If you’re like us, every year we try to start out organized in getting our kids back into the swing of the school year. (Honesty would require us to admit that the organization doesn’t always stick, but hey…it’s good to try, huh?!) As teachers and as moms we feel we have a unique perspective to give to non-teacher moms, so here are five easy tips we think will get YOUR school year started off on the right foot.
Personalized Refrigerator Magnets – Multiple kids + multiple permission slips, required signatures, event details and reminders = paperwork nightmare! One way to keep track of each child’s various important papers from school is to purchase refrigerator magnets and personalize them to each of your children. Get your children in the habit of clearing their school folders as soon as they come home (or as soon as you get home!) and clipping any papers that need to be seen and/or signed onto their own refrigerator magnet. You can quickly check it each evening or each morning to make sure each child has what he/she needs each day and things are returned to school by the due dates.
School Paper Organizer – Most of us try to save some of the work our kids bring home from school. Whether it’s an “A+” paper or a piece of writing that makes you smile warmly (or laugh hysterically – you know…the kind you can’t WAIT to share with your child when they are older – perhaps with a significant other!), we all have reasons to keep some school papers. The problem is that we can’t keep everything and we never know if something better will come home at a later point in the year. One way that we have found to help this problem is to go through papers each day, take out anything you may want to keep for long term and place these papers temporarily in one drawer of a three-drawer storage unit. At the end of a grading period, semester or school year, you can go through all the papers you’ve chosen and pick out only the ones that are truly worth keeping. We have created these fun labels you can use to personalize each drawer of the storage unit to each of your children.
Blue and Green Polka Dots Camouflage Pink Damask Yellow Chevron Chalkboard
Hanging Closet Organizer for Clothes – Ever look at your child when he/she comes into the room ready for school and think “Oh my word! You can NOT go to school in that!”? Or how about the battle that can sometimes ensue when you try to get your child to change those clothes?? We’ve had both of these experiences and have found that the best way to beat the system is to purchase a hanging closet organizer and discuss “outfits for the week” on the weekend prior to the school week. This not only cuts down on those arguments, but truly promotes some morning “independence” for your child. Some of these organizers already come with “days of the week” labels, but if you aren’t fond of the colors available we’ve created some that you can attach to any closet organizer and might be more personalized to your child.
Blue and Green Polka Dots Camouflage Pink Damask Yellow Chevron Chalkboard
Individualized Chore Chart – Another obvious and simple idea to alleviate stress and stay organized is to make sure to have personalized chore charts for each child for each day of the week. On school days, be sure write in HOMEWORK as the first chore of the day and then list each child’s specific other chores. If you don’t already have one of these for your kids, we’ve created one here: Chore Chart
Notes to the Teacher – There are many different reasons you may need to write a note to your children’s teachers. One way to stay organized and minimize the time it takes to do this is to have specific notes to address some of these reasons. Copy stacks of these notes and have them handy for quick notes to send with your child.
All-Purpose Note to Teacher (Color) All-Purpose Note to Teacher (Black and White) Lunch Money Change in Transportation Contact Me
So….here’s to getting (and STAYING) organized this school year!! A mom can dream can’t she??!!
What are your ideas for Back-to-School Organization? Let us know! We’re all in this together! Have a great year!
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