Organize the Whole Shebang

Get Those Kids Organized! [ as seen on AMNW ]

 

MY TIPS
 for Helping your
Kids Get Organized...

 

"How Do I Organize all of the Kid's Papers & Things that Come Home From School?"

LOVE that the kids are back in school... Loathe all the paperwork!

I'm super lucky that my kidlet's elementary school has a Friday Folder system. Every Friday they send home 'the pile' of papers for that week. No getting 3 Monday, 4 Tuesday etc. They bundle and send. Come Monday they return their 'Friday Folders' to the teacher with the 'signed' documents or checks for school pictures. It's a BRILLIANT SYSTEM!

I highly reccomend you march right into the principals office and demand they hop on the same train... tell them I said so... I'm happy to be the bad good guy.

In the meantime...
Here's a simple system that may work wonders for you with or without the above mentioned 'friday folder' system~

FOR ALL THE PAPER

1. Carve Out a Small Space to House the Incoming Paperwork. [I use a corner of my kitchen island]

2. Designate Categories that work for your Student. [To Do. Doing. Done] plus [MOM] for the stuff you need to hang on to.   

The [MOM] file... Is hidden behind the 'Done' file above... 
you don't have to keep it there, you can keep it with your other mom stuff.

TIP- if you place the paper in the files... they make look tidy but be difficult to access... I suggest using the files as section tabs only.

FOR ALL THE ART WORK

The ARTKIVE APP is BRILLIANT! Watch their video!
Personally I toss mine in the kitchen trash can but I learned the hardway that I must place items right side down and cover tossed items with coffee grinds and other trash decoys. Now I'm just going to use the app!

I also really love the Schoolfolio... but only one per kid!
[i think the only style currently available is the flower power]

Do you have a system that works for you?
...DO TELL!
I'd love to hear them...

More on Getting Organized...
Back to School Tips for Busy Families

 

Back to School Tips for Busy Families! [as seen on AMNW]

Thought you'd like all these links so that you can get
your Back to School groove on~

Organize all their art with the fabulous new app!  ARTKIVE

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LOVE this Student Planner from www.OrderooChaos.com

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The Portable Homework Station
[perfect for tweens +  teeens] via my Chica Kim at
Today's Creative Blog isn't it CUTE!

. . . 

Find the quickest route to the big game and the
least expensive place to fuel up using the app WAZE 

  . . .Custom Water Bottles from CafePress.com
To recreate mine, click here and use the 'athletic font'!

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The cute Lunch Notes are Free Printables from MakeandTakes.com

. . .

And these adordable First Day of School Printables
are from HowDoesShe.com, you'll need to register
for their newsletter to gain access to their free printables.

 . . .

Back to School ideas...

check out my

Back to School + other

Pinterest Boards

as well as Last year's segment "Taming the Morning Chaos!"  

 

 

If you learned a new tip or trick, pin the pic below! ~

Back to Me... getting my groove on

I had a coffee date with myself... I spent the time identifying what I'd like to do this school year...

I brought along one of my cute paper journals [because i'm a complete + utter sucker for cute paper products] and then drew a few lines and began brainstorming.

I divided my page into 3 columns with the heading
Self | Home | Endeavors. It's a play on my whole Shebang philosophy... I believe we juggle 3 areas of our lives and I gave them the cute SHE acronym ;)

I then brainstormed what was important to me and items I wanted to focus on this school year... Items that I'd like to add to my life, Projects that need to be addressed. 

If you don't have a cute journal,don't fret- I created this cute doc for you to print out and use: Download Shebang she list

 

After my brainstorm I created 3 pages, each with their own heading: Self, Home, Endeavors. On each page I went a little bit deeper determining some of the steps or specifics of what I meant or needed to do. Here's what my Home page looked like. [it may not make sense to you... but it does to me!]

 

Now I'm ready to revisit my SHE ROUTINES and add these items to my daily + weekly + monthly routines. I've chatted before about my SHE ROUTINES, these are what keep me sane. And since Summer throws my routines to the curbside it's time to get my groove back on. Time to revisit + recreate my routines. Time to get + stay sane! More about that here.

Here's the SHE ROUTINE VIP docs for you:
Download 1.SHEBANG101-SHEROUTINES 
Download 1.SHEBANG101 SHEROUTINES.SAMPLE 

*don't forget to include the kid's new sport's schedules into your weeky routines

If you have questions... let me know~ Here's to getting our groove back!

Cheers, Krista

PS if you are having problems opening the docs... Sign up to be a SHE VIP in the upper right hand column and I'll send them to you.

Taming Morning Chaos, Kid's Chores + then some... as seen on AMNW

*click here  if video isn't showing

Hey Mamas, You don't have to do EVERYTHING! 

The kidlets are fully capable of getting ready for school and out the door on time. They just need some guidance. So sit back have a cup of joe and watch the kidlets run out the door... 

Ok, who am I kidding. It takes practice+ you to guide them. My segment has some helpful tips but you'll need to bring the bull horn ;)

Here's my worksheet for creating Kid's Routines: Download KIDSROUTINES.SCHOOLAGE The small message board can be placed in their room or on their bathroom mirror as a reminder of what to do + when to do it.

 

The Kidlets are also FULLY CAPABLE of helping piece together their lunch...

 

LUNCH THOUGHTS: 

Have your child identify which days they want school lunch...
Our school sends home a monthly printout. I have my daughter circles the meals she likes.

Kids don't mind eating the SAME lunch everyday...
I think we put all sorts of unnecessary pressure on ourselves to create clever + cute meals. Get over it sister...

Have the kids prep their lunch...
Grapes can be washed + placed in the containers + stored in the lowest refrigerator drawer. I also place cheese sticks + their snacks in this 'kid drawer'.

Goldfish/Ritz/Raisins etc can be sorted into the reusable containers or snack bags for the entire week. These can be stored together in a 'for school lunch' container.

I make Peanut Butter + Honey/Jelly sandwiches for the week and freeze them in the plastic containers shown in the above pic.

Puttin' it all together...
Lunches can be pieced together by the kidlets- just tell them to do it, but spend a week guiding them through the process. "hey kidlet.. grab a sandwich, juice box, grape container + cracker container, place them in your lunch box... have a great day!"

 Our New Chore Boards! Products from Craft Warehouse

Chores:

I was caught off-guard by the fact that my kidlets actually wanted chores + haven't complained 'yet' about doing them. Together we brainstormed what they could do to help around the house. I like the word "Contribute" so I used that a lot during our chat- meaning no money will be attached to their chores.

We visited the craft store...
Because I know that 'people tend to support what they help to create' so the kidlet's picked out the paper used to cover their magnet board. They helped glue the DO and DONE onto the clear stones. Then they wanted to show their friends what they made :)
1. Frame, Magnetic 12x12 square, scrap book paper, magnets. Remove glass,place paper, magnetic board in the frame. Add magnets +  chores!

Management...
I decided to switch out their chores monthly because I don't want to try to remember who's day it is to do what. #paininthea$$

Chore items...
I wanted the children to learn how to fully complete a task- for example if they are responsible for taking out the trash cans they are also the person to gather all the trash within the house and place it in the big trash can. They load and unload the dishwasher. The American Picker boys would call this bundling ;)

 

Cheers to a wonderful + less chaotic school year!
Krista

 

 

Warm up the Bus! Back to School here we come!

 
All the Easties and Mid-Westies seem to have gotten their kidlets tucked back into their classrooms already. But my neck of the woods is milking Summer for all we can...

My kidlets along with other West-Coasties will get back in the groove the day after Labor Day. I can't wait :) I'm personally headed down to my favorite cafe for a much earned Mimosa. #mommyearnedthatMimosa 

My AMNW Back-to-School segment will air on Monday... but I know you need the info now... so I wanted to give you this doc to help keep you sane: 
Daily Routines for School Aged Children: Download Kids_routines_school_age

And I rounded up some of the best organizers in the industry to teach all you mamas a new trick or two... and between me and my Organizing Chicas we've got you covered!

Cheers to a fabulous New School Year!

via Grace Brooke  Homework Station, Creating a Portable Homework Caddie + Storing Artwork

via Good Life Organizing Setting your Child up for Success this School Year

via Smead Creating a Homework Station video

via Lisa Montanaro Organize a College Dorm Room

via I DID IT! Back to School 3 part series

via Living Locurto Free Printable School Snack Labels

via Organize the Whole Shebang  Back to School Solutions for Mom   

 Here's my kidlet's 2010 First Day of School Picture :)