Back to School, getting organized

Do you remember the days of shopping for school supplies? Walking next to your mom, as she meticulously checked off the requirement list? I don’t know about you, but I always loved organizing all of those supplies again and again, as the first day of school grew near. Now that I’m a mother, the first day of school still brings back many of those feelings of anticipation, but they also edge into the frantic if I don’t spend a bit of time preparing in advance.

We have an entirely new ball game this year, with some schools returning virtually. Many of us are going to have to juggle carving out a homeschool space, while preparing our kids to be as successful as possible in entirely new circumstances. If you’re imagining your dining table heaped high with papers and clutter, for the rest of your life, you’re not alone. But for every problem, there are typically several great organizing solutions. With proper planning, we can all get this year off to a smooth start!

My daughter is in high school, also doing running start at the college virtually, and taking several advanced art classes- which means tons of art supplies. We spent some time this past weekend, going through what she had and creating a rolling supply cart that she can easily move between work in her room, or the kitchen table when she needs more space. This idea can be adapted for all ages of school children and would work well for all types of school supplies or even just daily homework items if you’re lucky enough to be fully back to school.

As with most organizing projects, it’s best to begin by first deciding a few things about where you’ll be working, and then choose the best storage, furnishings and containers to fit that space. We chose a Target utility cart for our needs because it was affordable, available and had the rolling wheels we needed for transporting it from room to room. Then, we spent some time gathering up all of my daughter’s art supplies, and dumping them onto the kitchen table, making piles of like with like. This might seem like a daunting task, but it’s actually a really important part of the process, as it allows you to see exactly what you have, what you might need, and edit out anything you no longer need or use.

Once we finished that task, we knew what we were dealing with. That helped us create a plan for organizing all of those items. We used cleaned tin cans that had been rescued from the recycling bin (hit with a coat of matte black spray paint) in order to create cute containers, at no cost. After assessing the remaining supplies, (cart measurements in hand) we swung by Target for a couple of inexpensive containment bins. (We actually found ours in the bath section, which is a great lesson in looking outside the box sometimes.) Once home, we fitted things into the cart, creating logical categories. Finally, because we can’t help ourselves here on The Orderly Space team, we added some of our custom labels for clarity and ease of tidying up. Labels are cute of course, but I’d also like to point out, that they serve a purpose. They help our kids stick to a pre-determined, well-functioning system, which in turn helps us keep our sanity when it’s time to clean up or look for something specific. And to be honest, almost all kids love an easy to follow and predictable system.

Additional organizing options-

If you happen to have multiple kids, working at the kitchen table… divided turntables, or supply caddies like these, can be used in the center of the table, but can be tucked elsewhere when it’s time for family dinner together. A set of cubbies like these with pull out bins can also work really well when homeschooling multiple children. Teenagers can typically be set for success with a desk in their rooms, but if space is tight, utilizing vertical space with things such as peg boards, shelving, or cork pin boards can help keep them on track. And it goes without saying, that plenty of good bins with clear labels are always helpful in any stage of schooling.

Some helpful tips as you prepare -

1. Relax. Keep in mind that you’re a parent, not a paid teacher. Things won’t always go as expected but that’s okay. Sometimes the things that go the most haywire make the best memories later on.

2. Keep everything as flexible as you can, evaluating regularly to see what’s working well as well as what needs tweaking.

3. Work together, to create the bones of a schedule for each day. Display it in a centrally located area so that everyone can refer to it as needed. Make sure to include plenty of breaks, healthy snack times, short walks in the fresh air and one-minute dance parties.

4. Agree that school time is device-free time unless the device is specifically for school.

5. It could help to have a designated charging area for phones and such while not in use.

6. Save fun screen time as a reward when the day’s objectives have been completed.

7. Plan your workspaces in advance so that each child knows their own work spot. Try to avoid high-traffic areas and ways to keep distractions at a minimum for those hours of work time.

8. Take stock at the close of each school day, plugging in school devices for the next day, going over any pre-planned zoom calls or meetings scheduled for the following day and tidying away stray school items from workspaces.

9. Create a “needs attention” basket in plain sight, where anything you might need to go over can be placed. Each evening, make sure to take a few moments to sort papers, send emails, jot down questions and file things away or recycle.

10. Plan ahead and create some paper zones. A simple binder with a tab for each child and some pockets can work well as a working file for printed packets from teachers, instrument contracts, sports calendars, papers that need saving etc. And those precious works of art, year photos, teacher notes and keepsakes could get tucked right into our Orderly Space Keepsake bins. These work really well stored on a high shelf in your child’s bedroom closet.

What have been your biggest organizing challenges as you prepare for the school year? We would love to hear any great tips you’ve found helpful as well!