3 School Year Organization Tips for Moms

On the first day of school you send off junior with a nicely organized backpack, pencil box and lunch bag. By the end of the first week, your dining room table resembles an explosion in a paper factory. Three school organization tips bring back order and set the tone for the best school year ever.

1. Eliminate the "Drop Zone"

Are permission slips, teacher letters, reminder notes, bake sale announcements and school photo payment envelopes littering your desk, table or kitchen counter? Does the school require you to sign off -- nightly -- on a progress report or homework sheet? Are there homework papers that need parental initials? If you answered yes, then you probably know that your child -- or children -- can have the annoying habit of pulling bits and pieces of paper out of their backpacks and give them to you piecemeal. Worse yet, they do not necessarily end up in the same "drop zone." Some might make it into the kitchen, while others may not go further than the child's desk.

Tip: Eliminate this type of drop zone with an inbox/outbox tray. Stack two trays and clearly mark one with "in" and the other one with "out." Explain to junior that you sign papers that you find in the inbox. Once signed, you will place them into the out box. It is the child's job to check the out box and take the signed papers.

Anything else that you run across might end up in the recycling bin. Remain firm! If you can condition your child to follow this most basic of school organization tips, fewer permission slips get lost or misplaced -- and you won't get blamed for not signing a sheet!

2. Silence the Cries of "But I told you!"

Do you need "people" to keep straight the calendar items of your little scholar, his extracurricular activities, the family obligations and still squeeze in time to take the dog to the vet? Tips for organizing your home usually focus on the tangible items and the clutter that builds up, but there is precious little advice for the time management associated with school organization.

Tip: Make this the best school year ever by going back to a big (read: huge) paper wall calendar. It may not look pretty, but it is oh so functional. If you want to get fancy, go ahead and color-coordinate children's activities and also those of the parents. At a glance, this system draws attention to possible scheduling conflicts and pinpoints the days when you might need to enlist the help of friends and family members.

3. Outfit a Morning Launch Pad

How often do you have to go back in the morning to retrieve forgotten items? Does junior routinely forget a jacket, lunch box or his lucky gloves? Even worse, do you feel like a heel for not driving across town to deliver them to the school? Nix the guilt, save on gas and teach your pint-sized student some personal responsibility in the process!

Tip: Outfit the morning launch pad. Organizing your home so that it is functional is crucial. To experience the best school year ever, the morning launch pad should hold all the items the child will need for the coming day at school. This includes the backpack, lunch box, jacket, shoes, socks, matching clothes, sports gear, musical instruments and maybe also the occasional science fair project.

Tips for parents with space constraints pinpoint a simplification with something as easy as a sturdy chair with a back. Train the child to place his backpack underneath the chair, hang the lunch bag over the back, place the complete outfit on the seat and hang the jacket over the back. Getting out of the house in the morning should no longer represent a mad dash.