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9 Night Before Back to School Organization Tips

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We’re continuing with our back to school theme this week by sharing some great back to school organization tips you can use the night before! Plus, we’re participating in a fabulous linkup!

Nothing is worse than waking up in a panic to get your kids ready for school. We’re homeschoolers, but I still find that if I go through a checklist the night before class starts, our school day runs much, much smoother.

So – here are nine “night-before” back to school organization tips for your family, whether your kids are in homeschool, public school, or daycare!

9 Back to School Organization Tips You Can Do the Night Before - Look! We're Learning!

1. Make a menu plan.

Menu planning is a real lifesaver during the school year. When you have a prepared menu, you’ll have an easier time getting dinner on the table in time. Check out these great menu planning posts:

10 Theme Nights to Make Menu Planning Easier – Real Life at Home

Seven Steps to Make a Menu Plan – Faithfully Nourished

9 Night Before Back to School Organization Tips - Look! We're Learning!

2. Prepare the kids’ lunches in advance.

Want to save time in the morning? Make the kids’ lunches the night before! Even better, get them involved by having them choose their lunches or make them! If you’re tired of the traditional PB&J, try these great posts for back to school lunch ideas:

Simple School Lunch Ideas Your Kids Will Love – My Life and Kids

Over 50 Back to School Lunchbox Recipes – 3 Boys and a Dog

3. Set out the kids’ clothes for the next day.

Have your children set out their clothing for the next day before they go to bed at night. This is a great time to check on the looming laundry pile too! 🙂 Kelli from 3 Boys and a Dog shares some great tips for back to school clothes shopping:

Shopping for Back to School – 3 Boys and a Dog

4. Use a command center to keep track of assignments and events.

The first week of school or homeschool is pretty calm (typically), but as the year goes on, the amount of assignments and projects that are due can quickly get out of hand. Keeping a one-stop command center in your home is an excellent way to keep everything under control. Check out these posts for using command centers in the home:

DIY School Organization Center – The Chirping Moms

10 Back to School Command Centers – My Life and Kids

9 Night Before Back to School Organization Tips - Look! We're Learning!

5. Plan lessons in advance and keep them organized.

Homeschooling moms have the additional responsibility of planning homeschooling lessons each week. Personally, I am awesome at making lesson plans. I’m not so good at following them everyday. So this year, I’m making a real effort at keeping my lesson plans organized so that I can find what I need quickly. For more about organizing lesson plans, visit this great post:

Organizing Lesson Plans – Adventures in Mommydom

6. Choose your read-alouds for the next day.

Developing a good reading habit with kids at an early age pretty much guarantees that they’ll love learning for life. But, trying to pull together a read-aloud list at the last second is a recipe for disaster. I prefer to have a list to work from so I have time to read the books myself and think about how to include them in our lessons. Here’s a great post about choosing books for kids:

Chapter Books for Kids – A Mom with a Lesson Plan

7. Use a dedicated space for keeping crafts and supplies.

If you’re homeschooling, you’ll need a separate space to keep your teaching materials. Rifling through a pile of books is extremely frustrating. (I have done this many times.) Save yourself time by keeping all of your materials in one dedicated space! Check out these posts for homeschool organization tips:

Tips for Organizing and Storing Craft and School Supplies – Motherhood on a Dime

School and Craft Supply Organization – I Can Teach My Child

8. Put your school items back before going to bed.

Okay, this is one I’m reeaallly bad at. Really bad. After the school day is over, put everything back where it was! This is a great time to get the kids involved as well. Make it a game of “How Fast Can We Put Everything Away?” 🙂 For a few suggestions about how to keep your school room organized, stop by this post:

Our School Room – School Time Snippets

9. Establish a bedtime routine and stick to it!

A good bedtime routine may actually be the most important part of back to school organizing. If your kids are in public school, they may have to get up especially early in order to catch the bus or make the first bell. Even if you’re homeschooling, you may want to start class at the same time each day. So – having a set bedtime is critical to getting your day started on the right foot. Check out this post to learn how to establish a bedtime routine with your kids:

15 Tips for a Better Bedtime – A Mom with a Lesson Plan

This post is part of the “Back to School” Linky Party hosted by The Educators’ Spin on It and featuring members of the Kid Blogger Network! Click on over to read the Back to School posts from our fellow bloggers!

9 Night Before Back to School Organization Tips - Look! We're Learning!

Comments

  3. Cass says

    1This is my first year of homeschooling, there was some great ideas and information linked in here. Thanks

    Reply

  9. grtlyblesd says

    Many of these are already part of our routine, but the reminders are good. 🙂 I’m going to check out the lunch and menu ideas. Two areas I tend to get stagnant in.

    Reply

  11. Jackie Creese says

    Thanks for all the great ideas and I appreciate how you included homeschooling families in there!!! I hope to win something! 🙂

    Reply

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