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10 Easy Organization Tips for Back to School!
- Gabrielle Fischer Posted On Aug 28, 2017 | Social-Emotional Learning
The lazy days of summer have come and gone. It’s time for your little ones to take the next big step as they kick off their upcoming school year. Back to school isn’t just about getting backpacks and school supplies ready. It is the time when parents focus on prepping their kids for success in the classroom.The parent organization Learning Heroes conducted a national survey of K-8 parents, which revealed that peer pressure and their child’s happiness topped parent worries. Most parents said it is most important that their child be happy and free of stress vs. topping their academic class.Nearly 9 in 10 parents believed their child was performing at or above their grade level, while only a third of American students are at the level they need to succeed.One of the best things parents can do to help their kids adjust to the change of pace and perform at their academic peak is to get organized!
Let’s look at the top 10 tips to get your kids off to a great start this year…
1. Multiply productivity with a homework station: Clutter can make your head spin. When you’re heads spinning, it’s not easy to learn. Collect all those pencils, papers, and folders in a nifty homework station. Keep supplies stocked so your kids can jump right in and blaze through their homework assignments – imagine what they’ll do when they aren’t concerned about finding a stray highlighter or needed eraser!
2. Snack attacks = no problem: Give your kids the fuel they need by creating a handy snack station! By organizing foods, you can cut much of your lunchtime prep time or after school bites. Bag apples, carrots and other perishable snacks, as well as premade PB&Js, cheese sticks, yogurt, and other munchables and toss them in a drawer in the fridge. Keep a pantry shelf for bags of chips, juice boxes, and sweet treats. This helps kids to minimalize the process of food selection and eat regular, healthy meals.
3. Dress for success with an organized closet: Take some time on Sunday evenings to plan your kids wardrobe for the week ahead. Make the process super simple by creating hanger labels for each day and pre-select outfits. Young fashionistas can take their time to express their personalities without early morning stress of digging through drawers and laundry baskets to find their favorite go-to items.
4. Make a quick getaway: Keep get-out-the-door essentials where you can actually find them. Every parent knows how last minute rushing around can cause uber stress – say goodbye to the days of rushing up and down stairs to grab a forgotten this or that. By creating a designated place by your main household exit, you’ll be able to find that sunscreen stick or those needed swim goggles. Other items to go here are the day’s lunch money, a pen for permission slips … keeping these items handy in a select drawer or basket will help to keep anxieties to a minimum.
5. Organize books and resources: It’s oh so easy for books to go missing in a bustling household. Keep library rentals and course books in book baskets where kids can “borrow” and return them as needed. You’ll find you won’t be scrambling on due dates. And your young learners will have easy access, which will enable them to study when they need to. They may even find material in there they wouldn’t otherwise explore, which helps to encourage and boost an interest in reading.
6. Screen time guidelines: Wipe away the worry of disputes over TV/game/computer time by setting guidelines before the school year begins. Put your concentration on what is most important for your kids… homework, outdoor activity time, and face-to-face socialization should be considered. Help your kids to make a chart that your kids can check off, outlining what needs to happen before its time to plop down in front of a screen.
7. Organize your street shuttle: How often do you drop your kids off from school and they’re tripping on everything they’ve tossed in the vehicle? Clear their way for fantastic day of learning by organizing a section of your ride for the items they tote. Some ideas include hangers out of suction cup hooks and portable containers for your rear hatch or trunk. Use this practice when you pick them up and you won’t be cleaning out your vehicle when you’re ready to kick off evening fun.
8. The meal of champions: Breakfast provides youngsters with the nutrition they need to get going and sustain through their day. Get them off to a great start, minus the mania! Prefilling Tupperware containers with favorite cereals is a great go-to to turn to on busy days. Keep a jug of milk handy with spoons readily available. There’s no reason to not start your kid’s day off right!
9. Celebrate in style: Parents love to display their child’s school work and awards. Make a special place for such items – utilizing magnetic refrigerator frames keeps these items in order while providing an artistic presentation your kids can take part in and pride in. Or think of a post-it board that is in clear view in a family-centric area of the home. This little trick keeps messy papers to a minimum and provide a special touch to the display.
10. Schedule downtime: Keeping a calendar is helpful – especially for parents who have multiple kids in different grades with various interests. Do your best to input regular activities such as groups, clubs, athletics, etc. But go a step beyond and take time for NOTHING. Having time to relax helps young students to reboot and reload, and get ready for their next big adventure.
The coming school year offers the opportunity to start your family off on the right step. What are you waiting for? It’s time to get organized and get those kids out the door and onto the school bus. It’s coming soon… are you ready?
5 Screen-Free Tips and Tricks
We’ve heard it for years – too much screen time is bad for kids’ mental and physical health. But recent research finds little evidence actually correlating screen time to negative physical, social, or emotional results. So, who should we listen to? And how much is too much?
The good news is that newer research actually highlights many benefits of screen time. Research conducted by experimental psychologist Andrew Przybylski at the Oxford Internet Institute found that kids who spent a few hours on their devices each day exhibited better well-being than those who spent none at all. Another researcher, UC Irvine psychologist Candice Odgers, agrees, pointing out that, for many kids, time spent online is positive. Says Odgers, "… if you go in and talk to kids, a lot of them are turning to the internet for social support, information about symptoms, and reported feeling better about themselves when they were online than when they were off. They actually were going online to feel better."
But it feels like there should be limits, right? We’ve all seen kids who seem physically incapable of pulling themselves away from their tablets and exhibit frustration, short-temperedness, or rude behavior after spending time on their digital devices. And we all believe in balance for our kids, right? Exploring all that childhood has to offer, on and off screen?
The most recent guidelines published by the American Academy of Pediatrics agrees that “digital media has both positive and negative effects on healthy development.” And offers the following screen time limits, by age:
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0-18 Months – No screen time other than video chatting.
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18-24 Months – Limit screen time to high quality programming enjoyed together – not alone.
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2-5 Years – 1 Hour a day of high-quality programming.
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6 Years and Up – Consistent limits on time and type of media viewed.
For those of us with older kids, tweens, and teens, these guidelines may seem a little impractical. But don’t panic! The experts seem to agree that different solutions work for different families and that the answer to that burning question, “How much screen time is too much?” is actually pretty personal.
Below are our best tips and tricks for managing screen time, but remember, the bottom line seems to be “Mother (or Father, or Grandma, or Care Giver) knows best.”
1.It’s All About Balance
Screen time should not interfere with homework time, physical exercise, chores, or family time. Prioritize what’s important and let screen time be just one of many experiences your child has each day.
2. Check in Often
You know your kids best. Monitor their behavior during and after screen time – are they irritable? Tired? If so, cutting back might be beneficial. If they’re able to easily move on to another activity, a little more screen time might not hurt them.
3. Model Positive Limits
This one’s tough, but there’s something to the ol’ show, don’t tell. Let your kids see you participating in unplugged activities during your down time. Put that phone down and pick up a book, call a friend, work on aproject, or play a game.
4. Watch the Snacking
It’s easy to succumb to hand-to-mouth eating when entranced by a video or game. Help your kids learn healthy eating habits and portion control by making screen time snack free.
5. Turn It Off Before Bedtime
According to the National Sleep Foundation, “Using TVs, tablets, smartphones, laptops, or other electronic devices before bed delays your body’s internal clock (a.k.a., your circadian rhythm), suppresses the release of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin, and makes it more difficult to fall asleep.” Cut your kids off from screen time at least an hour before bedtime – try reading or listening to quiet music instead.
So all in all, enjoy your screen time, but be responsible about it and set a good example for your little learner! Save it for later!
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The Busbys’ Top 5 Ways to Keep Your Household Running on Time Transitioning from a carefree summer to a structured fall when kids are back in school can be stressful for kids and parents alike. In our house, we use a few easy organizational tricks to ensure our little learners start the day off right.For us, it’s all about preparation and work ahead as much as we can. That means letting our six little helpers contribute to making our household run smoothly. Whether you have your own gaggle or just one, use these kid-friendly tips to make tackling the school year less stressful and more fun!
1. Everyone Pitches In!
Our family is a small army, so everyone gets a job, even for simple tasks like putting toys back in their place, or picking up after arts and crafts. You can make this clean-up fun with simple tweaks; ask each child to pick up five things, or make it a race to see who can clean up the fastest. With a little added excitement, that “huge mess” will be a thing of the past—until tomorrow, of course. Our favorite “cleaning supplies” are the Learning Resources Clean It Set- endless hours of fun!2. Prep Lunches the Night Before
Mornings are naturally hectic, so we try to prep tomorrow’s meals and snacks the night before. While it’s always helpful to be at least a day ahead, you can gain even more time with a couple of easy tricks. Washing fruit for tomorrow’s lunch? Keep the water running a little longer and wash enough for a couple days. Try cutting all your vegetables at once and placing them in sealed containers for each day of the week. As you work, keep a running list of what you need from the store so you won’t ever run out of everything at once. These few minutes at night add up, and will save you valuable time in the morning and throughout the week! The girls love to help us “prep” as well by using their Lunch Basket play food from Learning Resources.3. Make a Schedule, Keep a Schedule (As Best You Can)
Children love structure, and they love it even more when it’s something they can see. Help your kids visualize their own schedules with they help of a simple dry erase board or some construction paper. On each child’s personal schedule, start by outlining daily occurrences (for example, “8AM: Brush Teeth, 12:00PM Nap, 7:00PM Get Ready For Bed”), then highlight the “bigger” things that may be happening in the coming weeks. The more they know, the more they’re likely to stick to the schedule. After they get the hang of it, you can even reward them for a week of good work by an extra trip to the park or an extra 15 minutes of play. We use the Time Activity Set often to help teach the girls all about time and scheduling4. Let Them Choose Their Clothes
This one is fun, but it’s also the best tip for creating a positive back-in-school experience for you and your kids. Before going to bed each night, we lay out the clothes we might want to wear the next day. Then, we let our kids pick out what they want to wear. In addition to the fun of watching what crazy combinations come from little minds, this is also a great way to gain insight into how your child selects and (more importantly) reacts to what he or she wants to wear. Sure, you might have to make a few adjustments (“I don’t know if those flippers really go with that dress”) but when you let your kids make their own decisions, you’re empowering little minds and helping eliminate tomorrow’s morning hurdle in a single step!5. Get to Bed Early
Why is it that kids always seem to have a swell of energy right around bedtime? We may never know the answer to that mystery, but what we do know is that getting your kiddos to bed early is one way of getting around this night time occurrence. We start early every night, and get everyone ready with enough time to brush teeth, deal with last-minute hunger, and get our nightly stories in. This new early bird schedule may be met with opposition at first, especially with older kids, but stick to it! This new pattern will quickly set in and your child will start to understand how an earlier bedtime routine doesn’t seem so bad after all. One of the ways we ease the girls into sleep mode is by turning on their Shining Stars projector- which beams the stars onto their walls and ceiling and makes them feel super cozy. Learning is Where We Play:Learn Through Play With the Busbys READ MORE
