Kids School/Artwork

-        Use a lidded box, color coded per child and label

-        Use large envelopes, labeled by year and child

-        Transfer yearly papers to labeled accordion file keeper

Travel/Sightseeing Memorabilia

-        Have a journal with you to notate date, locations, and events

-        Gather tourist brochures, postcards, etc. in journal

-        Transfer to accordion file keeper, categorized by year

-        Tear pages from journal and include with memorabilia

As a mother who has seen 5 children through many school years, I discovered a little tip that helped in a lot of ways:

1. Fast identification
2. Reading skills not needed
3. Clean up  was easier
4. Less things lost or missing

The tip?  To color code your children and their school supplies.  Assign each child a different color (perferably the favorite color of the child).  Purchase EVERYTHING for school in that color.

• backpack
• pencils
• pencil boxes/pouches
• binders
• pencil sharpeners
• calculators

And for those things that do not come in color assortments, purchase colored tape and put the tape on the blue ink pens, crayon boxes, and other supplies.  Color coding is used for many other applications, so why not our children.  They don’t have to read to know that all green supplies belong to them and red supplies to their sibling. Using color coding makes it easy to see who forgot to clean up after homework time and avoid the “That’s mine!” battle cry.  If a green pencil is found under the table, you know which child to return it to.

A simple tip, but one to help your sanity….

Summer is winding down and it’s time to start thinking about school again. School for the little ones or perhaps school for you – learning can take place at any age! It helps to be organized in advance to get your school year off to a smooth start. And it’s simple! Here are 2 things to do now so that you are prepared:

Have a School Resource Binder

Create a Drop Zone

School Resource Binder:

Using a three ring binder, dividers and a few sheet protectors, you can be prepared for the onslaught of information you will receive as the school year begins. You can organize the binder to hold the school’s yearly calendar, the classroom/teacher information, newsletters, and fundraising/PTA information. Take note of the minimum days and school holidays and be sure to transfer that information onto your personal calendar immediately. As a general rule, this binder will need to be updated and purged on a regular basis. Use the pocket inside the front of the binder to hold a copy of your child’s emergency card so that you have the information readily available for field trip forms. Keeping a pencil here is also a good idea!

Creating a Drop Zone:

Creating a drop zone is applies the mudroom concept to the area where you first come into your home each day. For some families that area is by the front door, for others it is the area by the garage door that leads into the house. Even the smallest area can be transformed into a functional drop zone with the addition of a few hooks, baskets, and shelves. The purpose of the drop zone is to be able to drop what you’ve brought in and stage it for exit for tomorrow. Kids need hooks for backpacks and jackets, parents need a shelf for car keys and sunglasses. Baskets hold shoes and other items to go.

So why wait for school to start? Get these two things in place and you’ll be ready!

Many of my friends dread their children’s homework more than the child does! I often hear things like “I practically have to stand over him”, “She does the work but doesn’t turn it in”, “He just can’t stay still and do the homework”. Granted, some of these issues may be due to things like ADD or ADHD but setting up a proper homework environment certainly can’t help but get the homework off to a good start. Here are three things I recommend:

Location:
The location is not always the same for each child and may not even be the one that you would choose. Talk with your child, ask him if he likes to read in a quiet place or with music in the background? Also consider the personality of the child; extroverts like to be where the action is while introverts treasure their personal space and desire to be alone. Do they need a quiet corner in which to do their work? Can they go about most of the work unsupervised? Do they want you nearby to help or like to be where you are? Or is the household hub, usually the kitchen, where they want to be? If your student is a teenager, they want to be more independent and value their privacy. Many teenagers make their bedroom the first choice for homework. Regardless of the location, what is important is that you and your child make the decision together where the homework should be done.

Timing:
Again this depends on your child. Some children want to come right home and get the work done while others want to release some energy first and settle down to homework later. Neither choice is bad so long as the homework gets done. What is most important is that the homework time stays consistent every day.

The Homework Tools:
I recommend a homework box. This is a lidded box that contains pens, pencils, erasers, a hand held pencil sharpener, a ruler, extra binder paper, report covers, staples, and paper clips. For pre-teens and teenagers, a pocket thesaurus, highlighters, compass, graph paper, and calculator will be needed. Having this homework box not only keeps your child’s school supplies organized, but provides a central location for all tools that may be needed to complete the homework assignments.
Another important tool is the student planner. Many schools now require the students to use a school planner. This is an important step in teaching them to be organized and responsible. If your child’s school does not issue a planner then buy them one. Choose a planner that shows the week on two pages; this will allow your student enough space in which to record their homework. Having them record their homework daily helps with forgetfulness and will enhance their homework time because it eliminates the time wasted trying to remember and find the homework assignments. It also helps teach prioritization. Often, essays and projects are assigned well in advance of the due date and using the planner to break the work down into smaller pieces can help to avoid the last minute rush. The skill of learning how to juggle the homework load will carry over into adulthood – don’t we have to prioritize and juggle our workloads?
I also recommend a homework folder. Purchase a report folder in a bright, neon color. Label it “Homework Folder” and ask that the child place the completed homework in there and put into the backpack every night. Then when the child opens the backpack at school seeing the bright folder may help them to remember to turn in the work. You should also check this folder to be sure it is empty when your child returns from school each day. Another alternative is to have a divider pocket in the front of the school binder in which to put work that should be turned in.

Remember with homework, consistency and organization are a big help!

Some of you may be beginning to think about shopping for school clothes and gearing up for your child’s next school year, so here’s a strategy for handling the mountain of school papers. Each day artwork, graded paper, and homework come home and seem to spill out everywhere. Soon the pile is all over the house or your child’s backpack is bursting at the seams. Below are 5 easy steps to managing that paper load and keeping the school day memories intact.

1. Label a 10 x 13 manila envelope as follows: Child’s Name
School Year
Grade

This envelope will hold a year’s worth of your child’s school work, artwork, and even report cards. How can all of it fit? By only putting in the most precious of items and enjoying the others for a short time before they are recycled.

2. Label a basket or wall pocket with your child’s name.

Place this basket or wall pocket in the same area where your child drops the backpack when entering the house after school. Train the child to remove all graded school papers and artwork from the back pack daily. Have the child put these papers in their labeled basket or wall pocket. DO NOT put homework, which needs to be turned in, here.

3. Pick a time each week when you will sit down with your child and look through the weeks’ papers. This is a good time to have quality conversation with your child. Compliment your child, ask questions, talk about the past school week and the week to come. Children need to know that you care what is going on at their school. Decide together which paper should be saved in the manila envelope. If there are many pieces of artwork or large items, consider taking a picture of them and putting the photograph in the envelope to save space.

4. As the school year progresses, the child’s manila envelope may need to be gone through and some items removed to make room for the most precious items to be kept.

The goal here is to have one manila envelope per year. The most important work is saved in an orderly fashion and can be retrieved easily.

5. At the end of the school year, store the yearly manila envelopes in a plastic storage container with a lid. This will keep the dust and moisture out. This can be stored in the garage or other storage area. Remember to label this storage container, “School Days Memorabilia”, to save you from opening every storage bin looking for this school work in the future!

© 2005 Natalie Conrad