lunch. We came to an agreement how
many hot lunches they were allowed a week. I taped this sheet inside my pantry door so
it was easy to access on a daily basis.

Discuss what your family rules will be during the school year. Set limits for tv, computer,
cell phone, and bed times.

Talk to your children about when and where they should work on their homework. Make
sure that you have supplies on hand and in a box to help them accomplish their work
quicker – pencils, pens, calculator, glue, markers/crayons/pencil crayons, scissors. You
don’t want to waste time hunting for supplies.

Discuss with your child what clubs or sport teams they want to belong to and make sure
you are able to commit to the schedule as a family. Remember that your child needs
some down time as well.

If you have some spare time, you may want to make a few meals ahead of time so you
can pull them out on short notice.

Give yourself extra time in the mornings those first couple weeks to figure out a morning
routine. Plan out breakfast the night before so that it is easier in the morning. Figure out
the best way to get the children up, ready, and out the door. Plus give yourself extra
time because we know that traffic patterns are a mess the first few days of school.

As a parent, you might have to take some time to learn the school’s online system. This
can vary school to school, so take time and familiarize yourself and talk with the
teachers about how often they will be updating their electronic record system.

Papers:
Create a family binder with sheet protectors for easy access to important and
frequently used papers. For instance, you can slip papers from school and bus
calendars, team sports, menus, contact people into this binder.

Put in all the school holidays into your calendar and have this sheet accessible. It can
help you plan your family vacations around when school is in session.

Have a box (I used a shoe box) that you put your children’s papers into as you are
emptying their backpacks. This shoebox can stay on a shelf in your children’s bedroom
closet. When their folders are full, have them empty it into the box and keep until the
end of the school year.

Remember to read everything that comes home, especially the first week of school.
Keep your calendar handy for jotting down important dates. Make note of your children’s
teacher’s email address and how they would like to be contacted.

Good luck and here’s to having a more organized school year.
Follow me on Instagram logical_placement or on my Facebook for weekly organizing
tips.

Your local professional organizer,
Betty Huotari

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