One of the best ways to organize the “mental clutter” that can cause your kids to lose focus and have problems in school is to get organized with the physical clutter at home. A messy room or homework area has been proven to have a negative impact on a child’s ability to complete assignments, study well for tests and understand or retain information being read for school. This article will focus on ways that you can organize your home to help your child to have a much more successful school year.
Homework
Where does your child do his or her homework? In the bedroom at a desk? Sitting on their bed? At the kitchen table? Every child will have a preference or an environment that helps them to study and learn better than others, but as a parent, the best thing you can do is to make sure that the environment they are working in is clean, organized and de-cluttered.
In addition to having a neat place that is large enough to lay out all of their books and papers, your child needs other supplies at-hand to help them get the job done. Stock pencils, markers, extra paper, notebooks, glue sticks, paper clips, tape or any other materials they might need to get their homework done. Make sure that these supplies are similar to the supplies the teacher wants them to have, but keep them separate from the supplies that they take to school with them each day in their backpack.
To make space for your new homework station, consider putting extra furniture and things into a storage unit in Fall River. You can rent a small space to hold just a few boxes and items or a larger space for big pieces of furniture and other things that you want to keep, but just don’t have space for anymore at home.
Family Calendar
In addition to doing homework and getting projects to school, the fall season often comes with a whole new line-up of family activities and obligations. Consider setting up a family calendar. If you use a dry-erase calendar, make sure to put it up high enough that little ones can’t get to it and “clean it off” for you. Write down all after-school activities, sports practices, volunteer work, field trips and other necessary events. If you have more than one child, consider using a different color for each child for quick identification.
Look at the calendar each night and confirm again each morning to make sure that everyone gets where they need to be and nobody gets forgotten. You can also use a family calendar to make notes about big test days, huge homework assignment or project due dates, recitals and more. If a dry-erase calendar doesn’t work for your needs, consider putting together a large poster-board size calendar and updating it or replacing it each month. Some children work better on a sticker-based award system, so if you are including homework and tests, you might want to add a spot for stickers to show accomplishments as well.
Hang your family calendar in a place within your home that everyone will see easily as they get ready for school in the morning. The kitchen, the homework station or even near the front door are some options that families have used to make sure everyone knows what the plans are for each day.
Children’s Rooms
Once you have a nice clean space for children to do homework and the family is organized and prepared for your new school schedule, it’s time to organize the rest of the house. When it comes to kids rooms, there seems to be a lot more clutter than anywhere else in the house. Make sure there is a place for everything so everything can be stored in its rightful place. Shelves, bins, cubbys and more can all be used to help keep everything picked up and put away.
Entryway
Believe it or not, one of the more important areas in your home this school season will be the entryway of your home. Make sure that shoes are stashed and ready for use the next day, use bins for wet weather gear and have your winter gear all ready to go in case a cold snap comes up unexpectedly this fall. Use cubbies, hooks, baskets, bins, hanging storage – whatever it takes to keep your kids’ gear, backpacks and other important items clean, ready and available.
Kitchen
Packing lunches can be a real chore if you aren’t organized. Consider making a spot on your shelves for snacks that can be quickly grabbed when the kids come home from school. Consider making lunches the night before and set your kitchen counter up like an assembly line with lunch boxes out and ready, along with storage bins, wicker baskets or bowls full of chip bags, pretzel bags and other individually packaged items that can be quickly and easily tossed into each box.
Make More Room
To make more room so you can better organize your home – and your life – take a look at renting a storage unit in Fall River. With over 20 years of experience serving families in the greater Fall River and New Bedford area, Affordable Storage in Fall River can help. They have a wide variety of storage unit sizes and options available to help you get organized – and stay that way all year.
Store winter gear in your self-storage unit during the summer months. Swap it out and store your summer gear in your self-storage unit during the winter months. This will help keep your entryway clean, clear and ready for kids to scoot off to school in the mornings, while protecting expensive gear from damage that is often experienced in damp basements, attics and crawl spaces.
Contact Affordable Storage in Fall River today for more information about all of their storage opportunities. They even have large spaces available to store your ATVs, boats, RVs and other recreational vehicles and equipment. Find out just how much space you can make at home with a self-storage unit rental from Affordable Storage.