School supplies have been purchased, backpacks have been cleared out from last school year and the excitement of getting to see friends again is electric in the air. Back to school time! However, the start of this school year surely looks different than any other school year. Some kids are learning from home, others are back in their school building but with masks and other precautions put into place, and other kids have a mixture of home and in-person schooling. Whatever this school year looks like for your family, the following three tips are sure to bring order and structure to an otherwise chaotic, yet exciting time of year.
Take a few minutes to prepare the night before
Just 5 or 10 minutes of preparation the night before can go a long way. Take some time to help your child(ren) choose what they will wear the next day and keep it out so they have it ready to go when they are getting dressed the next morning. Take a look with them at their backpack to make sure any homework or supplies they need for the next day is there. Prepare lunches the night before or if they buy lunch at school, have their money already in their backpack. Even if they are doing school from home, having their lunch made the night before makes for a less chaotic morning.
Create a paper system for each child
School-aged kids bring home papers almost every day. On average, school is 180 days. That’s at least 180 pieces of paper PER KID coming into your home in a single school year!! Have a designated container for each child’s incoming papers. This could be a magazine holder (the dollar store is your best friend), a folder, a basket etc. Take a few minutes to go through the papers each week and decide what you want to file and what can be recycled. For the papers that you keep, have an accordion file folder or a file box for each child. Separate their papers by subject such as math, writing, art, etc. If you file away their papers each week, by the end of the school year you will have a curated, organized collection of their work for that entire school year! No need to sort through 180+ papers while you’re trying to plan your family summer vacation-it will already be done! Another option to cut down on the amount of paper you keep is to scan it and have a folder for each child on your computer/phone.
Have a family calendar
There are so many parties, projects, deadlines and drop-off times that it can be easy for something (or, let’s face it, lots of somethings) to fall through the cracks. Get a family calendar-whether physical or digital and assign a color to each family member. Write down anything that needs to be remembered and check it daily. This just might be the year that that science project gets done 10 days early rather than getting started at 10 o’clock the night before.
As with creating any new habit, it takes time. Don’t get discouraged if as you are implementing these three tips things get chaotic or forgotten. Consistency is key and soon preparing the night before, having a paper system for each child, and keeping a family calendar will be second nature. Let’s make this the best school year yet!
