5 Back to School Organization Tips

The start of a school year is always met with mixed feelings for many parents — your kids are finally going back to a regular routine, but that means your schedule is about to become packed with after-school activities, homework, and all of the stuff in between. Here are some back to school organization tips to ease into the new school year with less stress. 

1. Meal prep

Meal prep is an excellent step for back to school organization. It saves you precious time and ensures you always have healthy food ready to go. Here are some tips for organizing meals: 

• Breakfast. Freeze a big batch of french toast, or make breakfast burritos and wrap them in parchment paper to freeze. This makes it easy for older kids to feed themselves — all they have to do is grab an item and warm it in the microwave, no help from parents required!
• Lunch. Organize snacks, fruit, veggies, and drinks into individual bins and store them in the fridge or pantry so your kids can pack their own lunch, pulling one item from each type of bin. Have your kids help assemble sandwiches on Sunday night, so they are ready to grab and go during the week. 
• Dinner. Prepare meals to freeze so all you have to do is take one out the night before to thaw. You can also skip making whole meals and just meal prep ingredients, like shredded chicken, taco meat, or roasted veggies.

Not a fan of meal prep? Save time with easy one-pot meals and 30-minute dinner ideas.

2. Set up a back to school organization center by the door

You know how it is with kids. Once they get home, they scatter as soon as they get through the front door. Their shoes, lunch bags, and backpacks end up strewn through the house and before you know it, you end up missing important permission slips or an empty yogurt container quickly turns into a petri dish. 

Instead, set up a table right next to the door. Hang hooks that will hold their backpacks, then place bins right underneath those hooks for emptying their backpacks and lunch bags. That way everything will be in one place, and you can go through it with ease. You can also add a charging station so they can plug in their laptops or tablets immediately when they get home.

Make it fun by having a craft day during the summer so they can make a DIY school supplies organizer. Use old cereal or shoe boxes and have them decorate and personalize them. 

3. Use whiteboards 

When it comes to back-to-school tips, a whiteboard can save you time and questions. Invest in a small whiteboard, or two, and erasable markers. Use one whiteboard for everyone’s schedules — you can even color code it for each person to make it easier. Then use a second whiteboard to plan out your meals for the week. That keeps you organized and saves you from the “what’s for dinner?” question every day. 

4. Make Alexa your friend

An Alexa or a Google Assistant can really help you in the back to school organization department. You can set up daily reminders on repeat that will announce when it’s time for homework, dinner prep, and the end of TV time. Have Alexa remind you a half hour before their bedtime to prepare for the next day — have your kids assemble their lunch and pick out their outfits to make the morning easier.

5. Put yourself on a schedule, too 

On long days of work and after school activities, you may want to just collapse on the couch with some ice cream and mindless tv after the kids go to bed. Before doing that, take just a few minutes to tidy the house and clean the kitchen. Make it a rule for yourself that it has to be done before you go to bed. Your day will start right when you wake up in the morning to a tidy and stress-free area.