Getting Organized for a New School Year

I had the double privilege of being an elementary school Mom and an elementary school teacher all at once. Here are some of the ways I attempted to stay ahead of the panic. Beginning a new year means a chance to start fresh. There are things you can do to help you and your children start things off right!

1. Paperwork

• Set up a small hanging file folder container somewhere in the central area of your home where family activity is most frequent. Designate a hanging folder for each of your children. File all school communication papers as they arrive home: field trip information, newsletters, class rosters, etc. Having one place where you know to find everything will keep you from wasting time searching for them when needed.

• Go through the folders once a month or so and discard the things that are out of date.

• Keep a supply of envelopes, pens, and notepaper right there in another hanging folder as well—to use for sending needed notes/forms/money back to the teacher.

• If your child’s teacher doesn’t already require one, provide a sturdy homework folder (with pockets) for your child to put papers in to bring home or back to school.

2. Dates

• Keep a family calendar for school in the same central area. Write down due dates for your kids’ big projects, field trips, other special events, days off, etc. A quick glance as you leave the house in the morning will reassure you that you are not forgetting something.

3. Keep it clean

• Keep your child’s book bag contents from overwhelming them. Make it a matter of practice to help your child dump out his book bag every evening after returning home from school. Go through papers with your child, file communications, and store their corrected work (should you desire to keep it) in another folder.

This is a great way to check that they have handed things in as well!

4. Reminders

• I was not only a school parent—I taught school as well. That dual responsibility necessitated keeping a lot of balls in the air, and it was hard in the frequent switching hats to remember every detail. So I came up with a system to help remind myself in bringing things from home to school or vise versa, parents I needed to call, etc. I used long slips of paper to write a note to myself. I would attach these notes with a stapler around the handles of my purse. I would not remove the note until the item was safely packed in my bag or car. Then as I left home, if I had forgotten to pack those needed things, I would see the note before leaving the house.

• It worked so well for me, I decided to use the system for my kids as well. If they needed to bring books or other things home from school, I would simply write a reminder and attach it around their book bag strap. They would see it as they left school in the afternoon in time to correct their mistake. This also worked well for notes to the teacher that they were to bring into the classroom in the morning—they knew not to remove the reminder until the note had been delivered.

I eventually used the same note system for my students when necessary. It almost always worked!

5. Homework

Establish a routine:
Kids are tired at the end of the school day, so I rarely required them to do homework right after we arrived home from school. I usually waited until after dinner, when they had had a chance to relax, change into play clothes, and rejuvenate. But once dinner was over, it was homework time for everyone.
• Setting a standard time for homework is important. Establishing a routine helps everyone to get into a rhythm. This avoids the battles… this is homework time, for the whole family. There is no other option. There is also security in knowing what the schedule is, and what free time they can count on.

Keep supplies handy:
• Your children will waste a lot of time if they need to leave the homework table. Have anything they might need at the ready. Keep a supply of lined paper, plain paper, sharpened pencils, erasers, pens, scissors, markers, crayons, etc. all in one spot (and keep them reserved for homework use only).
• Keep memory work, flash cards, etc. in the same place for easy access.

Use a timer:
• Keep a kitchen timer ready as well, to give structure to homework time. This is helpful for kids who dilly-dally or struggle to concentrate. I used to set the timer for my kids to give them a sense of “urgency” about completing their work (one assignment at a time.)
• Using a timer is also great for offering an achievable goal while working on flash cards, reading aloud, etc.

Last task before homework time is over:
• Have your child put their homework into their homework folder and back into their book bag. Have them pack everything they will need for the next day, including what you need to send to the teacher.

6. Big assignments

It is easy to be overwhelmed at big projects, like a report or a science fair project. Sit down with your child and think through what needs to be done in order to complete the assignment. Assign a goal date for each thing.

• For example, if your child is doing a report on a president:
o First due date: obtain all research materials from the library
o Second date: find internet sites that you can use
o Third date: have 25 notecards completed with the information from your research
o Fourth date: construct an outline
o Fifth date: complete a rough draft
o Sixth date: complete the final draft, add pictures, complete cover
o Seventh date: hand in report

Completing the work in shorter parts will keep your child from being overwhelmed. For example, maybe have them do 3-5 note cards a night. After several nights, they will have many note cards. But it wasn’t especially painful to get them done in small doses!

• Keep a list of your goal dates and have your child physically check things off as they complete them. They will get satisfaction from this, and be more inclined to work hard on the project as they experience successful completion on the smaller goals as you go along.

Breaking down projects into doable parts is an excellent life-lesson for kids. Doing one step at a time, not looking too far ahead, is a habit that will serve them well in the future. Consider each project an opportunity to teach valuable life skills.

7. Getting ready for the morning
If you are anything like our family, mornings were very busy and sometimes downright chaotic. You can erase some of the last minute panic by thinking ahead.

• Have your children lay out what they will wear, including socks and shoes, the night before. You will save yourself a lot of craziness on this one!

• Book bags should be packed up the night before as well. Things like gym clothes, music lesson books, show and tell items, etc. should be safely packed up before bed. This will keep you from forgetting things at the last minute.

8. Home Organization

• Find space in your home, maybe a corner in your family room or a hall closet, to make an easily accessible place for each child’s belongings. We had two hooks for each child, to hang coats and book bags.
• My kids also had a basket/cubbie for their shoes, hats, mittens, etc. It’s where their things went when they came in the door, left at the ready for their next exit. It helped avoid the morning panic of not knowing where shoes or a coat was at the last minute.

No one is perfect. You will find what works (mostly) for you and your family with a little trial and error. Kids like to be organized and feel like everything is under control. Implementing some of these suggestions may move your family closer to that goal.

Best wishes on finding ways to make this crazy life with school aged children work for you!