Back To School | Take Control Organizing

Back To School – Organize your Backpack

Posted on August 21, 2009 by Nikki in Back to School, Office Organizing, Paper Management, Productivity

Organize your Backpack!

There is no doubt the backpack can become a “dumping ground” for everything and anything… It’s easy for a student to grab and throw whatever is in their way into this thing! Finding your homework can become a disorganized mess!

Here are some great tips in helping students organize their backpacks, so next time when the teacher says bring out your homework.. Your child will be able to do so and on time!

1. Make sure you have the “Right” backpack for your child’s needs. Make a list of everything they will need to carry with them. What has to stay in the backpack and what can go into a locker or cubby at school. This will determine the size of backpack you need.

2. Teach your child how to use the backpack. You and the child should designate each pocket to have a purpose. Separate your things by type. For example all books and binders go in the big section, calculators, pens, etc. go into one section, water bottle on the side. etc. etc. Make sure important information like emergency phone numbers is located in an easy spot for the child to always find. I suggest not having your home address in the backpack, in case it is lost and you have house keys in it. Better to be safe than sorry. Teach your child for everything there is a place. If each item has a home within the backpack then each item will be easy to find and easy to return!

3. Do you need more than one bag? It may be useful to have a smaller bag inside the backpack for gym clothes or after school activities things. Keeping these items separated from the other things pertaining to school.

4. Have a designated spot in your home where the backpack is always suppose to go. Every night, go through the backpack and do a quick unload, sort, and toss. File any loose papers that need to go into the binder. If you do this daily, the backpack will stay maintained and will not look like a paper bomb went off in it!

5. Be prepared- pack your backpack the night before. Make sure all homework is completed and anything that needs to go to school the next day is already in the backpack. The more you can prepare the night before, the easier your morning will be!

Happy Organizing!

Back To School – Family Meeting

Posted on August 19, 2009 by Nikki in Back to School, Home Organizing

Calling all Family Members to the Living Room!

Being a part of a family and a household is somewhat like being an employee in a company! I believe in structure and I believe in holding family meetings. I have found this to be extremely important to my children and to my own sanity. If everyone knows the rules and the boundaries, then they know what to expect!

The first thing you need to do is to prepare for your meeting. If you are not a single parent than all caregivers should be involved, so everyone is on the same wave length, again, this way there are no surprises and everyone knows what to expect. Decide what to cover in the meeting. Write it all down, and give each member of the family a meeting agenda, you could also use a bulletin board to display key topics.

Because of the upcoming transition of going back to school, here are some ideas on what to cover:

1. The new schedule for school- Discuss who is going where, when they are going, and how they are getting there. Talk about what the morning and nightly routines will be in your home (I will discuss more on routines on an upcoming blog post – check back later).

2. Look at the calendar – Discuss how sports practices and other activities are going to effect the schedule, make sure everyone is aware of the changes. In an earlier post, I talked about the family calendar, bring this out as a visual and show your family how it works.

3. Make the expectations clear- Every house has different rules depending on your values and beliefs, this is a great time to review those rules with clear expectations, and clear consequences. Some families change up the rules for TV and video games due to school, make sure you talk about these issues.

4. Chore Responsibilities- This is a great time to review chores with your children or to establish new ones if necessary. Use charts as a visual for kids, especially younger ones, they love being able to put a sticker on their chart after completion.

The Family Meeting is a great way for the family to come together and be a part of how the household is ran. If everyone is clear on what is coming up, everyone will feel more in control of their time, and there are no surprises. Make the meeting a habit, it’s not meant to do only once, like with any organizing system you put in place, you need to review and tweak as things change. Make it fun and light, and make it short. Kids do not have a long attention span, I learned the hard way, to make the meeting short and sweet! Allow for questions and discussion, this is a great way to see your kids point of view and be able to problem solve as a family unit.

Discussing these issues leads to living a more organized lifestyle, which is something your children will carry with them for the rest of their lives!

Happy Organizing! (Next blog post – How to Organize your BackPack!)

How Does Your Student Learn?

Posted on August 11, 2009 by Nikki in Back to School

It’ time to think about it… Back to School! Are you ready? Most important is your child ready?

Just as we start to get used to summer, we are reminded when we walk into a store that back to school is just around the corner. I have been doing research on how best to be organized during this transition, I hope to teach you what I have learned myself… the next few blog posts will be dedicated to just this… Back to School Organizing Tips!

The book I am currently reading is the The Organized Student by Donna Goldberg. Here are some points that I thought were worth sharing.. As well as some of my own input and ideas!

1. A cluttered room is not always a sign of a disorganized student. Being messy and being disorganized are two different things. Being organized is about finding the things you need when you need them. If your child is able to find his clothes, turn his homework in on time, be prepared for tests, gets good grades, then disorganization is probably not the issue. He or she has their own system that works for them. If the child has a chaotic bedroom and exhibits signs of academic distress, then learning organization skills could be of value to this child. Like any other skill, organization has to be taught. This is not to say you should be satisfied with a messy room, you have to go by what rules and values you set in your home about these issues, however it is something for you to think about. Not too jump to the conclusion that disorganization is the problem.

2. To teach your children about organization, it is important to know how they learn. It is also important to involve them in the process of setting up a system. They need to create their own solutions, that fit their needs not what you think they need. You want your children to be invested in the process or the system stays in place. Think of this as a family project, first talk about the current problems, what items get lost, what do your kids struggle with most, what is their day like at school, ask questions and get their input. This will be the beginning of setting some defined goals, then help your children figure out what tools they need etc. This is the beginning of setting up a plan.

3. How does your child learn? If your child is a visual learner, color and sequence will play a large role in his organizing system, they will learn by watching what you do. If your child learns through listening, make sure to explain what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and how they should use the tool. If they learn by doing, make sure the organizing process is hands on, let them assemble and manipulate the tools and show you how they plan to use them. In any case, remember they need to be involved!

For the next month or so, my blog posts will be dedicated to Back to School Organizing. If you have specific questions please feel free to email me @ info@takecontrolorganizing.com, and I would be happy to get back to you and consider your question as a topic for a blog post.

If you have a child or children at home and you would like to set up a new organizing system for the upcoming school year and need a little help? Take a look at my Virtual Organizing services, I may be able to help you no matter if you are local or 5 states away from me! Contact me @ 541-514-85873 for more information!

Until next time… Happy Organizing!

Family Calendar

Posted on July 31, 2009 by Nikki in Back to School, Home Organizing, Paper Management, Productivity, Staying Organized, Time Management

Family Calendar – Time Management

We all have busy schedules, and when we throw our kids schedules in the mix, things can become chaotic! How can you stay organized and still feel in control of your schedule. You want to be the one running your day not the other way around! Here are some simple steps to get you going with some recommendations of books to read for your reference!

First of all you need to choose what kind of planner you would like to use. The one to the left is a basic dry erase board which I have seen work very well for families. You can also choose a written daily planner, your computer, or your phone / palm pilot. There are also different kinds of calendars that gear specifically to the Mom and to Families that may be worth a try. The important thing is that it works for your family!

Once you have chosen your calendar, you need to make sure all of your appointments are in one place. If you are a visual person, this is going to be very important to you. You want to be able to see everything in one place rather than having 2 or 3 different calendars. You are taking the steps to ensure there is no overlapping in schedules.

Color code for each member of the family. This is making it clear who needs to be where at what time.

Prepare! Look at your schedule every Sunday with your family and discuss who is going where and how they are getting there. This is a visual snapshot of what is ahead.

Prepare! Look at your schedule every night before the next day! Do as much as you can the night before to make the mornings less chaotic. Get clothes picked out and ready to go, lunches packed, bags packed. Anything you can do the night before will HELP you in the morning!

Remember to block out enough time for travel if it takes you more than 10 minutes to get somewhere. Sometimes we are in a rush because we don’t take this into account.

Books I recommend on Time Management include: Getting Things Done, by David Allen and Time Management from the Inside Out, by Julie Morgenstern.

Tips to help transition back to school!

Posted on September 22, 2008 by admin in Back to School

It’s fall, which means not only do the leaves change color but in many homes, schedules will be turned upside down with kids returning to school! Here are some tips when trying to maintain a calm household rather than the hurry and stress that can occur!

Go through closets and drawers. Take an inventory of clothing. Sort in 3 ways; 1) Throw away (too stained or ripped to donate), 2) donate to a local charity (resources above) 3) Store and keep for other children in your family or for friends. (Immediately store clothing in a large container and label, for example; Boys- 5T)
Keep a Family Calendar- one calendar where you put everyone’s information from soccer practice, doctor’s appointments, field trips etc.
Prepare for the paperwork. Find containers like a dishpan, file boxes, expandable folders, whatever you prefer and have one for each child. So everyday, all papers go to this area. Sort through each day. Keep what you need and throw away the rest. Put on your family calendar any dates that you need to know. Do it that day!
Artwork can be tricky- display what you want to display and have an area where you put other artwork during the year. You can buy large art folders or have a container that goes under the child’s bed. I suggest not waiting until the end of the year to purge. Go through it every couple of months, keep what you want and throw out the rest. Some pieces you could photograph so you will always remember but not have to actually keep it.
Prepare as much as you can the night before – Have lunches packed, backpacks ready with all homework and any papers that need to be signed or returned to school. Have clothes laid out on dresser, and go over the next days schedule with children at bedtime, this way they know what’s coming the next day. Get your kids involved and have them do what is appropriate for their age.
Wake up 15 minutes earlier, it can really make a difference!