3 Tips For Organized Back To School Schedule

For many, August or September begins the start of the new school year.  There are last vacations to take, family reunions to attend, cookouts to go to, and fairs to visit. 

Most of us dread of school starting again because it means a much more scheduled day and more tasks to be completed each day.  There are children to wake up, lunches to be made, decisions on what to wear, breakfasts to prepare, papers to fill out and buses to catch.  The mornings can get stressful quickly.  The evenings can be hectic too with homework and sports. 

To make sure all is accomplished and everyone makes it to their place on time with everything they need, a routine must be started and maintained.  This is the first tip for an organized return to school.  Make a list of everything that will be different as school starts.  This might include wake up times, lunches to be made, buses to catch, car pools to be scheduled, bedtime schedule, and homework times. 

The second tip is to decide when each of the tasks on the list will be completed.  Can some be completed the night before?  Making lunches the night before is the easiest item to move from morning to night.  For younger children, clothes can be laid out the night before.  There should be an area for book bags, coats and shoes, so the morning is not taken up by looking for all these items. 

The third tip is to use lists.  Younger children do well with lists and begin to understand the importance of a schedule and completing tasks.  Make the list fun by adding artwork or large check boxes.  For older kids, maybe try texting it to them.  After a few weeks of the start of school, the lists can be used for chores instead of the daily routine as that will have become a habit by then.