Sabrinas Organizing

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Home Organization
  • Healthy Recipes
  • DIY Home Projects
  • Browse Gift Ideas
  • Donate Stuff
  • Recycling Events 2025
  • Solution Consultations
  • Virtual Organizing
  • Disclosure Policy and Cookies
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home Organization
  • Healthy Recipes
  • DIY Home Projects
  • Browse Gift Ideas
  • Donate Stuff
  • Recycling Events 2025
  • Solution Consultations
  • Virtual Organizing
  • Disclosure Policy and Cookies
×
Home » Home Organization » Kids » 12-16 Yrs Old Kids » Middle School Student Organizing Essentials To Help Them Succeed

Middle School Student Organizing Essentials To Help Them Succeed

Last Modified: February 18, 2025 Sabrina Quairoli This blog uses cookies. It also has affiliate links. We earn sponsored content income.

Do you remember your middle school years? Do you remember being afraid of how you would manage changing classes all day long? It can be pretty stressful. Remember, middle school is a transition to high school. It allows students to be more independent and find their style of getting their work done. It's a great place to learn essential organizing habits and test out different ones to find the one that works. Unfortunately, many kids and parents do not get guidance on how to figure out what works.

Here are five organizing essentials to help you and your student make this middle school year a huge success.

Jump to:
  • Organizing Essential #1: Make a study space for your student.  
  • Organizing Essential #2: Have a good place to transport papers from school.
  • Organizing Essential #3: Get a great planner to help manage your time.
  • Organizing Essential #4: Create a place to store stuff that needs to go to school.
  • Organizing Essential #5: Have an area to store all the afterschool activities.
  • Update 2023: Some more middle school essential items and tips:

Organizing Essential #1: Make a study space for your student.  

Not all students have a designated study area. Find a place that has minimal distraction and allows the student to focus. Have items like a desk, a chair (Affiliate Link), a place for supplies, and a laptop or tablet so they can get online to research or get homework from the teacher's website.

Organizing Essential #2: Have a good place to transport papers from school.

Many middle schoolers can quickly lose documents from their binder to their lockers to their backpack, so having a folder or something for each subject will help them stay on top of the paper clutter. Check out the way we set up our son's backpack for inspiration.

backpack filled with organization supplies

Getting the right backpack is essential for back support, storage, and organization. Invest in this backpack before school starts, and they will most likely be able to use it for at least three or four years.

Having compartments will make organizing a variety of things more manageable. And will allow for easy access. These backpacks are also great for travel and work.

Organizing Essential #3: Get a great planner to help manage your time.

I particularly like "Order out of Chaos" Academic Planner (affiliate link) for middle school students. It has areas for managing time as well as managing your assignments. Click this link that talks about last week's post on ways to improve the student's success with using a planner.

OOOC Planners in various colors

Read about why I love these planners so much! The Reasons I Love Order Out of Chaos Academic Planners.

Organizing Essential #4: Create a place to store stuff that needs to go to school.

Keeping your drop zone for your middle school student organized will keep your hallway or mud room organized. Have an area in your home that your students know is their place to store anything that comes home or anything that needs to go to school. This could be a cubby system that keeps your student's stuff organized, like the one below. Or it could be a section in a closet. Here is an example of one I had for my kids. Click on the image to read more about the transformation.

After Foyer Bins for Kids

Organizing Essential #5: Have an area to store all the afterschool activities.

Another middle school student essential for a successful year is to help them keep their afterschool activities' equipment organized so they never get lost. This can be in an insulated garage (Affiliate Link), a section of the bedroom, or a mudroom or larger foyer. Customized containers for a particular sport help keep the items organized. Check out my organizing small sports equipment post to give you some ideas. 

Organizing Small Sports Equipment

Update 2023: Some more middle school essential items and tips:

Below are some other middle school essential items and tips that may help you and your student.

  1. Keep an open line of communication with the middle school student. The student may keep their problems to themselves. Asking open-ended questions about their day will help them to elaborate on their situation.
  2. Reach out and meet new people. Trying different clubs and activities will help find the right place for the student. In the middle school years, they find out what they like and what type of people they want to be around.
  3. Be yourself and kind to others. Middle school students can feel a little shy. But instead, take a chance and ask people how to help. Minimize the gossip and minimize the drama.
  4. Middle school is hard at first. But it will get better and easier to manage. Be patient through the process.

I hope these steps help you keep your middle school student get organized and stay on track for a successful school year. Do you have any tips that will help middle school students? Please leave a comment below. I would love to hear from you.

Please note these are affiliate links through Amazon (Affiliate Link), and at no additional cost to you, I will earn affiliate fees if you decide to make a purchase.

5 middle school student organizing essentials to help them succeed
Middle School Student Organizing Essentials To Help Them Succeed - featured image
(Visited 1,987 times, 4 visits today)

More 12-16 Yrs Old Kids Organization Tips

  • Child holding a book and the title of the post overlay on top
    Lots of Children's Books About Organizing Their Lives
  • How to Improve Time Management With an Academic Planner - square image
    How To Improve Time Management with An Academic Planner
  • Back to School Student Organization Challenge
    Back to School Student Organization Challenge
  • Two Calendar a Working Parent Needs to Stay Organized
    Two Calendars Busy Moms Need for Optimal Productivity

About Sabrina Quairoli

I love sharing my passion for organizing life and home. I hope you get inspired when visiting my home organizing tips, quick weeknight recipes, party planning ideas, and DIY organizing projects. Visit the About Me page to read my story.

Comments

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. Jeri says

    August 16, 2016 at 12:47 am

    The one thing I realized while teaching was that I needed to give the students time to organize their papers. It meant little if I gave them five binder categories and never revisited the system I'd devised. Of course, the more naturally organized students stayed on top of things, but most wouldn't keep things organized enough to be able to pull off a writing portfolio at the end of the year without time devoted to paper shuffling.

    Reply
  2. wendy says

    August 12, 2016 at 12:11 pm

    Great tips! Thank you for sharing. I teach middle school so can use this information when helping to organize the kids.

    Reply
    • Sabrina says

      August 12, 2016 at 3:53 pm

      Thanks for stopping by and commenting. =)

      Reply
  3. Kecia @ Online Income Mom says

    August 12, 2016 at 9:41 am

    I think a planner is a great idea for middle schoolers. They have to learn how to write down homework and other things they need to do for school.

    Reply
    • Sabrina says

      August 12, 2016 at 3:52 pm

      Thanks for stopping by and commenting. =)

      Reply
Sabrina owner of Sabrina's Organizing and Admin Services

Hey, I'm Sabrina!

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog, where you can find Home Organizing, Quick Weeknight Recipes, and DIY Craft Home Organizing Projects. Feel free to browse around to get motivated to improve your home life!

Learn More
Sabrina Morresi Quairoli Received the NAPO Certificate of Study for Essentials of Productivity - digital badge
Sabrina's Organizing Supporting individuals since 1997 BANNER 25 year banner
Ready to Streamline Your Home - Get this year's Declutter Challenge ebook for Free long image

Recent Posts

  • moving truck in front of a house - square image - title at top right corner
    Important Moving Checklists Every Person Needs
  • How to Make Repurposed DIY Day of the Week Closet Dividers in Square with title
    How to Make Repurposed DIY Day of the Week Closet Dividers
  • square image - a gift with a tag on it with the title of the article at the right corner.
    Great Gift Kit Ideas For Your Loved Ones
  • Chicken Sweet Potatoes Bean Stew Recipe square image
    Chicken, Sweet Potatoes, Bean Stew Recipe

Popular Posts

  • Yummy Curry Chicken Salad Recipe
  • Places To Donate Jewelry You Do Not Want
  • The Ultimate Cruise Packing List Everyone Needs
  • 43 Positive Mantra Sayings to Keep You on the…
  • This Year's Recycling and Shredder Events
  • 13 Ways to Make Your Bedroom An Oasis
  • Incredibly Easy Tips for Organizing An Older Adult's Home
  • Welcome to Sabrina's Organizing
  • 7 Book Storage Solutions For Small Spaces
  • Powerful Professional Organizer Advise For New Organizers
Get your free copy of our Home Management binder ebook
Get our Holiday Season Planner to help you save money and time with free checklists and Printables to make this season amazing

Amazon Disclosure


Sabrina's Organizing blog is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Sabrina’s Organizing Web Stories

Click on this badge to learn about what this badge means on NAPO.net

Sabrina's Organizing & Admin Services Registered & Insured through 2025

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • About Me
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclosure Policy and Cookies
  • Google Analytics Privacy Statement and Opt-Out Option
Sabrina's Organizing Supporting individuals since 1997 BANNER 25 year banner

Newsletter and Certifications

  • Sign Up for emails and updates
  • 2024 NAPO Business Stamp of Approval
Sabrina Morresi-Quairoli received Essentials of Productivity Certificate of Study from NAPO.

Contact

  • Contact
  • Solution Consultations
  • Virtual Organizing Consults
  • Write for Us
Productivity and Organizing Blog Carnival Ultimate Star Blogger Member
Sabrina's Organizing,  Sabrina's Admin Services, Organizing on a Dime, and Recipes to Chew On blogs by Sabrina Morresi-Quairoli is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Copyright © 2011-2025. Sabrina's Organizing Blog content by Sabrina Morresi-Quairoli is licensed. Based on work at Sabrina’s Organizing blog, social media content, and newsletters shared, permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available when contacting me.

Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}