Have you ever come back from your holidays refreshed, relaxed, feeling, and looking fabulous only to be brought down by the thought of back-to-school routines and the humdrum of the schoolwork endless juggle?
I get that dreaded feeling sometimes, even before I leave for my holiday!
In this blog, you will get four things to implement in under an hour to get your home fit for back to school. You will also get some tips on how to keep your child organized during the school term.
How do you prepare for back to school?
You are back from your vacation – rested, tanned, and ready for new adventures.
Use this time well and prepare your home for back-to-school activities and routines! First of all – declutter! Clothes, papers, stationery – clean up everything you don’t need, and write down your shopping list if you need anything new or a refill.
The first weeks can also be a mess, so clean everything in advance. Clean the house as much as you can, clean the clothes too, fold them, and put them in place, so you are all ready for back to school!
Now, when you have a good base, let me share with you some tips which can help you set routines and form a new habit together with your children, or maybe this can give you some other back-to-school organization ideas:
Things to prepare for back to school:
1) Drop-down area
Dedicate an area in your home reserved for your children’s jackets, shoes, backpacks, and other stuff they need when leaving for school.
You can set it up in any room in your home, but it needs to be within their reach so they can form a habit of keeping their stuff neat and in place. All you need is an empty wall (it doesn’t even have to be in the hallway!) and a simple hook rack. If you have enough space, you can add baskets or containers for the small things (hats, scarves, etc.)
Then, you can use those containers as a place for shoes – or even add a shoe rack. Easy-peasy, no panic in the morning since everything is in its place!
2) Lunch bag & snack drawer/area
Containers and zip lock bags are your best friends here!
If you have enough space, you can dedicate one drawer for all lunch necessities – boxes, main ingredients, cutlery, napkins, etc. If not, you can get plastic baskets and put them on the counter or elsewhere.
The key is to plan and to have all your ingredients in sight.
Then you can prep everything on Sunday and put snacks in the basket so the kids can reach for them and grab them to school! You can even make a fun little game while sorting lunches and snacks on Sundays to make it even more interesting for children.
If your kids are older, you can put everything within their reach, so they can make everything the night before. And that’s how you build a habit. 😊
And there it is, all set and ready for going to school.
3) School uniform check & storage
I’m all about my kids having freedom when choosing their outfits. But when it comes to school, their creativity can be over the top for the school rules!
To be sure they are prepared for school, you can use a hanging organizer in your wardrobe and then separate clothes by type (shorts, pants, skirts, underwear), or if they are still young – you can sort them by days of the week! You can also use plastic bins – anything. Just remember – it must be within their reach!
Once children understand that they can get their outfits from the organizer, they’ll be able to start getting dressed on their own!
4) Your command centre
I use a whiteboard calendar that I put on the fridge where I note down after-school activities, appointments, and who is picking up the kids. You can find one on Amazon here. There are so many benefits of using a whiteboard in your home find an excellent blog on this here.
How to keep my child organized for school?
Back-to-school preparation and routine changes are not easy, especially not for tiny humans. It doesn’t matter if they are first graders or moving to a higher class.
Go through routines and spaces in your home that will become important to them. Show and explain to them why each part is important and in which way it can help them.
And keep in mind that whatever you organize and set up, it must be clear and not confusing for your kid.
If you need help, you can always reach out for a free consultation.
You can also join my Facebook community Organize & Optimize your home or send me an email at hello@organizemyhomespace.com and let me help you get started today.
Lynne x
Professional Organizer
My Home Space
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