Getting Off on the Right Foot – A New School Year

Before the first bell rings and the school year routine begins there is a lot of preparation. There is so much to do to get your kiddos and yourself out of summer relax mode and into the new school year regime. It’s a new school year and we need to get the children organized and off to a good start.

There will be lots of paperwork, school supplies, new clothes, etc., coming into the house and we need a system in place to get and remain organized for the upcoming school year. Let’s start in the most obvious place, the closets.

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Closets/Dresser: 

You’ve taken the children shopping for new school clothes but before adding them to the closet, you should get the closet organized and ready to accept new things. Below are the steps to getting your kids’ closets organized for the new school year.

• remove everything from the closet.
• you and your child can make a fun day out of trying on all of the clothes from the last school year. Call it a fashion show of sorts.
• clothing that fits or can be mixed and matched with the new clothing should go back into the closet.
• if you have the stamina and the time, you can organize like items together and color code them. This is especially attractive if the hangers match as well.
• clothes that are still useable can either be passed down to a younger sibling, sold at one of the online consignment shops or donated.

• non-useable items can be tossed.
• if you use a dresser, this is a great time to organize the sock and underwear drawers.
• move on to the outerwear storage and try on coats. Make sure the ones you are keeping have been laundered and all buttons and/or zippers are intact and working. This is also a good time to check and repair pockets with holes or tears.
• hats and gloves can be checked and either replaced or laundered as well.
• most children are really rough on shoes and will not wear the same ones for two seasons. So either donate or dispose of the old shoes and replace with the new pairs you purchased for the new school year.

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School Supplies:

Of course, that dreaded school supply list will post online very soon, if it hasn’t already and you will need to purchase specific items for each child and grade level. With that in mind, now is a good time to go through your child’s old backpack and school desk and/or homework area.

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For Younger Children

• Check crayons. Toss the broken ones. Purchase one of the plastic pencil boxes to keep the new and the leftover crayons. When shopping, I would pick up a box of crayons to take to school and another for home use.
• Follow the list exactly for all other items. I know my grandson, who is going to the second grade, had a very specific list.
• Remember if the child is younger to get the wider line composition books. This is easier for their little fingers to write between the wider lines – so cute.
• Check backpacks. If you are buying new, perhaps the old one from last year can be laundered and given to a less fortunate child. This can be a definite teaching moment to teach our children how important it is to help others.
• This is also a great time to take inventory of lunch boxes and items used to pack lunches.
  • Sandwich bags
  • Juice boxes
  • Plastic/disposable spoons and forks
  • All those things that make taking lunch to school fun 🙂

For Older Children

• Older children will be a bit easier. For the most part, you can allow them to pick up most of their own school supplies.
• I hope you still get to shop for new school clothing with your older children. I realize they are picking up things when they want and/or need them, but shopping together is a great time to talk, catch up and reconnect. You can shop and have lunch together. With all our older children have going on now-a-days, it is a good thing to reconnect often. (Oh I know, not really an organization tip but very important).
• If your child is a college student, the process is totally different. I will have a post on that coming soon.

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Bedrooms:

• Now it’s time to get the bedrooms out of relaxed summer mode and back to organized back-to-school mode.
• Make sure desks are cleaned off and well stocked
• As noted above organize closets dresser draws.
• We are in the transition phase where it’s too warm to put away the summer gear, but we must make room for the back to school garb. Make sure to separate the two in the closet so that after school, your kids can get out of the school garb and into the summer fun clothes while they play or relax after school.
• Be sure to put like items together and this will be an easy transition. Even when the weather turns cool and then cold, you will already have like items together. You’re ahead of the game. 🙂

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Kitchen:

• If your child prefers to take lunch to school instead of eating from the café, then it is time to get those convenient lunch items.
• I don’t know about you and your family, but for the most part, we eat differently at home than the lunches we prepare. For example, we rarely eat sandwiches but we do take sandwiches for lunch quite often.
• Stock up on after school snakes as well. I don’t know what it is but children are famished after school. J
• It’s time for schedules again, so be sure to post all of the after school activities as well as in-school activities in your message center. You do have a message center…right? Of course, you do. 😉
• Make sure to update the family calendar weekly. This way you will not miss any important dates. I would set a date, the same day every week for the family to come together to update the family calendar for the following week.

Other:

• Be sure to get all necessary physicals and if you are a parent who immunizes your children, now is the time to make doctor appointments.
• If your child plays sports, it is also time for the sports physicals and to get all necessary forms completed.