It’s “back-to-school” time again. Where did the summer go? Whether your kids have already started school, or are getting ready to very soon, I’ve got a list of my favorite tips that have helped me and my kids to stay organized and have a great school year. So, go through the checklist and see what areas you need to improve on, and get started as soon as possible for a successful school year for your family.
- Buy school clothes. If you haven’t taken your kids shopping yet for new school clothes, you might want to plan that for Labor Day weekend. There will be tons of sales that weekend. Before then, help your kids clean out and organize what they’ve got. Write a detailed list of things to shop for. Try to buy complete outfits and pieces that mix and match. When you get home, hang items together and plan a few outfits for busy chaotic mornings.
- Buy school supplies. Maybe you’ve already done this but, if not, look for sales and those helpful “tax-free” weekends. Write an organized list, decide where to buy their supplies, and get it done as cheaply and quickly as possible.
- Plan a morning routine. This can change every year, depending on the ages of your kids, so revise and write out this routine at the beginning of every school year. Be super-organized by making a copy for each child, get it laminated, and discuss the overall morning routine with all your kids so they know what they need to do and at what time.
- Plan the after-school routine. This is almost as important as your morning routine. There’s a lot of different activities to coordinate, so getting organized with a general routine will be super helpful. Set a definite time for dinner, as much as possible. This might vary, according to after school activities, but a flexible plan is better than no plan. You might even want to have two schedules. One schedule would be for busy weeknights and another schedule for regular weeknights. Try to have a regular time for kids to do homework. Tell them at the beginning of the school year, to prevent nagging every night. I used to let my kids have some “downtime” after school, but as soon as dinner was done, it was time to sit at the table and get started on homework.
- Plan homework projects. Your homelife can get really crazy if you allow your kids to do major projects at the last minute. At the beginning of the year, help your kids plan out major projects into manageable steps. Buy them an academic planner and write the steps for these projects and check it weekly to make sure they’re making progress.
- Plan after-school activities. At the beginning of the year, find out what activities they each want to get involved in. Try to find a balance that will work for the entire family. You might want to limit each child to one or two activities per season. Make sure you can drop off and pick up each child without overlapping activities. You can’t be “supermom” just because they want to do everything.
- Make a chore chart. Family life with school-age kids can get crazy. For that reason, everybody needs to have a part in the daily maintenance at home. Have a family meeting and try to get volunteers for chores. If that doesn’t work, assign chores for each child, according to their age. Change the responsibilities monthly, so that nobody gets stuck with a chore they hate doing. You might even want to assign a dollar amount to certain chores so that each child can earn some money. We always did this instead of giving a free allowance.
- Keep a family calendar. Although you might have your own calendar or planner, you probably should keep a family calendar in the kitchen where everyone can see it. At the beginning of the school year, put on the calendar all major holidays, school days off, school events. and birthdays. Have each family member add to it as things come up.
- Start getting kids ready for the new school routine. Even though it still is hot out and doesn’t get dark till later in the evening, start getting your kids adjusted to the school routine. Make them go to bed earlier than they do in the summer. Expect a few weeks for them to really get used to the new bedtime. We used to adjust their bedtime gradually. Each week they would have to go to bed 30 minutes earlier. By September, they were used to their new bedtime and not feeling as tired on school mornings.
- Have a family meeting. At the beginning of the school year, have a meeting with all your kids, even your teenagers. Discuss the rules and expectations for the school year. Let them give input and make suggestions. You want them to feel like they had a part in some of the decisions, within reason. Go over school rules, as well as your own rules. Be clear about their responsibilities such as, homework, behavior, and chores around the house. With your teenagers, be clear about curfew, car privileges and responsibilities, chores, and allowances. Let them know at the beginning what the consequences will be for breaking the rules. Try to have these family meetings about once a month so everybody can talk and make changes, if needed.
Well, those are my best tips for a successful school year. These are the things that my family did that worked for us when my kids were in school. Those were really fun times and we have great memories. Enjoy your kids while they’re home with you. It really does go fast. For more great tips for your family, see my previous posts, How To Schedule Family And Personal Time and How To Simplify After School Activities.
Have a wonderful day and a wonderful school year!