Getting Organized for Back-to-School

article by Erin Sharplin Love

Move over, Summer!  A new school year is almost here and that means hectic schedules, alarm clocks, and paper piles.  Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with it all, but with a little organization you can create order out of the chaos.  Check out my tips below:

Take the time to transition!  Don’t let the school year sneak up on you.  Begin easing your children into their new bedtime routine gradually.  For instance, begin waking late sleepers earlier and earlier until it’s closer to the hour they will need to awake for school.

    Organize their school clothes.  Go ahead and set aside a space in your child’s closet specifically for school clothes.  If your children do not wear uniforms, it may be a good idea to put together outfits a week at a time to avoid a war in the morning.  Or if you need to shop, check out the next tip.

Plan before you shop.  The beginning of the school year is always the biggest shopping time for stores, so it’s a good idea to be prepared.  Make a list of what your child needs, so you won’t wander aimlessly and then leave with nothing, or worse, leave with way more than you need!

Create the perfect backpack nook.  This could be in a mudroom, laundry room or simply inside the door they use the most.  I suggest hanging a coat hook for the backpack and placing a roomy basket underneath for papers and other paraphernalia.  Stopping paper clutter at the door is a must for any organizing junkie!

    Make a plan for those piles of paper.  I suggest that you go ahead and devise a plan for what you will do with the paperwork that is soon to bombard you.  I love the idea of scanning coloring pages, A+ grades, and other keepsake pages and tossing the original.  Another idea is to create a display area for special papers and rotate them as needed.

Create a homework station.  Make doing homework more fun by creating the perfect space for your little one.  Let them help by decorating it and then storing it with papers, pencils, crayons and other school work necessities.

    Invest in a large calendar.  If you haven’t already, I suggest purchasing a large calendar that you can put in a central location for all to use.  When you begin receiving special dates from the school and/or sporting teams, put them in the calendar immediately.  I can imagine that nothing would be worse than missing your daughter’s school play or your son’s first t-ball game.

Create a nightly routine.  I promise this will save you from becoming crazed every school morning.  The more you can do the night before, the better.  For instance, go ahead and plan breakfast, pack lunches, choose outfits, scan backpacks for missing homework, projects or library books and make sure music and/or sports bags are packed and ready.

Remember…you can never be too prepared! Happy new school year!!