I have to admit, I LOVE summer. I like not having a set schedule. I love sleeping in. I love spending quality time with my little peanut- AKA- Maggie. But on the other hand, there are pros to having a schedule! I love lists, I love my days to be planned out, I love ROUTINE! I really, really love routine. I am not a "fly by the seat of my pants kinda person"....at all!! I love my dry erase calendar that is hanging on my refrigerator. I always get a little happy picking out the color I will use for that month on the calender when filling in our schedules and events. And with it being the beginning of September AND the beginning of the school year, we have a lot of things to pencil...I mean dry erase marker...in on our calendar.
The beginning of the school year is a time to start a clean slate. So here are a few tips on how to get on a schedule- but not overwhelm yourself:
1. Decide when you will get ready for school.
Do you want to wake up a half hour early in the morning and get book bags together, sign papers, make lunches, etc? Or do you want to do it the night before? If you are a morning person- definitely get up before the kiddos do- turn on the news in the background and get everything ready for the day. If you are a "snooze button" type of person- I suggest doing it the night before. You will be happy you did when you can get a few extra minutes of shut eye.
2. Make a pact to be five minutes early.
Lets not start the first day of school off with your child running after the bus as it pulls away because you just couldn't get out the door on time. If you have to- set your clock forward 5-10 minutes like I do. That way you will definitely be early. Also, try to make a pact with yourself- you WILL be on time even after the first week of school. I know I sometimes start out great and then after a few weeks start to get up a little later and get to work a little late. Make a pact that you will be on time even when it gets hard. It's time to turn over a new leaf.
3. Get the kids involved- but not too involved!
It's almost fall- which means you will be taking Johnny to soccer, Jayne to dance class, Joey to Fall Ball, and Janice to swim lessons. It is AWESOME to have your kids involved in extra curricular activities. It is a great way to have them make friends, stay active, and work on skills that they are good at. However, do not overwhelm your family. If you have something going every single night of the week- it's too much! Limit the kids to one or two activities that they love the most. You are not a taxi service- and in order for you to stay a tight-knit family you actually have to see each other every now and then. Make sure you have a few nights a week where you are still able to sit down around the table and eat together. As they said in the "Godfather," "A man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man."
4. Get er' done.
When the kids get home- make homework a priority. Give them a few minutes to grab a snack, talk about their day, and unwind, and then jump into their homework right away. What they learned is still fresh in their heads and if they don't do it right away, they may forget. In other countries, kids go to school for 12 hours a day- I promise, doing their homework as soon as they get home will not kill them.
5. Take time to listen.
Take time to listen to your kids as they talk about their day at school. Treasure the moments when your kids go on and on and on about something silly that happened on the playground. Cherish these moments because you will blink and they will be graduating- yes, it goes that fast!
Hopefully these few tips will help your family stay organized as we jump into the new school year. I am excited about the things to come!
Sincerely,
Ali
Those are great tips! My kids started school over a month ago already! Crazy early! They wake up an hour before we have to leave, we pack lunches the night before, and homework is always done first thing after school so we have time to play and do things before bed time on a school night! Routine definitely makes our school year easier!
ReplyDeleteGreat tips there Ali. Number 4 for sure is so important. We always try to get our kids to do their homework as soon as they can so it's out of the way. There's nothing worse than scrambling last thing at night - or even first thing in the morning to complete homework! And number 5 - taking time to listen, is arguably the most important of all, so that they grow up knowing you're always there to listen to them!
ReplyDeleteHope your new school year has started well!
I don't have a kid in school yet, but these are great tips for me for getting my crew out the door for our BSF and MOPS mornings. #3 Applies to my schedule right now. I've had to say no to some great things because they weren't the right fit for our family right now.
ReplyDeleteYou sound so much like me. I love the ease of not having a set schedule in the summer, but I also love the routine of the school year as well. I also love keeping lists (something i inherited from my mother). One of the things I love best about them is being able to cross things off when they are done. I even have a colored coded dry erase board too, but I keep it on my garage door.
ReplyDeleteI'm still a student myself. Haha. And I need to follow your tips. The first week I was diligent. And this week, for the first two days, I slept on. I was suppose to wake up at 7 am but I slept until 7:30. LOL. And today, I was just 3 minutes from class starting (everyone in my class are early birds except me). I need to kick myself in the butt for better time management.
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One of my sons go to school, but the other two don't go to school. So our scheduling is quite different from others. Early in the morning I have to focus preparing the schooled one till he departs, then I start concentrating with homeschooling. When the schooled one goes home, the homeschooled ones should have nearly finished with the lessons. In the evening all of them preparing their next day lessons after finishing their "out of home" activities
ReplyDeleteOne of my sons go to school, but the other two don't go to school. So our scheduling is quite different from others. Early in the morning I have to focus preparing the schooled one till he departs, then I start concentrating with homeschooling. When the schooled one goes home, the homeschooled ones should have nearly finished with the lessons. In the evening all of them preparing their next day lessons after finishing their "out of home" activities
ReplyDeleteOne of my sons goes to school, but the other two are homeschooled. I spent my time early in the morning preparing the youngest son departure. When he has been departed then I start the lesson with the other two. When the youngest son arrives, our homeschooling lessons finish soon. We prepare the next school day in the evening.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a kid in school yet, too!(Hi Becca!) But thank you for these wonderful tips Ali! :) I'll bookmark this post for future reference. This is so helpful. #5 is an issue where I am because parents are so busy to listen to their kids nowadays so I must take note of that really carefully.
ReplyDeleteLove your tips. My son started Kindergarten this year and we are finally starting to get a good routine. I need to work on your first tip, when I get his things together the night before it's a lot easier to hit the snooze button.
ReplyDeleteMy son is in Kindergarten this year and we are finally getting into a decent routine. I really need to work on your first tip and decide exactly how early I would like to get up each morning.
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm usually terrible in the mornings and if I don't get organised the night before we would never be ready. Great tips, I will take them on board.
ReplyDeleteGood tips. Although, I have to admit that I never understand why kids in public school have so much homework. I liked #3 especially. I think kids are over-scheduled these days. @
ReplyDeleteA girl after my own heart . . . I'm a planner, too. My "kids" are all grown and I work from home, but I'm up every morning by 5:00 am. Whoever said we could sleep in after the kids were grown, didn't know my type A personality.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tips!
Hi Ali,
ReplyDeleteThese are all great tips for getting the school year off to a great start and I did use these ideas when I had children in school. These days I use some of them when the grandchildren stay with me. Thanks for the reminder!
Hi Ali,
ReplyDeleteThese are all great tips for getting the school year off to a great start and I did use these ideas when I had children in school. These days I use some of them when the grandchildren stay with me. Thanks for the reminder!
After having a break it is always hard to get back into a routine, so these are great tips. Number 2 is great....I always seem to be running late, so planning to be early should at least help me be on time!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your tips. I just sent my little one (and oldest) off to kindergarten this year. While, I am very anxious and miss him terribly I need to hear some expert tips. I find myself already slacking with the time issue. If it wasn't for my son, who is excited about riding the bus, we probably would be late. I need to set some goals
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your tips. I just sent my little one (and oldest) off to kindergarten this year. While, I am very anxious and miss him terribly I need to hear some expert tips. I find myself already slacking with the time issue. If it wasn't for my son, who is excited about riding the bus, we probably would be late. I need to set some goals
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing these great tips. If it wasn't for my son who is SUPER excited to ride the bus (Kindergarten) we would be late. I do need to be better at setting goals. Thank you for your motivation. Scary we are only one week in and I am starting to slack.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ali, for the great tips! I especially agree with the homework part. It's a must in our house. Get it done first and you have the rest of the afternoon and evening to play with your friends!
ReplyDeleteSuch wonderful tips! My oldest started 4k a little over a month ago :) We are still getting the schedule down...most of all I'm trying to get thins settled once she is gone and what I can do when. It's tougher than you would think lol
ReplyDeleteI best like the tip regarding making a pact to be five minutes early. There is nothing more stressful to everyone than beginning the day rushing--especially when a little planning would have avoided this.
ReplyDeleteRachel recently posted What Chains Are Holding You Back?
I love #4. I think sometimes I need permission to be harder on my kids, but it is so good for them! Thank you :)
ReplyDeleteI definitely believe in being early and getting things done right away so that you have time to enjoy the rest of the evening with family!
ReplyDeleteI am definitely a "snooze-button" type of person--although it can vary.
ReplyDeleteI wholeheartedly agree that the best solution for this style is to get ready the night before. Even when I do wake up early consistently you never know what can happen around my house. There are lots of schedules to juggle with *everyone* in school!
If it weren't for my stretching and pole fitness to relieve the stress I'm not sure what I would do!
Great Tips....I don't have young ones at school at home, but it is funny enough these can apply to us adults too :) We all need to kind of get a fresh start and make new patterns if ones have been broken. We all could use that little break before getting into evening to dos after work.
ReplyDeleteReally great tips. I have 3 alarms set to go off in the morning. One for getting up, one to tell us it's halfway through our time to get ready, and one for when the bus should be coming. It's been surprisingly successful at keeping us all on task in the morning!
ReplyDeleteBack in the day, when all 10 of the kids were living at home, I would dread the end of the summer. Getting everyone ready the night before, and then up and moving the next morning was exhausting. It didn't seem to matter how organized I was, something always went wrong. One of the boys wouldn't be able to find a belt, or one of the girls couldn't find there favorite headband. At least we had lunches under control most of the time. (But wow, once a month when my husband wrote out checks to the school cafeteria, our bank account really took a big hit!) BUT - after the first few hectic days, I was able to sit back, relax and enjoy the quiet for a few hours each day...and that was heavenly!
ReplyDeleteWhen all the kid (we have 10) were still living at home, I dreaded the end of summer. Having to get all of them ready for bed each night and then getting them up the next morning, was such a drain on me. No matter how organized I tried to be, something always had to go wrong. One of the boys wouldn't be able to find a belt, one of the girls would be in tears because their hair wouldn't cooperate, homework papers were lost, and books couldn't be found. BUT, after the first couple of weeks, I must admit...those few quiet hours while they were all gone...truly heavenly!
ReplyDeleteSo cute! I love the last one, take time to listen....very important!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Michelle
Lluchia@rocketmail.com
http://www.Lluchia.com/blog2
Great ideas! I have 8 year old twins plus a 2week old and i'm finding that organization is key!
ReplyDeleteOh, I love your ideas! :) I love the tip on making the 5 minute pact! :) I will definitely copy that idea! haha!
ReplyDeleteOh, I love your ideas! I love the idea on the 5 minute pact! :) I will definitely copy that! haha!
ReplyDeleteGreat tips, we setup as much as we can the night before. I'm one of those snooze button mom's.
ReplyDeleteI love the laziness of summer, but it is really nice to be on a routine for the kids. I have two in school and if we didn't have a routine, I think I'd be completely nuts. Great article, loved it!! :)
ReplyDeleteAs a teacher, I greatly appreciate these tips :) Getting kids to school on time helps them adjust so much faster... and alleviates stress for everyone involved :)
ReplyDeleteGreat tips! I don't have children of my own, but even for myself I find that keeping myself on a regular routine makes such a difference in my actual productivity level. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI used to do the alarm clock trick all the time! :-)
ReplyDeleteI walk my 3 year old to preschool, and we talk about how her afternoon went on the walk home. It's one of my favourite times of the day.
These are some really good tips - especially the one about deciding on what time to get up and moving in advance. This is something I need to put into action and I'm no longer in school (or have kids yet)! Being organized the night before also helps :)
ReplyDeleteI love this, I teach elementary school and love these plans for the morning routine!
ReplyDeleteCarly
www.lipglossandcrayons.com
This is a great list! It is hard to not schedule too many things into the week when you have more than one kid, but it is so necessary to guard your time! Great post!
ReplyDeleteHaha. You sound like me. I love summer, but I also love lists, routines and pretty colored pens. I am the snooze button person, so I try to get as much done in the evenings as I can. Also, you just never know how your mornings will go with kids. Great tips, thanks!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! After a stressful year of mornings last year (getting up at 745 for a 817 bus), I decided for this year we'd set up for success and get up at 715. After a couple of weeks I can see that 730 would be fine, but there is something very calming and nice about being ready early. Makes getting up earlier worth it! :) BTW, I like special colored calendar pens too.
ReplyDeleteI like to think about my day the night before. I try to put a list on the fridge about what activities will be in the evening so they are no surprises. We like to do homework pretty close to when we get home but things sometimes get in the way. I am trying to get my kids to use an alarm clock so they can get themselves up.
ReplyDeleteFall is the perfect time for re-prioritizing and reorganizing, my favorite season!
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Having a schedule really worked for me. I like to have things in order so I know what is going on and what to expect! Getting all the homework done after school was a chore. There was too much tiredness after school, but in time it worked out best this way, vs doing it after dinner!
ReplyDeleteGreat tips! We try to implement all of these too. My girls are allowed one activity each and homework always comes first. I'm one of the biggest procrastinators out there so lists are essential in my world...lol! ;)
ReplyDeleteI am saving this for when my son will be starting Pre-K, sure I went to school but totally not ready to get a kid on the go lol. Thanks so much for this!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your ideas! I'm like you....I love summer and the little break from routine, but most of the time schedules and calendars and lists make me happy! We home school, and we follow a slightly different school year schedule, so we will be starting our year in about two weeks. EEEK!
ReplyDeleteGreat tips! I am like you....I like the break from routine that summer offers, but most of the time schedules, calendars and lists make me happy! :)
ReplyDeleteWe just retired from 15 years of homeschooling. We still had to do all these things at least one day a week when heading out for group classes or activities. Now my kids are in college but still living at home and we still are dealing with #1-4 but more them than me :) #5... as someone who has graduated two children, I can't emphasize enough how important it is to take time EVERY DAY to listen to your children. They do grow up very fast.
ReplyDeletebethany@teachingnook.com
These are great tips, especially not taking on too much and limiting extra-curriculars. It's hard to say no but at one point my son was doing martial arts and soccer and tournament team so we had to make a choice because 6 days a week was too much. He decided that he'd give up soccer until he could play for the school team so now everyone is a bit less stressed and able to enjoy the activites we still do.
ReplyDeleteGreat tips for starting school here!! It's always great to have a schedule, even though I am like you- I love summer flexibility!!
ReplyDeleteThis is a perfect list for a teacher as well! My daughter isn't in school yet, but I know I always need a kickstart to start the year!
ReplyDelete5 minutes early is a great idea! My dad always said 15 early is on time!
ReplyDelete