I'd like to know what you guys do to get your kids ready for and excited about starting school. I always loved school as a kid! My boys are 15, 7, and almost 9 and the oldest is in high school and anticipates seeing girls each day -- so no problem there -- but the little ones have really be complaining about summer's end.
What activities or fun things have you moms done to help them look forward to school a little more? I'd also like to know what you do to ORGANIZE all the papers that come home! I start the year with the best of intentions, but it seems like by October there are notes, announcements, coloring pages, spelling lists and book orders in little piles all over the place. I need a system that works without a book to buy and read. (I bought a book one time that was called "File - Don't Pile" and I think it's in a pile around here somewhere . .. !!)
Hi... I have a upright plastic storage unit that is not to tall but I would say just right and has 7 drawers (3 deep and 4 slender) that I bought at Walmart and it is just the right size to put paperwork, binders and art supplies in.
Hi A., regarding the organization of papers... I am going to try a system that another mom (of 7!) told me works for her. She said when the papers come home, she creates a pile next to her computer and enters field trip dates (or any important/pending) dates into her Outlook on her computer, so she's reminded when she needs to be. Then any papers she needs to sign and send back with information on them, she makes a copy of on her printer. Then she files ALL those papers (that might need to be referred to) into a 3 ring binder - about once a week. Each child has a divider with their name on it. That way, if she cannot remember when the bookreport was due, etc... she can look up the papers for that indivudual child in a quick moment... and the kids can too! Hope this helps, the mom that gave me the idea is EXTREMELY organized and on top of things... even with 7 kids in school!
Hi A.-
Boys are probably different, but going back to school shopping always got me excited and ready to start a new year. I loved picking out new clothes and my school supplies for the year.
As far as organization goes, I have a weekly planner book that I always keep up to date with appointments and things I need to remember to send to school with the kids each day. When a note comes home I write down whatever I need to remember in my planner so that I can recycle the note from school. For homework sheets, book orders, etc. you can buy one of those expandable accordion files for each child and label the pockets so that it works best for you.
Good Luck,
K.
Dear A.--I don't have any suggestions about getting your kids happy about returning to school, but the filing problem is something I have LOTS of experience with! I used to have giant piles on my kitchen counter--they were pretty organized, as I would go through them quite often to clean out anything that was old or no longer important. I decided to buy a hanging Pendaflex frame at Office Max, along with the hanging folders (you can get a kit for about $15.00). I put it together, installed the labels on the hanging folders, and now I have a neat, organized place for everything, be it insurance papers, my Mom's stuff, pending catalog orders, whatever. You could do the same, having a separate folder for each of your sons (different color for each one), perhaps like this: "Johnny--Needs Action", "Johnny--Homework", "Johnny--Sports Teams"; whatever for each child. Then, each time he brings something home, you'll have a place to put it and know exactly where it is when you need to find it. Hope this helps; it has totally organized me!
