5 Tips to Get Organized for a Smooth School Year

School is back in full swing for most of us. I’m one of those parents who loves when school starts back. Not because two of my three children will be out of the house for more than six hours each day (although that’s a slight bonus).

I love back to school because it’s a fresh start, and I love seeing my children grow and learn so many new things.

This year has been no different. I’ve been working hard through the summer to get organized for our school year to run smoothly. I’ll just start out saying, thank you My Computer is My Canvas for these amazing printables that kicked my organizing into high gear.

I have a system that I use every year before school starts, and I’m sharing the system with you now.

Here are the five things I do before each school year:

1. Go through your the kids’ closets.

I look at all the clothes they have, and check for wear and tear and sizing. If it’s still wearable and appropriate for school, it stays. If it’s too small, we decide if it should be a hand-me-down for the little one or if we should donate it. And if it’s worn, we decide it it’s mendable or if it’s time to toss it.

We also go through socks and undergarments to decide what to keep and what to toss. Once everything is cleared out, I have a good idea of what we need to buy for the upcoming school year. I only buy clothes that will get them from August through December, then I re-evaluate over winter break to decide if they need anything new. Make a list of new clothes and sizes needed and stick it where you’ll be able to find it. This way, if you happen upon a sale, you’ll know what everyone needs.

2. Store old school supplies.

Find an empty storage container, then go through the house collecting extra pencils (go ahead and sharpen them now!), crayons, notebooks, paper, markers, tape, glue, scissors, and any other supplies they might need to complete their homework. This has officially become the homework station. I can move it from place to place, and it usually has everything they need. If you think of something they might need that you didn’t have extra of, stock up now while the back to school sales are going on.

I have a 1st grader and a 3rd grader, and they do a lot of artsy type projects, so I always throw in some glitter, fabric, and ribbon scraps to have at the ready when they bring home those types of homework projects.

3. Save up the Box Tops.

Have you been saving box tops, Campbell’s Soup labels, Tyson labels, and coke tabs? We continue to collect over the summer and encourage our friends and family to collect for us as well. I have one large, gallon-sized zipper bag and four smaller sandwich-sized bags inside of the larger bag. Each small bag is labeled for what it is supposed to hold. When I clip a label, I take the big bag out, find the small bag I need, and stick the label inside. The large bag helps corral all the small bags, keeping everything neat and tidy. I just stick the big bag in a cabinet or drawer out of the way and it’s right there when I need it. When it’s time to send them off to school, I just take the small bags out and stick them in the backpacks.

If you haven’t started an organized system for collecting these yet, now’s the time.

4. Begin meal planning.

I plan out menus for a few months. Just three months of menus gives you a good rotation of meals, and if you stumble across a recipe that you want to try, it’s easy to work it into the rotation. This includes lunchbox menus and breakfast and dinner menus. I use Pinterest for this because there are so many ideas! Plan breakfast that are quick, easy, and filling or ones that you can make the night before.

Think about extra curricular activities when planning dinners. If it’s going to be a busy Monday night, leftovers or a quick spaghetti and meatballs might be your best bet. Better yet, get together with other military spouses and set up a dinner exchange.

Before I plan lunchbox menus, I print the school’s lunch menu off their website. I sit down with the kids and they circle the meals they want to eat at school, that way, I know I’ll need to send a lunch on the other days. Our school rotates the same three menus all year, so that makes it easy for us.

I try to make sure I’m not sending sandwiches with every home lunch. Think outside the box! Things like cheese and crackers, peanut butter and banana wraps, or leftovers from the night before all make great alternatives to sandwiches. Think about snacks and drinks that your child likes, too. I like to send granola bars, homemade puddings, popcorn, and small bottles of water or juice. It’s also always nice for them to open their lunchbox and find a handwritten note from mom or dad (if one parent is deployed, a picture of that parent with a sweet “I love you!” on the back can make their day!). Spending a weekend planning menus makes the school year seem to run much smoother at our house.

5. Make a Life Binder.

I used an old binder one of the kids brought home last year, so there was very little cost involved for me. A Life Binder should have the things in it that you feel will make your life run smoother. I have a calendar (for appointments, countdowns, assignment due dates), a section for my planned menus, a section for bills that need to be paid and their due dates, and a section for each child that includes a folder to collect important papers. The binder is filled with printables from many different places on the web, but most of them are from My Computer is My Canvas.

My binder goes everywhere with me and it’s the first thing I look at every morning. I check the calendar to make sure I know what’s in store for the day, then flip to the menu section to make sure I’m prepped for meals that day. I’m just one of those people who likes to see things written on paper.

 

All of this helps get me on track for a super organized and mostly stress free school year.

I’d love to hear the things that you do to get organized and ready for a new school year. Share below!