Back To School Routine

Get Your Routine Set Before The First Day of School

Are you ready for school to start?  My best advice to you is decide what your morning routine is going to be, in advance of school starting?  Make a chore board… or routine board.

Why? Because once the hectic mornings begin, it will be hard to change habits.

Here are my suggestions for a morning routine.

Morning Routine

1) Get up at least 15 minutes earlier than you “think” you need to. There will always be a glass of spilled milk or a “melt down” when you least expect it.
2) Have a “chore board” or “morning routine board” if needed to help your child remember their morning routine.
3) PREPARE the night before!!!
* Pack lunches or lunch money
* Lay out clothes
* Have book bags ready to go
* Homework inside in the bookbags
* Library books inside the bookbags (you get the point)
* Take your shower the night before if possible.
* Have breakfast planned and table set

After School Routine Tips

1) Routine…Routine….Routine. (kids need it)
2) Book bags emptied when they come in the door. Have a specific spot for their papers where you can go through them.
3) Snack
4) Homework time (don’t delay it, get it over with..they are still in school mode..not play mode yet.)
5) Have a quiet place, with low stimulus for homework. Desk in their room without tv, or a kitchen table.
6) Put their book bags away in a set spot. Hooks on the back of a door can work great.

It isn’t hard to establish a routine, but don’t expect your children to do it.  You need to do it for them.  Once you get it going…within a couple of weeks it will be habit to them.  They won’t think anything of it – kids need routine.

Your days will go much smoother with just a few rules put in place. Believe me… I’ve been there.. done that (I have 3 adult sons….remember?

 

Organizing tips for Back to School

When do your kids go back to school?

Are you ready?  Jumping up and down..or crying your eyes out?

But for all of us it means a Change in Routine!  There are lunches to pack, book bags to attend to, papers to see, sign and dates to put into our calendars.  Getting to bed earlier, getting up earlier.  Catching a bus or learning the route to walk/ride bikes, or moms doing the driving (like me).

This is part of a post I did last year – to give you an idea on how to make a “Routine Board” for the Morning crazies we all have.

I gave some tips for morning and afternoon routine in my Back To School Post you can see here.  Today I want to tell you about the School Routine Board you can make for your kids.  I use this same concept for a Chore Board..but this is why it is such an adaptable idea.  Here are the steps to Make your own.  Instead of the child’s name at the top of the board, you can use “Before School” and “After School”.  Then use your magnets and drawer pictures with brief description of the task that needs to be done.  Children are visual and instead of rattling off the list of “To Do’s” every morning, they will know to look at the Routine Board.

It’s just another way for your morning and after school routines to go a little smoother.

Back To School Organizing – Are you Ready for the Routine to Start again?

Many of us have kids starting school within the next two weeks. My kids start next week..they are excited. I have the “mixed emotions” going on. I am not excited about the morning routine, homework, crazy mornings and after school….BUT I am excited that I will have some more time freed up during the week to spend with my organizing clients.
I discussed what Peter Walsh had to say about the school organizing. He talked a lot about “routine”.
But what is the routine?
My Morning Tips.
1) Get up at least 15 minutes earlier than you “think” you need to. There will always be a glass of spilled milk or a “melt down” when you least expect it.
2) Have a “job board” if needed to help your child remember their morning routine.
3) PREPARE the night before!!!
* Pack lunches or lunch money
* Lay out clothes
* Have book bags ready to go
* Homework inside in the bookbags
* Library books inside the bookbags (you get the point)
* Take your shower the night before if possible.
* Have breakfast planned and table set

My After School Routine Tips
1) Routine…Routine….Routine. (kids need it)
2) Book bags emptied when they come in the door. Have a specific spot for their papers where you can go through them.
3) Snack
4) Homework time (don’t delay it, get it over with..they are still in school mode..not play mode yet.)
5) Have a quiet place, with low stimulus for homework. Desk in their room without tv, or a kitchen table.
6) Put their book bags away in a set spot. Hooks on the back of a door can work great.

Get Ready…Get Set…here come the school projects!!