Jump into the school year the right way by getting and staying organized with these 6 tips for how to keep your kids organized this school year for a happier, healthier year!
How to Keep Your Kids Organized this School Year
With the school year comes a lot of paper, projects, and school supplies! All things that can get easily disorganized if your kids aren't careful. If you want your kids to stay organized this year, both to teach them about organization and to make their lives easier, there are a number of things you can do. These tips on How to Keep Your Kids Organized this School Year should help!
6 Ways to Keep Your Kids Organized this School Year
1. Start Organized
If you are hoping to keep your kids organized this school year, then you need to get them at least somewhat organized before summer vacation is over! That means clearing out their closet to make space for backpacks, projects, etc. and creating a clear homework area.
2. Provide the Right Supplies
It's hard to be organized without the right supplies! Many kids without the right organization supplies will just stuff papers and supplies right into their back pack. Not only is this messy, but it allows important documents and homework to get ripped, messy, or even lost! To keep your kids organized this school year, send them to school on the first day with plenty of empty {{binders}}, {{folders}}, and a {{pencil case}}. One binder or folder per class is usually a good starting point.
3. Color Code
Regardless of what grades your children are in, color coding can be a great way to help them organize! Color code their book covers, binders, folders, bins, maybe even the drawers on their desk, each color corresponding to a subject/class. Then when they're done with their homework at the end of the night, they can gather up all the like-colored items and put them in the same place. Color coding works at home with multiple children too, giving each child a color and making sure any notes, forms, etc. go to their color-coded area.
4. Label
If color coding doesn't sound like a good fit for your kids, you could also try labeling things. You could either write directly on stick-on labels by hand, or you could get a little label maker to speed up the task. Then label all your kids' supplies and the places those supplies should go. For little kids, you may have a bin labeled "Art Supplies" or for older kids you may have one called "Math Tools" (to house their graphic calculator, protractor, etc.).
5. Reorganize Often
There's usually a big difference between the nice, neat backpacks kids bring to school on the first day and the disorganized messes they're lugging around on the last day! If you want to keep your kids organized this school year, you'll want to encourage them to go through their backpacks frequently, at least once a month. File away any papers you need or that they feel they may need to keep at home, and recycle any unnecessary papers. Also encourage them to keep an eye on their supplies, and freshen their stash of pencils, pens, and highlighters as needed.
6. Teach Scheduling
Do your kids often forget what homework they need to do, or when a project is due? Then you need to teach them how to make a schedule! They can either use the old-school method of a daily planner, or they could use their smartphones or laptops. Either way, teach your kids to write down the details of an assignment when they get it, and to check their to-do list daily. Also have them write in any other activities they have planned, like clubs and sports. Teaching your kids to schedule their lives not only helps them to stay organized, but also teaches them about time management!
How do you try to keep your kids organized?
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Lisa/Syncopated Mama says
I like the color coding idea - even though I'm an only child, I always color-coded my subjects to help keep myself organized. Later, when I because a teacher, I carried over that same color-coding system into the classroom, which helped my 25 kids stay organized, too!
Krystal @ Little Light on a Hill says
I love the last tip. Teach scheduling! This is a concept I think my kids are ready for. I just never thought to do it! Thanks for the inspiration, We are pretty good about organizing and reorganizing often. But I love the idea of color-coding!!!