3 Important Areas To Get Organized BEFORE The School Year

Summer is coming to an end, and school will start sooner than you think. To get you prepared for the busy season of running around and helping your kids with schoolwork, today's post will talk about the three areas to set up to help make the school year organized. Doing this before school starts will minimize the mayhem.

1st Important Area: Create a space for your child to do their homework.

Let's find the right desk and space for your children. They may have specific demands, so asking them these questions will help determine their needs.

• Where does your child do his or her homework?
• Is it a convenient space?
• Do they prefer to be on the floor? Do they like the dining room table?
• Can it hold everything your child needs during the school year?
• Are they going from place to place to find items for their projects?

Make sure it is a quiet space and includes all their supplies, papers, and resources to save time. Below are several posts to help you get your child's homework space and desk.

Here are some examples of student desks from Amazon (Affiliate).

If possible, the desk should have at least one drawer for supplies. If not, look for desks with shelves. It will help keep the papers, books, and other items needed for homework.

If you have enough room, you can buy a rolling cart for them to store all their supplies on for easy access. I found these on Amazon (affiliate).

Don't forget to get a comfortable chair. An ergonomic chair is ideal for the student but isn't necessary unless he or she is home-schooled and will be in the chair for a while. A padded chair works best for daily sitting. Select a chair without armrests or a very low armrest. It doesn't allow the person to get close to the desk, which may create back issues later. Here are some examples from Amazon (affiliate).

Supplies can get out of hand too. So to make them more manageable, check out these posts about organizing kids' supplies.

SCHOOL SUPPLY ORGANIZER FOR HOME MADE EASY

HOW TO UPCYCLE PLANTERS INTO A DESK PENCIL HOLDER

2nd Important Area: Purchase the right weekly calendar/agenda planner for them to use.

Now, on to the time management and tracking projects. Answer these questions to help you determine what your child needs in a planner.

• Do your kids like to write things down on paper to remember what they need to do?
• Or do they prefer to write it on an app planner?
• Do they like to see their entire week or just the day?
• Do they prefer to see all the activities they need to do in one place or have different sections to lay them out separately?

I recommend a planner that has the entire week viewed on two pages. It should have checkboxes, a place for after-school activities, and a place to write the classes' homework assignments. To save themselves from hand cramps, you can type labels with the subject names, room numbers, and teacher's names and make it easier for the student to stick them on the calendar days and binders to help speed up the collection process of their books and writing their homework.

Full Disclosure: This is an affiliate link for these weekly planners by Order out of Chaos.  I receive a referral fee if you click on the image and purchase time management tools on their site. 

While having a great planner is important, it's also important to know how to use it effectively. Here are some posts to help with time management.

HOW TO IMPROVE TIME MANAGEMENT WITH AN ACADEMIC PLANNER

ACADEMIC PLANNER FOR TEENS TO MAKE THEM A TIME MANAGEMENT EXPERT

3rd important area: Be sure there is a great support system for your kids.

You and your child will not know everything that will happen this year so assure them that you are there for them. Reassure them that they can come to you when they have problems or concerns about school, social, or anything else. Also, remind them that their grandparents, teachers, and counselor are also there to help them. Kids easily forget that they are not alone, so keep telling them. Your children will appreciate you telling them you are there to support them.

Many stressors happen in specific years throughout your child's education; I have included several other posts to give you more information.

Elementary School Back To School Organization posts:

HOW TO ORGANIZE AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENT FOR SUCCESS

FIVE MUST-DOS BEFORE GOING BACK TO SCHOOL AMID COVID

BACK TO SCHOOL STUDENT ORGANIZATION CHALLENGE

THE REASONS I LOVE ORDER OUT OF CHAOS® ACADEMIC PLANNER

Middle School Back to School Organization posts: 

HOW TO REDUCE ACADEMIC STRESS FOR MIDDLE SCHOOLERS

5 MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT ORGANIZING ESSENTIALS TO HELP THEM SUCCEED

EFFECTIVE WAYS TO OVERCOME YOUR CHILD'S STUDYING PROBLEMS

Keeping these three areas organized and maintaining them throughout the school year will help your child succeed. Visiting these areas to ensure they are organized before the school year will help your children adapt to the new changes.

Other experts' advice.

Feel free to check out these articles from popular publications that will give you more tips on what to do to get the school year organized.

50 Genius Back-to-School Organization Ideas to Kick Off the School Year Right

6 Ways to Get Organized for Back-to-School

30 Fantastic Ways to Organize the House Before Back to School

Now it's your turn. What areas do you organize before your child starts school? Please leave a comment below. I would love to hear from you.