6 Great Back To School Tips {for a calm start to a new year}
The countdown for the first day back to school has begun for our family, though many friends I know have already started back regardless of the weather telling us that summer is still in full swing.
The kids heading back to school might elicit feelings of joy and relief or leave you feeling sad that the lazy days of summer have come to an end and anxious for the fast-paced life that the school year can bring. Either way, there is no denying that starting the school year off with a plan to get organized and prepared is on just about everyone’s list, including mine.
Here are my six back to school tips for starting the school year off strong and more importantly, calm.
Plan Ahead
As we head into open house and registration weeks, plan ahead by completing all the paperwork needed for your student before you get there. Keeping a file folder where you store your papers labeled “Return to School” and using this for anything you need to sign and send back in will help you keep track of what’s coming and going.
Next, head over to your school’s website or grabbed the calendar that was sent home and take 30 minutes to put the entire school year dates into your phone or calendar. This way, you can be sure of what is going on when you want to plan last-minute events or are planning Spring Break.
Taking time to look over and interact with the annual calendar will help you give you a better sense of what the next 180 days will look like and set you in control now of your schedule.
Guard Your Time
While it’s easy to allow school events and sports to overrun our calendar quickly, take time now to mark off one or two days each week that are “no-fly zones”.
These dates should be counted precious and shouldn’t have anything outside of a normal school and/or workday on them. This allows you time to recover from the other days you may be running from sunup to sunset and spend much needed time with your family or for yourself.
I heard author Michael Hyatt say that we all have the same amount of time in the day to do what matters most to us. I think his point was, we need to decide what values we have and what matters most and then design a life around those things.
One simple way to do that is to block off time in our calendar to focus on those things. That could look like spending time as a family or it could look like allowing everyone unstructured time to do whatever they want! It truly doesn’t matter as long as it’s important and rejuvenating for you and your family.
Create a Home
Before the first day back to school, creating a ‘home base’ for all the stuff school brings in and out of your doors is important. Before I went on my ‘organize my whole life’ journey school mornings looked a little like this:
Me: “Time to get up” – walking to each kids room and waking them up in a sing-song voice. I opened the blinds and kissed their sweet little heads and then headed off to the next room. Within minutes usually, someone was yelling in a cranky tone “I don’t know what to wear” and I would offer a suggestion that would, of course, be turned down which left me yelling back, “ Figure it out!”. Now the morning was headed downhill.
Next, the kids would slowly emerge to the kitchen/living room area where I would have to remind them not to turn on a tablet or t.v. until they were ready. I’d ask what they want for breakfast and would get the customary “I don’t know” game until a decision was made.
From there it’s the recording of “Go brush your teeth, get socks, brush your hair, put your shoes on, did you get your homework?” Add into this reminder that library books needed to be turned in, searching for the single lost shoe or hunting for the backpack or lunch box that got left in the car, we would leave for school feeling frustrated and stressed. Sometimes someone was crying. Sometimes it was me.
By creating a home base for all our items, most of our search and rescue efforts have been alleviated. There is a pretty clear plan of how the morning runs and instead of repeating it on autopilot I’ve changed to saying ‘what’s next’ when I see the momentum slowing down.
At night, shoes are collected and put in the bin by the door. After school, lunchboxes are emptied and backpacks hung on the hook. When homework is completed it’s returned to the bag, so we don’t forget it the next day.
By having a station that holds everything we need for each kid, including winter gear in the cold months, we save time and yelling in the morning and start off on a much better foot.
Did You Remember
Along with this process, having a “Did You Remember” form is one of my favorite back to school tips.
As we increased the number of kiddos in school, we increased the ridiculous number of items they need to remember to take each day! Outside of the basic backpack, lunchbox, and homework items. They need to remember water bottles, an alarming number of snacks, extra shoes or boots, the recorder for music class, the library books on one day, the guided reading books on another.
It’s enough to make my mind feel a little crazy. So, we keep a “Did you remember” printed sheet on the door at the kids level that asks them these questions so that I don’t have to. It creates a sense of responsibility for them and removes the stress from me. You can download a free PDF to print here.
Surface White Space
Procrastination leads to clutter. It also leads to frustration. One reason we procrastinate doing something is if we can’t tackle it quickly or if it requires other steps prior to getting that task done.
This is true for me when it comes to my kitchen counter or my desk. I’m guessing this might be true for you too. When you counter is messy, covered in papers or miscellaneous stuff that was dropped there on the way to somewhere else, you likely won’t feel like tackling a task like cooking or maybe dishes? When my desk is messy and unorganized, I avoid sitting down to write or to do the budget until I get it cleaned.
It’s not much different for our kids. When our space is cluttered, sitting down to do a project or homework might add another level of anxiety or discontentment to our kids. Perhaps they are avoiding doing homework at the kitchen counter because it’s covered in other papers or the table needs to be cleaned off first.
After a long day, visual and clutter can be extra draining.
Don’t underestimate the calming effects of visual white space. Not having to complete a task (clearing off the table) to complete a different one (doing homework) may make the process smoother and more inviting. Not to mention it’s time-saving.
If there is a space that is frequently used to eat or do schoolwork, leave it blank. If you find your moving things on and from it constantly, it’s probably not a necessary item.
Prep the Night Before
Yup. I know. We’ve all heard it. “Plan the night before” to make the morning go smoother. We hear it again and again because it’s true. I know because I’ve tried it both ways. I used to think that “if I just get up earlier, I can do all ‘that’ in the morning.” Or I would plan to just have the kids find or remember the list of 507 items that needed to get to school that day. But what would happen is that inevitably something would be lost; an argument would ensue, and tears would be falling by bus pick up.
I hated starting my day off like that. I hated sending my kids away like that.
Taking time to collect items before bed the night before and having them ready alleviates stress and arguments in the morning, makes your mornings more seamless and makes leaving the house simpler.
Some ideas that may help are:
– Set clothing out the night before
– Have backpacks packed and by the door
– Have shoes near the backpacks (one up this with a basket of socks)
– Put all homework, projects, assignments, and books in bags the night before
-Refill water bottles
-Pre-pack snacks or a create “grab and go” snack bin in your pantry or fridge.
-Pack or plan lunch for the next day.
When everything is ready to go, you can spend more time engaging with your kids in the morning, instead of searching for items or being frustrated.
Fresh Perspectives
With each school year, our kids grow more independent and able to be responsible for their own items and schedules. It’s a rite of passage that makes a momma proud and sad all at once.
It’s okay if you are still giving lots of assistance to a younger child while the older ones help gather, collect and prep. There is a season for all of them. This year I will have a 5th grader on one end and a Kindergartner on the other. I want to spend my mornings calmly guiding them out the door, not frantically yelling. As a mom of three, two of them being highly sensitive, having plans in place to protect this morning pace is more important than ever.
I’d love to hear what other tips you have for keeping your morning running smoothly.
Happy Back to School Mama!
