a back to school get organized challenge!

[binny]

OK I have exactly one month until the kidlets all go back to school! ( hear the choir in the background? HALLELUJIAH! :lol: jk)


So today starts my back to school get organized kick.


We moved into this new house at the end of last school year and my launch pad has changed dramatically. I didnt have a coat closet before so everything was as tidy as I could keep it in the family room next to the garage.
I have a new space for the calendar, a bulletin board and a desk just for them.

what I have done so far:

1) I have purchased at yard sales 3 "personal" sized bulletin boards these are 11.5" X 18" I painted them all one colour to match my decor and printed out each childs name and laminated it to put across the top.
This will be their area to post things they need to remember.

2) I have a seperate one in my office for them to put things that need to be signed etc.

3) Above the bulletins boards will be a wipe off calendar. This is in the hallway to the garage so everyone will pass it every day.

4) just down from that hallway is the kids desk so I put a 3 tray paper organizer ( again 1 for each kid) to put papers that are finished or that I have signed and need to go back.



What I have left to do

1) figure out if the shoe rack is ok in the laundry room or if I can get away with just using the coat closet. Pros, its right by the garage door and the front hallway is not
Cons: it looks messier

2) organize the kids desk so they can find the stuff they need right away to do their homework and stay organized.

3) find and or buy more drawer organizers. This is a big one. We have a tonne of drawer space.

4) hang coat rack by the back door. Yes I have a coat closet now but we all getting them to use it will be a whole new issue lol

5) Figure out what to store and where to store mittens/hats etc. Again coat closet would the ligical space but how? Should I get cubbies? Baskets? a stacker?

6) figure out how the routine is going to work. This is our first year at Middle School and it starts much earlier. Must start training ds to get up earlier without being crab ( yeah I know good luck with that)




So that is MY plan!


What is your plan to curb the back to school chaos?





Who wants to join me in my obsession?

 

[mytwotinks]

O.K.!!!! Now you have me excited to decide exactly what I need to do to get ready for school. We have been using my house as a trash dumpster all summer and I am going crazy!!!! My girls are going on a weekend trip (first ever) with Gma and Gpa this weekend and I am going to clean like crazy! I'll figure out what brilliant things I am going to do to get ready for the year and let you know!

 

[binny]

YES!!! Another convert to my kindgdom! ( see my tag lol)


Please post your plan I would love to see it!




How old are your kids? mine are/ will be when school starts 11, 8 and 7

I totally know what you mean about them junking everything. Makes me insane! We've only lived here 8 weeks youd think they didnt have that much opportunity but nooooooooooooooo LOL


My oldest is at camp this week so Ive taken the liberty to clear out some stuff as well His room isnt too bad but the desk is terrible and needs to be cleaned out desperately!


Im using a lot of information from www.organizedhome.net if you want to check it out and have this same challenge posted there

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Binny that sounds great!

Right now I am going through closets. I went through mine and 9yodd's. Good grief the girl needs all NEW pants and long sleeve shirts.

I did a little back to school supplies shopping with my soon to be HS sophmore.

Older dd's picture day is on Aug. 1st, so I need to get her hair done and some shopping for her.

 

[binny]

Hey MM welcome

Here we go again, eh?


Great tip you probably already know but when youre folding towles, instead of folding them, roll them! Saves space and they stay much neater.

Also when doing sheets, fold the fitted in the flat, fold one pillow case inside of that and then put all of it in the last pillowcase saves space and the sheets stay together so when yo go to change you know where all the matching pices are Another ideas is to fold everything neatly into the flat sheet. Same effect.



Im working on my linen closet now I got the bulletin boards painted and hung, the calendar hung above that and I finished the stain in my kitchen ( ok that has nothing to do with organizing, its just been on my to do list for weeks and it feels good to get rid of it! )

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I have to do a few things before heading to camp to pick up my 6yo so don't have much time to absorb this right now, but I do need to get organized before school starts.

I did want to comment on what works for us for the mitten and hat storage. We have one of the shoe storage things that goes on the back of a door that we use for the gloves, hats, and mittens. We have it on the laundry/mud room door, which is where the kids come in and each person (adults included) have pockets to put hats and gloves. Works real well to keep them orgaized and off the floor. If they are still damp they can be left hanging out and they'll dry since the pockets have elastic and are mesh. I got ours at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. So much better than the bucket we used to put them in since we would have to dump the contents on the floor to find a match.

 

[binny]

Great Tip T&B thanks!!

I can definately do that one.

 

[golfgal]

I want to see pictures of your staging area.

I have no idea what I am doing to organize for back to school yet. I am trying to organize the house, we just moved too. I have a huge laundry room that I want to put lockers into for storing coats, boots, etc. We have a long coat hanger in there now but it is hung WAY too low to be of any use. We are going to paint that room so when we do that we will move the coat rack.

 

[CEDmom]

I just cleaned out DD's backpack from the end of the school year. I guess you'd say I need help!!! Luckily we moved into a much bigger house so I have lots of room to set things up. Right now I have DD's camp schedule on the inside of the pantry door so that's where the school calendar will go. I have a few kitchen cabinets just for her craft stuff so I'll move some of that out and put in her school stuff. We have plenty of room in the coat closet for her backpack so it'll go there when not in use.

 

[Brianne]

I'm impressed.

Mine go back to school next week so we're already pretty much ready to go--backpacks are together, uniforms ready.

This post does remind me that I need to buy some totes though--the file folders I'd been using to keep paperwork aren't working out because it seems like they send home so many report card/progress reports/awards/etc these days. My file drawer isn't large enough!

One thing I bought to keep track of things last year & plan to buy again soon is this calendar:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/09...8970/ref=pd_bbs_5/104-1872175-7859137?ie=UTF8

It's gigantic--the date boxes are very large, which is something I need when there's multiple things going on some days! The kids know to refer to it when they have questions about activities.

 

[binny]

nice one!
This is what I use on my fridge

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/15...=pd_bbs_1/102-7478368-6989749?ie=UTF8&s=books



I like that it has 5 blocks for each day. So each member of my family gets a space. I have the wipe off one on top of the bulletin boards so we have to see it when we walk out.


Ill post a picture of the launch pad when I get it more put together



Great ideas everyone keep them coming!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I just cleaned out DD's backpack from the end of the school year. I guess you'd say I need help!!!

I still have all the papers that Jake brought home from kindergarten that I need to go through and decide what I want to keep. I know that I do want to keep a lot of them, but I want to go through the stuff and make sure I'm not keeping too much. Right now it's just clutter on a counter, so I need to do something with it.

 

[PaulaSue]

I did a bunch of organizing last school year but I am sure I can tweak a few things.

My spots will be the place to temp store their school work/art work that is not hung up until it is trashed or stored in the forever box. I have a 4 level (1 each girl and 1 for overflow art )organizer there but it is not quite working as good as I like on the bakers rack in the kitchen.

I also would like to work on the overflow school supplies I have been collecting for the girls. On the black metal shelves I also have the stockpile of art/gifts there for them or their friends in my office/panty.

 

[mchames]

Hey Binny! Want to come to Atlanta and organize my house?

We are a complete disaster and need professional help.

Mary

 

[lovmy2girls]

May the gods of organization smile upon you!

 

[AtlantaSue]

Hi, Binny!
Sounds like you're off to a good start. Like you, this will be our 1st "Back to School" in our new home. I've been doing similar things, but I wanted to say that I liked your idea about getting my girls each their OWN bulletin board ( or something similar) to get them to start keeping track of things - not just me!!

My girls are going into 4th and 2nd grade, and up until now, I've always kept track of their schedules. But after reading your post, I was thinking maybe I should start at least encouraging them to be thinking more for themselves in that area - well, the 9 year old mostly!

Anyway - thanks for posting!

 

[binny]

Sure MC, send me a ticket and Ill come right over


Sue, you would be surprised. Even my dd7 who has some delays has picked up on the routine. The big deal here is enforcing it, once they get it down we're usualy ok.

 

[mudnuri]

Just adding a OCD type side of things LOL...

One of the issue's I have (notice one of...) is organization....so.....here's what we do here.

DD's will be 8 and 10 and in grades 4 and 5 at the start of the school year. This system has been tweeked since they were in Kindergarten..

1st- in our hallway outside- is where the shoes/boots go. They each have a shoe rack. Yes, everyone can see it, but we dont wear shoes in the house- so it works out in the hallway. We also hung coat racks- along the entire wall. 1/2 of them are at their height, and the other half are higher for us grown ups.

They each have a rubbermade type drawer thingy. Hows that for a technical term! It has 6 drawers, 4 smaller, and 2 large. In this is everything they could need for homework. All pens, pencils, markers, rulers, etc... They each have their own 'stash'... in the larger 2 drawers are extra folders, notebooks, and plain paper for drawing etc.

They do homework upon entering the house after school. They each grab a snack, and head to the table in the dinning room. They grab their drawer thingy thats on wheels, and wheel it over next to them. Everything is right where they need it.

As they finish homework, they empty out the backpacks. Papers that need to be signed are put in a tray on my desk. Important papers like lunch menu's etc. are hung on the cork board in the kitchen. Sport schedules and such are there as well. Lunch bags and backpacks are then hung in the hallway next to their coats.

On the wall in the dinning room near my computer is the 'master calendar'. This has EVERYTHING we need to do on it. Each kid is a different color pen. Every night after dinner they check the calendar, and get whatever is needed for the next days activities.

Generally- through September, I'll put on it "gym- Goo" "library-Dooz" so they are reminded for that first month of what day they need specifics for school. But come October, they're on their own. I may remind for a few days, but after that, they remember what day they have what. If it's a night before library- they will get their books and put them in their back packs.

I have gotten MUCH better at not saving everything they bring home!.. i do have a rubbermade tote in the hall closet that I put stuff in throughout the year then hoe it out every now and then. Of course, they're older now so they dont bring home many finger paintings LOL...

One thing I have found is that if we do not have a daily schedule, everything goes out the window. This is why when they walk through the door, homework is done. They do NOTHING before that. No play outdoors, no tv... By doing it this way, once its completed, they have the rest of the evening to do what they want. Starting this way makes it easier when Soccer and Basketball start~!..

Anywho- thats my deal.

Brandy

 

[binny]

Thats what I do too Brandy, they grab a snack then start on their homework. It wont get done any other way.

 

[JessetheCowgirl]

I love the 3 separate bulletin boards idea!!

Binny--are you painting all 3 separate colors? Just the frame or the cork part, too?

Another question for you---how/where do you organize all of the "keepsake" papers and projects that come home? I have a tote for each kid FULL of stuff from preschool onward that I have got to go through/weed out/organize.

Thanks!!!