8 Sweet Tips For Going Back To School (At Home!)
It’s about that time ya’ll!! Me and some of my fellow home bloggers and organizers are blog hopping (see the links below) to give you all you need to make this back to school as easy as can be.
Let me quickly sum up what we parents are usually doing at this time.
Running around (like actually leaving the house), buying new clothes (while not believing how fast your kid outgrew the clothes you just bought), getting a new backpack with the latest character on it right now please Mom (and of course them all being sold out by the time you get to Target), and not believing how quickly the summer went by because you had so much fun sunning your buns on a beach somewhere. Who would have thought I would miss standing on line at Target?!
To help you smoothly sail through round two of school at home, I’ve got a few tips. I know all of this first hand as a single mama of a 9 year old. You gotta get pretty damn creative when you’re the only hand on deck!
1. Review what worked and what didn’t from your last virtual learning go round.
Did your kid have a hard time staying focused for hours on end? Did they have no interest in doing homework after being on Zoom all day? Did they keep coming to you for help while you were trying to manage back-to-back conference calls?
Make a list of what worked and what didn’t last school year and get creative on how to solve those issues. This AMAZING resource from Big Life Journal covers every back to school issue you could ever think up. Check it out and sign up for their free emails with weekly printables! Do some online research, talk to other parents, your spouse (and also your kid) and together determine what to do to make next year easier.
Kids LOVE to be included in problem-solving. This prevents them being told what to do - they agreed to it in advance!
As a mom I find I gravitate to taking everything on myself. No need. Ask your family. Getting their buy in takes some of the responsibility off of you.
2. Take inventory of school supplies, clothes and keepers.
What sparks joy for your kid from last school year’s creations? What school supplies do you have on deck? Go through your kid’s things from last school year and discard anything he or she doesn’t want to keep as a keepsake. Then review their school supplies and see what else you need to get.
And of course check their clothes to see what still fits. If they don’t want to try anything on, make a game out of it. How many outfits can they try on before their favorite Kidz Bop song is over? (I hope all of them. Kidz Bop is my version of chalk on a blackboard. LOL)
3. Teach your kid how to make their own lunch.
This! Involve your kid in their own meal making and planning. Use the time they are home to enroll them in “Mom’s School of Home Economics” then soon you will be on your way to breakfast in bed. This way, while you are on a Zoom call for work you won’t hear. “MOOOOOOM!!! I’m hungry!!!”
Last go-round I had my daughter in the kitchen making breakfast with me every morning. And since then, she has made breakfast by herself a few times. Thanks to corona (yes we lowercase the “C” in corona because it gets no respect for making a hot mess out of 2020), now she also knows how to load the dishwasher, fold clothes (Marie Kondo style of course), vacuum, clean the bathroom and Swiffer. Does she do these things all the time? Not at all. But she knows how and she can contribute to OUR household. This school year I’m moving onto lunch so I can sleep til noon! LOL.
4. Teach your kid to plan.
On Sundays, I sit with my daughter and talk about what’s happening that week. She’s not into planning yet but I’m guiding her in that direction so she can at least start to understand the value.
Also, I don’t know about ya’ll, but my daughter forgets something every day. deodorant, lotion, something. To avoid me having to ask, “Did you put on (insert forgotten item of the day)?”, I have a checklist for her for both morning and night. An inanimate object reminds her and I can go about my own business!
To help your kids prep for the week, I suggest using this amazing organizer so they can pick out their clothes on the weekend for the whole week. Makes mornings flow much smoother.
5. Trick out your kids’ workspace.
Ensure they have everything they need at the ready - bins and baskets, color-coordinated and labeled. Give them a file box with a file for each subject. Make sure that there are things in their workspace that spark joy for them. Involve them in the organizing process and let them choose.
At the beginning of corona, I didn’t have a desk in my apartment. At first my daughter was working off the couch. So we put our heads together and moved my TV console in my bedroom in front of the window and used a dining room chair. So I work on the bed (when I’m not on a call) and she gets to sit and see a beautiful view, with lots of light and be close to mom. Joy all around and I didn’t have to spend money on a desk.
6. Tidy your health and beauty items in your bathroom to make mornings (and nights!) flow easier.
Do your kid (and you) know where everything is in your bathroom? Are they often yelling out to you “MOOOOOM, where are the q-tips?” Now is the time to tidy your health and beauty items and involve your kid in the process.
Take everything out, keep what sparks joy (what works for your family, smells good and isn’t expired), thank what you are getting rid of and give everything that’s left an easy home. Liking everything and being able to find everything in your bathroom will save you valuable time.
7. Build playtime with you into your kids’ daily schedule.
Let’s be honest. Being on Zoom all day is hard for us and for the kids. So give them a schedule but make sure it includes time for you to hang out with them. And not just watch TV or do something digital. Play. Trust me, all of you need it. The other day I skipped a business meeting to play Floor is Lava with my daughter and we had a BLAST!
8. Make sure they have headphones.
This probably should have been the first tip! Listen, it’s more than enough that you have to share work space with your kid all day, every day. Make sure they have really good headphones to block out half the convo so you can get your work done.
Hope these tips help you spark all of the joy in your back to school process. Here to help if you need some tidying in your life. Click the link below to get started!
And make sure to check out all the other blogs below for this amazing back to school (at home!) blog hop!!