Ways to Help Your Middle Schooler Get organized for Getting Back to School

Another exciting first here on the Sippy Cup front!  We have our first guest post!  I would like to introduce you to Patricia, from the United Kingdom.  Now we truly are exotic here at the Sippy Cup office!  (I type this while sitting in my computer room sipping coffee and listening to my kids planning their next attack in Minecraft…while wearing my husbands old t-shirt).

So please put your hands together and help me welcome Patricia Cornwell….

Ways to Help Your Middle-School Student Get Organised for Getting Back to School

Getting back to school is a nightmare for some kids, not just because they will have to start getting up early, but also because they will have to deal with assignments and homework again. In case your child is just starting middle school, this means that the pressure will be even bigger. Unlike elementary school, now your little one will have courses with different teachers and important assignments with deadlines, which could be intimidating. In order to deal with everything, your kid will certainly need some help and you are the right person to give it.

Now is the best time to teach your child to be more organised because this is an important quality, which your little one will need in the future for sure. The multiple tasks could be a problem and not just because your kid has no organisational skills. Before you get upset, better find the reason for the problem. Your child could feel confused, scared or have troubles understanding the whole system. That is perfectly normal, especially in case your kid is about to start middle school. There is nothing to worry about because with your help, your little one will be able to cope with the changes and adapt faster. The good organisation is essential not just for preparing for school, but also for handling all assignments during the year. Here are some interesting ways to help your middle-school student get organised:

Try to turn the good organisation into a habit – The best strategy is to make the organisation automatic but in order for this to work, you will have to be patient and work with your child constantly. Before you get to the assignments and the homework, you can start with the tasks from everyday life like the cleaning, for instance. You can make a weekly schedule with all cleaning tasks and include all members of your family in the process, not just your kid. You can give a particular cleaning task to each of them and make sure that they stick to the schedule. This is a great way to teach your kid to be more organised and make things easier for him/her when the time comes to get back to school.

Count on planners, not on memory – Using different assignment books or a planner is a good strategy, which will help you and your little one stay on top of things. The more your child thinks, the more likely it is for him/her to get confused and miss an assignment when school starts. That is why you can limit the thinking and save to your little one the troubles of remembering everything. Except the special assignment books, you can also get an app for your child’s phone, with which he/she can get familiar before the beginning of school so that it is easier to work with it later.

Organise all materials in one place – There are all kinds of notebooks and other materials, which your kid will need once school starts again. In order to avoid the confusion, you can get everything you need early or ask one of your friends for useful information. In case your neighbour has a bigger son or daughter, perhaps they can share some useful tips as well as some ideas on how to cope easier with everything, including the stress from getting back to school. You and your child can also keep all necessary materials organised, so that you can find easier what you need when school starts.

Organising all supplies and materials early is a good strategy because this way you will save yourself a lot of troubles. This is also a good way to show to your little one how important the good organisation is not just for preparing for school, but also for coping with all assignments, special tasks and homework during the year.

The article is kindly contributed by Patricia Cornwell who runs Power Balham Cleaners.

Here at Sippy Cup we have complied a short list of other ideas we wanted to add:

Review the school supply list.  Most schools have them out ahead of time on their websites.  See what you have to buy new and what you can reuse form last year.

Review proper planner/agenda usage.

Run through a smooth day from start to finish with your child.

Set realistic expectations.  You will get up at 6:30, Get dressed, eat breakfast, brush teeth and hair, out the door at 7:45.  Bus picks up at  8:00.

Set a routine and expectations for arriving home. Unpack back-pack, put planner to right page, for review. Homework done right after school.  Dinner is at 6.  Then you can play till 8. Then shower and time for bed by 9:30.  Setting these guidelines lets your child know what you expect and also helps you to know what you have to do.  Review the planner then start dinner.

Prep on the weekend.

• Meal planning, Need to go to grocery store?  Get list together?
• Kids and your clothing put together.  Makes sure all required laundry is done, or if you need to do some or if you need to go to dry cleaners.

Review After School activities

• How are they getting there?  Do you need to recruit family to pickup/drop off?
• Uniforms clean?
• Equipment up to par?

Don’t forget your pets!  Summer is over.  With kids back to school they will no longer have an all day companion.  Maybe buy a new chew toy for Rover or a scratching post for Fluffy.  Some animals get destructive when bored or anxious… head it off.

Good Luck, and check out our Amazon Store for Back to School for a few items that might help you get organized too!