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Back to School Organization

by Jill & Cathy on July 31, 2013

Back to School Organization TipsIf 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

Chore Chart from The Curriculum Corner Family 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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