Español
School begins for us in just two weeks and now’s the perfect time to get my boys back into a normal routine, while still enjoying the last days of summer vacation. It’s also a great time to reset our organization center by cleaning out old papers and the like. Oh, and we’ll need to do some clothes shopping. Here are some back-to-school organizing tips for making your transition smoother.
Create an Organization Center
Having a central place in the home where your kids can find their school supplies, plus their library books, school paperwork and other school related information, will save you time and headaches. The organization center can be as big or as small as you like. We live in a very small house and we created a vertical organization center right on one of our dining room walls!
We created ours in one day over a year ago. So I can tell you after one year, while it’s not perfect (I wish some of the shelves were more enclosed so things did fall through the vertical rails and I would add another calendar), it has worked really well. Having one place for everything was a lifesaver for us. To create an organization center of your own, read how we created ours. And check out my organization board in Pinterest for more inspiring ideas.
Plan your Back-to-School Shopping
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone shopping for back-to-school items without checking what I had at home first. It wastes time and money. It may seem obvious, but sometimes I just get ahead of myself. So make a note on your calendar to plan your back-to-school shopping and then check your kids’ closets and school supplies before going. Also, check out my 5 back-to-school clothes shopping tips here.
Back to Their Routine
My kids love the more relaxing summer schedule. We let them sleep in as long as their bodies want most days, and sometimes they even get to go to bed a little later than usual. However, with two weeks to go, it’s time to get back to their routine, so they will be alert and ready to learn when school starts. The Sleep Foundation recommends school children 3-5 years of age sleep an average of 11-13 hours per night, and school children ages 6-13 sleep an average of 9-11 hours.
I don’t want to wait until the Friday before the first day of school. I want to give them a few days to get used to earlier mornings and earlier bedtimes. So we’re getting to bed 15 minutes earlier this week as well as getting up 15 minutes earlier, and then next week, we’ll try 15 minutes earlier still. We’re finding this makes it easier on us, and the kids barely even notice, and we hope to have kids who are rested and ready to learn on the first day of school.
Do you have any tips you would like to share for back-to-school? I hope you’ll leave me a comment.
Enjoy the rest of your summer!
- Ponche Fruit Atole Recipe - March 3, 2023
- Quince Agua Fresca - November 21, 2022
- Yes, I’m Silvia Martinez, Winner of The Great American Recipe. Yay! - July 11, 2022
