So for most of  us school has started up again.  The lazy (ish) summer days are gone and the kids have to adapt to a new routine and schedule.  How do you help them to start the year off right? 

I think that being organized is the number one thing that we can do for our children.  It impacts every area of our lives.

One of my favorite tips is to have what I call Calendar Central.  I have a big corkboard that hangs on the back of our mudroom closet door.  It is low enough that the kids who can read can read it themselves.  Here I hang sports schedules, party invitations, a monthly calendar – anything that the kids will need to refer to on their own.  Want to know what day and time art lessons are?  Go look at the calendar. 

The mudroom closet is  organized.  Each child has a low hook to hang their jacket and backpack.  The opposite side of the closet has shelves with wire baskets that are labeled with each child’s name.  The baskets hold their stuff, which varies depending on the season – hates and gloves in winter, baseball gloves in the spring, swim goggles in the summer.

I recently bought a second corkboard and put it in my pantry.  This corkboard is a little more  fancy and has pocket things on the side.  Finally a place to put the mail.  I don’t know about you, but I never seem to have a home for all the mail.  I hang my grocery list on the corkboard.  It is  handy inside the pantry since that is where the food  is located.  It also has little hooks on the bottom to hang my keys.  Maybe one day I will be organized enough to put my keys on one location every day and not run around the house looking for them ten minutes before I have to leave and go somewhere.

I figured that since Calendar Central worked so well for the kids that I should have something similar for myself.   So far it is working well. 

What organizational tips do you have for creating a successful school year?