How to effectively control back to school chaos

It is almost February, that means time to go back to school.

The stress of moving from those slow cruisy summer holiday days to the return of scheduled school start time, packed lunches and homework tends to cause a feeling of overwhelm in the household. We have shared a few ways to minimise the change and get the whole family organised for the school year ahead.

Designate an area exclusively for school gear

Eliminate the morning chaos and set up a storage area for your kids to keep their school bags, books, stationery and sports gear.

Get the kids into the routine of checking the night before that all items are in this area and ready to go, so there are no morning panic attacks. A whiteboard with a checklist in this area can be handy for little kids and big kids alike.

Plan lunches a week in advance

Save time and money during the school week with a well planned out school lunch menu. We get the kids involved in the meal planning and shopping for their lunches as we find they eat more of their school lunches this way.

Construct a space for Homework

Set up a homework station in a room of your house. It doesn’t need to be large; instead, it should be well stocked with everything they need to keep the kids focused on completing their homework, so there is plenty of time for play and fun after school as well.

Create a filing system for school documents

Dedicate a portion of your filing cabinet to curriculum documents, copies of permission slips, school reports and completed assignments. Even better, scan them and set up a file in the cloud for easy access. We also have boxes in our storage unit for all the projects and assignments the kids complete during the year, so they aren’t taking up space at home.