Organization Station

We finally got something set-up in the foyer for the kids and their home reading books, library books, agendas, and other school-related paperwork.

For the past few years I have been the one responsible for ensuring that everything gets put into backpacks in the morning and then taken out at the end of the day. Every single time I did that job, I would think to myself, Why am I doing this? What am I teaching the kids by doing this job for them? But I wanted to find something that would make it easy for the kids to be organized but I couldn't find anything suitable.

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon an organizational store called Solutions and they had exactly what I was looking for. I found a magazine rack that was sturdy enough to hold books and agendas, and that had one section for each kid.

Voila!

We also put up a small bulletin board for the school calendars. Now the kids can just look on the calendar themselves to figure out what is going on at school each day.


Heather in particular is very keen on this new system and on Friday after school she immediately put her agenda and home reading in the mesh basket, put her lunch bag and water bottle on the counter, and hung up her backpack.

We hope that this will become a regular routine where after school the girls put their items in the baskets. In the evening Jeff or I will sign the agenda, look in the folder and then put the items back into the baskets. It will be up to the girls to get the items from the baskets back into their backpacks before leaving for school.

Maybe the next project on the to-do list
could be sand and paint over drywall mud...

Now there is one less thing that I have to do and one more way for the girls to be more independent and responsible.

Let's hope this new system works.