Every parent begins the new school year with high hopes of staying organized and on-top of everything. However, by October, the kids are barely making it to the bus stop on time and more often than not they forget their lunches. Before the year begins, now is the time to turn helpful back to school organization into actual systems in place in your home. These back to school organization tips mean you can start the academic year on the right foot and keep it that way until next summer vacation.

Back to School Organization Ideas

One of the biggest challenges of summer vacation for parents is finding way to occupy their children’s time. Well in the weeks leading up to the school year, work with your kids on setting up systems to stay organized throughout the year. First, start with this list of back to school preparation checklist and back to school clothing checklist. Next, check out these back to organization ideas to see which ones will work best for you and your family.

• Establish your own command center to keep yourself organized. This sets an outstanding example for your kids while helping you stay up-to-date on everything.
• A family bulletin board updated weekly can save you and your kids from forgetting important events, dates, and so on.
• Give each child their own cubby and hook to store their backpacks and other school-related items at the end of each day when homework is completed.
• Prepare a homework space. A room separated with a sliding modern door makes it easy to keep an eyes on kids as they get through their homework without any distractions. (Use promo code BACK2SCHOOL to take 20 percent off your rolling barn door purchase through Thursday, August 31, 2017.)
• Accrue a stash of school supplies so you’re not running out at 9 p.m. for materials required for a presentation the following day. All of these supplies are on sale now so stock up before the prices shoot back up.
• Designate a lunchbox cupboard where lunchboxes, reusable plastic containers, and nonperishable snacks are stored. If kids have the option of buying lunch at school, store lunch money in envelopes in this cupboard.
• Never miss soccer practice, a piano recital or other important dates with this giant chalkboard calendar you can paint in a common area such as the kitchen or the family room. Assign a different chalk color to each family member so they know who is required where and when.
• Make emergency kits for each child’s backpack and locker so they have always the necessities on-hand.

Stay Organized Throughout the Year

Sometimes getting organized at the beginning of the year is easier than staying that way as the months go on. Use these back to school organization tips to help you maintain the systems you’ve put in place and keep kids focused as the year passes.

• Use either this school lunch planner or this magnetic lunch chart, so your kids aren’t scrounging for their midday meal as you are busy trying to get everyone to school on time in the morning.
• Even with your giant chalkboard calendar, a week-at-glance planner can help you manage the smaller details as well.
• Have kids plan out their outfits for the week on Sunday so it’s not a hassle every morning before school.
• Set up a self-serve snack station so children aren’t lollygagging when they get back after school. This makes it easy to grab a snack and get to work on assignments sent home.
• Prepare lunches the night before.
• Create a storage system to organize papers such as homework, permission slips, announcements, etc.
• Place a bin near the door you most often use where library books can be deposited when they are ready to be returned.

A new school year can be extremely stressful. The more you organize ahead of time, the better prepared you’ll be in the long run. These back to school organization tips are sure to help you and your family have an absolutely wonderful 2017-2017 school year.