Tips for Getting Ready for the New School Year

Are you prepared to send your kids off to school? I am. I try to be an organizational freak. I'm going to give you a few tips to get on the right path to staying organized this school year. 

Last year, I came up with a good way to keep Serenity's influx of paperwork that came home organized as soon as she brought it into the house. Doesn't that blow your mind??? I was talking with a few friends and they said they have bins stacked with cute drawings, their writings, and of course some of those cute crafts that get sent home. Yuck! Who wants to figure out how to go through those bins when we  turn around and realize our kids our in high-school?! 

So I created a "School Organizer" that shows a current photo of your child on the front. Inside is questions that you can fill out with them that shows things that they like with their personality. Then, just keep it in a handy spot in your house (mine was on my mantle) and when your child dumps out their backpack papers, sort out in that moment what you want and toss the rest. The ones you want, just simply slide into the sheet protectors. Viola! You already have started a chronologically pleasing book that showcases your child's work. 

*TIP* Instead of keeping the large crafts your child brings home, take a picture of them with the craft and insert the photo into the School Organizer.

Here's the simple materials that you need to get started: 

* Clear cover report book (costs between $1-$5 depending on how fancy you want to get)
*Clear insert page protectors
*A current 8x10 picture of your child
*Copy and Paste the following text and fill it out with your child

Name: _______________________

Kindergarten 2012-2013

Age ____

September ___, 2012

How I write my name: __________________________________

___________________________________

My favorite color is:__________________________________

My Favorite Book is:_________________________________

My favorite movie is:___________________________________

What I did the summer before school started:____________

____________________________________________________

My Favorite Sport:___________________________________

My Favorite Activities:________________________________

____________________________________________________

My favorite food is:__________________________________

I am ________feet and ______inches tall and weigh ________ 

pounds.

About school:

How I feel about going to school: ______________________

Things I know how to do already: ______________________

____________________________________________________

I am going to: _______________________________________

My Teacher's name will be: ____________________________

In the following pages, put in some of your favorite work from

 school!

On on question, I was really enthused with one of Ila's answers. The "Things I Already Know How to Do" slot, Serenity was able to put a lot down. Ila's not as academically advanced as Serenity is; but she came up with some good answers for this question. She came up with "Read, Know my ABCs, Count, Draw VERY well, Be nice to people, share, love".  Those answers melted my heart. I also left her favorite sport as "coloring" like she insisted. It reminds me of "Meet The Robinsons" where the kid said that inventing was his favorite sport!

Check out my next blog on ways to keep school meals simple!