Back-to-School Organizing

Date Posted: Jul 24, 2008

Plan a time with your child to organize school supplies and homework space. Be realistic and plan around the way that your child does homework. If your child has always done homework in the family room, dining room or kitchen, don't expect that to change. Instead, find a place in the room to store supplies (drawers in a piece of furniture work well). If you don't have a place for school supplies in the room, consider purchasing a rolling filing cart for this purpose. Having supplies handy will save time and minimize delaying tactics in doing homework. If your child does homework in his/her room, then have a desk or work table in the room and establish a place for supplies. Make sure that you involve your child in these decisions. Solutions will not work if your ideas do not fit with the way the child does things.

Take the time to have your children decide where they want to keep their possessions. Help them decide which items are important to them and which ones they might want to give away. The August 2008 Good Housekeeping magazine has ideas on usig walls as storage places. You can hang up a holder for magazines (Helix in downtown Athens sells these in bright colors), use bulletin or magnetic boards, and hooks. A shoe organizer on the door can be used to hold all kinds of things. If dirty clothing on the floor is a problem, make sure you have a hamper large enough and in a convenient place. Sports equipment and toys used outside could be stored in the garage, pantry or other space near where the items are used. To maintain your new system, schedule a time each day to put things in order (before going to bed and before dinner are typical). Doing this each day will develop good habits and life will run smoother for everyone in the household.