It’s that time of year again!
The kids are heading back to school. Such an exciting and hectic time for both kids and moms.
This summer I took my daughter out of daycare mid-July and spent time with her and we prepare for Kindergarten. This is a huge step for her. We toured the school last week and her initial response was “This school is huge”.
I am excited about this new chapter for her and can’t wait to hear all about it. In addition to her starting Kindergarten, my son will be starting Preschool. A lot of big changes in our home! And with changes come new routines.
Productivity Tips For Back To School
With summer coming to an end, it’s time to start looking at setting up school routines and organizing for a more productive day for you and your kiddos.
I’ve rounded up some great tips from various productivity moms around the internet.
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Make a to-do list
First things first you gotta figure out what you need to do. Amy from Deliberately Here suggests starting with a to-do list. Before school starts, make a list that will allow you to see all that needs to be done and will help you to complete it in a timely manner.
Time Blocking
If you haven’t followed Jordan at Fun Cheap or Free yet, you are missing out. Her back to school tips are amazing. My favorite is to create a back to school block system. Here time blocking system is quite possibly the best tool to stay productive.
With time blocking, you are scheduling various activities in chunks (or blocks) of time to help you stay on track throughout the day. And starting a time blocking system now will help you get you and your kiddos into a routine for the school year.
Ease kids into a schedule
Toni-Ann from Real Happy Mom discusses how to ease children back into a schedule. We often throw our normal schedule out the window during the summer. Get your kids back into their school routine early. Toni-Ann suggests starting with putting your kids to bed earlier in small 15min increments. And to get your kids in a lunch routine similar to what they should expect at school.
Create a family command center
Command centers are a great way to maintain schedules, chore lists and keep important papers organized.
Amy from Organization Boutique suggests getting started on your command center early and personalize it to fit your family’s needs. She also provides 5 great examples to get you started!
Read books about going back to school
I love this tip from Raluca at Playful Notes. Especially for the littles. My daughter is preparing for kindergarten and is quite nervous about going to the “big” school. Prepare your kids early with a few books. And help them navigate this new transition.
Household Chores
Chevelle from The Darling CEO mentions re-evaluating household chores which I love. We often let chores slide during the summer. As summer starts to wind down, get your kids back into the routine of doing daily chores. This is also a good time to evaluate if the chores are age-appropriate and if it’s time to add new chores.
With these tips, you will be ready for that back to school hustle and set you up and your child up for a successful first day of school. Let me know below some of your Back to School productivity tips in the comments.
Love these tips! Sounds like great ways to help kids ease back into the school routine.
These are great tips! Growing up, my parents did time blocking with me. I know exactly what I was going to do during the day. That was super helpful for me.
Yes, it is super helpful. Now that my daughter is starting school I will do more time blocking for her so she knows exactly what she should be doing.
our family command centre is found in our google calendar. 🙂
Annette, I never thought of a command center on google calendar. My husband and I use google calendar religiously. It is the only way I can ensure he doesn’t plan a meeting around the same time as an event he needs to be at for the kids.
Great tips! I especially like the tip to help ease back into a schedule. My sis is traveling soon, made a mistake with booking, and discovered she returns home the night before school starts for my little niece! Yikes! It’s definitely important to get those schedules and routines back up & running!
I love the idea of setting up a family command center! Thank you for all of the tips! <3
Jordan, I created one last year and it’s really gotten my husband and me on the same page. It’s great!
I want to start trying out time blocking! Seems like it could really help 🙂
Jenna, I have been time blocking for about a year. It really helps to keep me on track. I would love to hear how it works for you.
Even as homeschoolers we ease our kids back into their school time routine and schedule. I just wrote about it last week, actually! I found that it works well to start with 1 or 2 things, then add just 1 more thing each week until we are up to our normal routine. Like you said, trying to go from free-for-all to full structure can make it hard for kids to succeed!
Heather, I agree you have to ease them back into a routine. I know my daughter hates change so I have to ease her into it.
Very good and helpful tips.
NOthing like being organised before school time starts. It’s then putting into practice baby step by baby step. Thanks for the good tips – taken on board!