7 Back-To-School Tips For Parents To Get Organised This School Season
With back-to-school season upon us, we wanted to share some of our top tips and tricks for getting your home organised and back-to-school ready this September.
For many of us, this time of year marks our children returning to school, and with this comes some changes in our daily routines; new schedules, extra-curricular activities, plus plenty more ‘school’ related things to think about.
We hope that these back-to-school organisation tips will help to inspire you to get your home organised and get some useful systems in place for the start of the new school year!
1. Create a Homework Station
Creating a designated station for homework is an excellent back-to-school organisational tip, especially for parents as it is a great way to grow positive habits with your children as well as incentivise them to do their homework!
An organised homework station will create structure and consistency for your children; knowing that they have everything they need when they sit down to start their work will help them to focus on the task at hand.
You can set up a homework station anywhere in your home, but be mindful to keep it away from distractions such as the TV.
If your children have their own desks then, trays or magazine holders are great for storing paper supplies and in-drawer organisers will keep pens and pencils and other stationary supplies neat and tidy.
Alternatively, if your homework station is at the kitchen or dining table, you can repurpose a nearby cupboard or drawer to store all of the necessary tools and equipment your children will need to complete their homework.
The key is to have everything in one easy-to-access location.
Below are some of our homework station must-haves:
2. Set Up a Filing Station for School Papers
Designating an easy-to-access spot to keep all school-related paperwork is a must if you want to stay organised this school year. Your school filing station doesn’t need to be complicated; some simple labelled magazine files or trays are all you need to make this work!
Believe us; having a set place to keep all of these school letters, school trip permissions forms and everything else school ‘admin’, will enable you to find them easily when required, saving you time in the long run.
Below are some of our most commonly used filing products:
3. Create a School Uniform Zone
Another tested and approved idea for back-to-school organisation is to create a zone for school uniforms.
Sectioning out a home for school uniform items and accessories in your children’s wardrobes is a brilliant way to help school mornings run smoothly.
You can create a ‘school uniform’ section in a wardrobe, using boxes and wardrobe dividers to create zones.
Alternatively you can store school uniforms in a drawer, using drawer dividers to separate school uniforms from regular clothing.
Before the start of the school term, show your child where everything is located; this will enable them to get dressed by themselves in the morning and even tidy away their clean clothes! It's never too early to get children organising!
Now is also a great opportunity to go through the items that no longer fit your children and declutter them!
Below are some great products to get clothing organised:
4. Set Up a Breakfast Station
School mornings can be hectic and breakfast can easily become a rushed whirlwind leaving a trail of dishes and mess.
Setting up an organised breakfast station, where all breakfast items are located together in one place in labelled containers and bins, is a great way to bring some organisation and order to breakfast time, whilst enabling you to sit down and enjoy your first meal of the day.
With everything visible and accessible, your children will love being able to help themselves to breakfast and when everything has a home, they should find it easy to clean up after themselves too!
Below we’ve linked the products used to create the simple and stylish breakfast station pictured:
5. Create a Home for School Bags
Another top back-to-school tip is that giving your children a place to store their school bags when they are home from school will ensure there are no excuses for bags cluttering up the entryway floor and causing a trip hazard!
Keep it simple by installing a designated hook in your entryway for each member of the family to store their bag; in the morning rush, they’ll know exactly where to locate it!
If you have a bit more space, why not invest in a cubby bench or baskets to store other items such as P.E. kits, sports equipment and shoes; but be sure to label them with each child’s name to avoid confusion.
Trust us, getting your back-to-school entryway set up well is going to pay dividends throughout the school year!
Below are some of our favourite products for getting your entryway organised:
6. Get a Calendar
If you haven’t already, hang a calendar somewhere in your home to keep track of your family's activities. It should be somewhere visible to everyone; the kitchen is usually the most convenient spot but you may choose to hang it in your home office too.
Have a different coloured marker for each member of the family so you know who’s up to what at a glance. When you schedule piano lessons, or ballet practice or get notices about school trips and bake sale days, add them to the calendar immediately.
Below are some of our favourite school year calendars:
7. Declutter Your Home
We know life as a parent can be overwhelming; work, kids, laundry, activities, the list of things to do is endless!
A great way to set yourself up for a positive start to the new school year is by decluttering your home; our ultimate guide to decluttering your home, is filled with ideas and tips to inspire you and help get your home in great shape for the school year to come.
How will you get your home organised for the back-to-school season?
We hope these back-to-school organisational tips prove useful but if you still need help preparing your home for the new school term then there’s no need to worry - Homefulness are here for you!
We offer professional home organisation and decluttering services to ensure your household is school-ready. Get in touch today to request an on-site consultation to see what we can do.
