Summer is full of long days of play and activities and often time routine goes out the window. Back to school time means bringing order back to our days, which I secretly love.
There is a way to make back to school organization easier. These are my 8 must-do tips.
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1. Master the Back to School Morning Routine
I’ve found that if my morning goes smoothly, the rest of the day follows suit. Of course this doesn’t happen all the time, but I’ve found a solid morning routine helps make it happen more often than not.
The habits of a morning routine take a bit of time for the family to follow through with, but with practice it eventually becomes second nature
The biggest two tips I have for morning routines are:
- Create a morning schedule
- Prep all you can the night & week before (we’ll discuss in the next section)
The Morning Schedule
The morning schedule has been the most important part of our day. If we don’t follow through with it, everything else sort of goes downhill for us.
The most important part of the morning schedule is to continuously verbalize the expectations of the morning, until they become habit.
Once they become habit, you’ll see that easy flow more mornings than not.
For little ones, a visual schedule and checklist works wonders!
2. Prep the Night Before
Things you can prep the night (or even week) before:
1. Breakfast
A quick and healthy breakfast is my jam for my little ones, but busy mornings make eating healthy a challenge.
Prepping a few healthy breakfast options a couple times per week has solved this problem for me.
Here are a few ideas you can use:
- Quick Oats
- Quiche
- Oatmeal cups
- Pre-made whole grain pancakes
2. Outfits
Create a weekly routine, where every Sunday night you have your kids pick out the clothes they’ll wear for the week. You can check the weather prior to get a better idea of what type of clothes to choose.
Use a labeled clothing organizer to separate the outfits by day.
3. Lunches
One of my absolute favorite tips is from Eazy Peazy Mealz (pictured above). She has bins of food from each food group for her kids to pick out their own lunches.
This fosters a sense of independence in our little ones and gives them the power of choice as well.
Have them choose their options and pack their own lunch boxes the night before.
4. Backpacks Packed
Give each little one the responsibility of packing their own backpack the evening before.
Completed homework, gym shoes, whatever they’ll need at school the next day should go in their bags.
4. The Command Center
The command center is your family’s hub where you keep your entire lives organized. It can be used to house:
- System for incoming and outgoing paperwork
- Monthly and weekly calendar
- Meal planning
- Reminders
- & More!
Having everything in one place and organized like this will make your day-to-day much smoother.
6. Create a Solid After School Routine
Just like the morning routine is essential to a smooth sailing day, the after school routine is important as well.
This will look different for each family, depending on the ages of your kids and the type of extracurricular activities you have.
Create a scheduled routine that become habit for your kids, regardless of the activities.
It could look as simple as something like this:
- Snack
- Quiet Time/Personal Time
- Homework
- Get Dressed for Soccer
- Soccer Practice
- Dinner
- Bath
- Bed
Visual schedules for little ones work great for afternoon and evening activities as well!
I came across this routine clock by Kids Activities Blog and I think it’s genius. Lucy continuously asks, “What is the clock going to say?” in her sweet 4 year old voice. This is her way of asking how long an activity is going to take, so I think she’ll really take to a routine clock.
7. Homework Station
Creating a homework station (like this one by Fireflies and Mud Pies) can be a solution to keep your little one’s organized, so when they sit down to complete homework their minds are free to focus on the task at hand.
Keep the space free from clutter and add their essential supplies they need to complete homework.
I’ve seen people use the infamous rolling cart to add supplies, as well as lazy susans, bookcases and drawer units.
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