Orgianization Ideas

Pack lunches the night before and leave in the fridge. Pack everything else that needs to go into the backpack and leave by the door.

Do as much as you can the night before: picking out clothes, deciding on breakfast, even setting the table.

Make friends with "the list". I have lists for everything - I have lists for my lists! lol

Make (or buy) a calendar with a spot for each person. Then you can see who is doing what on which day. The way I make mine is I have the days of the month running down the left side and each of our names across the top. You can include tests, projects, and school events for your kids.

Make sure everything has a 'home'. A place it needs to be put away each time so that you always know where to find it: keys, cell, purse, whatever you *need* each day. A basket by the front door could accomplish this.

When I was growing up, everything was prepared the night before. Backpacks, lunches, even clothes for the nest day. This made everything run smoother in the morning. With 6 people sharing 1 bathroom, we learned to get ready to go quickly!

For little things like gloves and scarves, etc., we have them all in a beach bag that hangs in the coat closet. Lunch gets made beforehand and clothes are set the night before. It can be exhausting some nights to get it all done, but sooooo worth it the next morning! Papers are signed, lunch money is done, etc. Makes life SO much easier!

Well, we don't "go" to school. We school at home. But, we do have to get out the door every Sunday for church. I find that getting everything organized the night before is critical to having a smooth morning. Make sure all clothes are ready to go, ironed or whatever you do. Shoes/socks lined up near the door. Books in bookbags, ready to go, all notes signed. Nothing to do in the morning except get up, make beds, eat breakfast, brush teeth/hair, get dressed, put on shoes/socks, grab backpack/lunches and go. That is still a lot to do to get out the door, but without the added stress of "where is my ______??!!??" Oh, this means that you also need to know where your keys are, and have your clothes ready. ;) By the way, the bucket of shoes is a good idea in general, but I think you need to go the extra step of having the specific shoes already picked out of the bucket and paired, ready to be put on. Ask me how I know. :) I have 6 children, and this is critical.

Even when our daughter was in kinder, I made her in charge of remembering to get her lunch box, her back pack and her homework into the car.

Maybe make a list that is framed and hanging next to where you keep the backpacks, so the kids will remember. Eventually it is just habit. Find some clip art for your kindergartner to follow.

We made lunches in the morning, but you may find it easier at night and have them in the fridge.

Also if your school offers school lunches, make sure you always have money in those accounts just in case they forget their lunches.

The backpacks should always be kept in the same spot. In our house it was a bench next to the front door ( I kept my handbag there too). I know in some of our daughters friends homes they had a hook or a chair in their bedrooms for their back packs.

Forms to be signed and turned in was "my homework". Our daughter knew to make sure I signed these things while she was doing her own homework each afternoon. I made sure my homework was in her back pack and she made sure her homework was placed in the back pack,

Again, they will automatically get into this habit if you can keep the same schedule each afternoon.

Very exciting time for all of you!

We go out the garage door so what we do is have the shoe basket like you by the door. On the wall above the basket are hooks for coats and backpacks (the lunch pales are in the backpacks). I have one son that comes in, gets a snack then takes his lunch box to the kitchen to empty and his backpack up to his room for homework (he is 11 and gets the whole system now). My other son does not touch his backpack again until morning. He is in kindergarten so no homework yet.

For lunches, I put them together while the boys are getting dressed. I set their clothes out the night before (all the way to the shoes, underwear and belts). They always have stuff for me to look at from school so I actually do that in the morning since I get up a few hours before they get up, it is probably better to do that at night too. I have a school drawer for each of them in the kitchen. This makes it easy to just dump what we need to keep in the drawers and keep them separate. I also keep erasers, pencils, and calculators, etc. in each of their drawers too.

I try to keep them responsible for getting their backpack together and in the car when we leave in the morning. I also get them up 15 minutes earlier than we really need to just so we do not have the "Big Rush" in the morning.

I think that is it. The more you do the night before the better, I just do more in the morning because I get up around 4 and all 4 kids are sleeping, makes it easier. = )

Good luck and happy school days!

For our winter gear, I have an "Over the door shoe organizer" that is clear. Each person has 3 pockets to put their gloves, beanies, mittens, scarfs, etc in. My 3 year old has the lowest row, then my 6 year old has the next row up, then my husband & I share the top 2 rows. We've been using this system for the past 4 years and it works great for us.

School just started for us on Monday, and my daughter is in 1st grade, so we're new to the lunch thing. When she comes home from school, she takes her lunch bag out of her backpack & empties it, garbage, dishwasher, fridge, etc. Then, she takes out her homework folder & hangs up her backpack on the hook in her room. As soon as she's done with her homework & I've checked it, she puts her folder back into her backpack so we're ready for the next day.

Also, she's been picking out her clothes & putting them on her bed before she goes to sleep, so when she gets up, there's no craziness. After breakfast & teeth brushing, she gets her backpack, I put her lunch bag in, then she gets her shoes on & we're off. We only live 5 minutes walking distance away from her school, but I always leave 10 minutes early, just to be sure & to plan for any "stop & smell the roses" moments.

Good luck & enjoy the adventures of school with your kids!

Shellie