As I mentioned the other day, it is SUPER important to organize our your kid’s schedules to instill the importance of prioritizing and time management. I mentioned creating routines for you kids to get in the habit of doing, like: coming home from school; dropping off the backpack; bringing important papers for you to sign; doing homework; eating dinner; taking a bath; reading a story and going to bed.

But before you race ahead, put on the brakes! As important as it is to follow the simple and generic tips that were posted on the learning tab, there is something in that sequence that can contribute to chaos that needs to be addressed pronto!

Nope, it’s not reading a story, or taking a bath, or eating dinner. Re-evaluate that sequence and let me know what stands out like fireworks on the 4^th of July.

Answer: Dropping off the backpack, bringing important papers for you to sign! Ding, ding, DING! I know some schools are trying to be very green, but I’m sure kids are still sent home with important papers and who knows what else is in that backpack of theirs. So, how in the world can we organize all of the stuff our kids bring home from school?

Learn how to organize all the items kids bring home from school and make it unique to your home!

You’ve got papers, folders, food, invitations, borrowed items from other students, crayons, markers, pens, pencils, homework, the need-to-be-signed papers, and are you feeling overwhelmed yet?

Don’t be. I’m just trying to get you riled up to let you know that there is no reason to panic. Merely bringing the topic of organizing everything your child brings home in this light is to raise awareness, which is important!

I found a lot of great ideas for organizing all of the stuff your child brings from school when visiting iVillage Garden Web. In a nutshell, parents posted unique ways of teaching independence for their kids and in various ways.

For example, jcs7, who was a previous teacher, posted that her kids come in the back door, hang up coats and take off shoes to proceed to empty their lunch boxes and put the ice packs in the freezer. From there she said the kids bring out their folders from their backpack and place art papers in their own arts and crafts “in-box” (a dish pan). She said the need-to-be signed papers go into their own file holder hanging on the wall- which gets emptied out and signed every night- and then the parents place those papers directly back in their backpacks. Lastly, she said that their family calendar (which I talked about last we met) is posted by those file folders to manage invitations and school district activities.

As far as calendars go, you can either receive the district calendar from the school or, as another writer posted, there’s a mom’s calendar made by More Time for Moms. To manage invitations, jcs7 hangs them chronologically above the calendar using a jumbo clothespin.

All of these ideas are unique and can be altered to you. I do think they are a perfect guideline to managing and organizing all of the stuff your kids bring home. I want to add your feedback to our manual!

Let me know if you have any other organizing tips or if you like how these are executed.

Moxie Girl Household Assistants organize homes in Gilbert, Chandler, Mesa, Tempe, Scottsdale, Ahwatukee, Peoria, Glendale and Surprise.