5 Back to School Organization Ideas

1.  Dedicate a cabinet/drawer/closet for homework supplies. 
About 3 years ago, I cleared out and a organized a small kitchen cabinet in order to dedicate it as the “school supplies cabinet”.  Everything my kids need to get their homework and any school projects done can be found in that one small cabinet.

Everything from supplies to permission slips are all housed here which totally helps to streamline all the papers that come home with my kids.  In addition, rather than keeping piles of their school papers around  – like art projects and graded assignments – to file later, I’ve started using the ArtKive phone app.

I just take a picture of the projects I want to keep and toss all the papers, and the app stores them in albums.  It makes it easy to print books later, and I don’t have to deal with any paper clutter, which makes me one super happy momma!

2.  Give each child their own homework supply box. 

Homework time can be a crazy time if you have more than one child doing homework at the same time.  I find that it’s easier to have my kids do their homework in different areas of our home to keep them from being distracted by what the other is doing.  I bought these plastic caddies in the dollar spot at Target a few years ago, and they’re still holding up great.  Every year I just refresh what we need for a new school year.  A caddy works great to house everything and makes carrying them around the house really easy for my kids.

3.  Make busy mornings easier by choosing outfits once a week. 
This is something I’ve been doing with my kids for years, and it is by far my biggest mom tip for dealing with early mornings.  I’m not a morning person so having their clothes ready to go for each morning during the week makes my life a lot less crazy.  Every Sunday afternoon I pick out their clothes for the school week and set them aside in their closets, so they can easily dress themselves in the mornings without my help.

My 9 year old boy can’t match a shirt to a pair of pants to save his life, bless his heart, so this sweater-organizer-turned-days-of-the-week-outfit-organizer is super helpful to him.  😉  

My 7 year old girl on the other hand likes to have a say about what she is going to wear – which I both love and hate equally.  Moms of girls you know what I’m saying.  Dealing with choosing outfits once a week as opposed to battling it out every, early weekday morning is both a time saver and a stress reducer.  In addition, because she likes to be in control of her own fashion she has a school clothes bin rather than a days of the week organizer.

This way she can decide for herself which outfit she wears on a particular day – which makes her feel more like she’s choosing her own clothes rather than “my mom dresses me”.

4.  Carve out a mudroom space. 
The biggest improvement to our routine this school year will probably be our new mudroom space that I carved out of a hallway closet.

Even before I created that space, I had some hooks on the wall to hang backpacks and coats.  Having a specified spot for those things makes going to and from school a breeze.

5. Post a monthly family calendar. 
The beginning of a new school year also signals the return of after school activities.  It’s hard to keep everyones schedule straight, and I often forget to tell my husband about things like recitals or teachers conferences.   Having a giant wall sized chalkboard calendar in our mudroom space makes it easy for all of us to remember important dates and times.

Having a monthly family calendar in a spot where every family member will see it helps everyone to stay on top of things and facilitates good communication.

Those are a few things have really helped us get back into school mode and have made our routine relatively seamless.  Do you have any tips on back to school organization?  Leave a link in the comment section below so we can all learn from each other.  I always think the best tips come from those moms who are in the trenches with me!