Home Organization Tips

With the school year in full swing again, it’s time for the dreaded “H” word.  One of the things that I most enjoy with my children during the summer is the lack of homework.  Sure, they do their summer reading and other resource packets, but there isn’t the same feeling of urgency with their homework.  Now that the school year is back in action, I’ve started to hone by skills, once again, to help with homework.

Helping with homework isn’t just about sitting and answering questions with the kids.  It’s also about helping them to organize their backpacks, to know where to place the school materials in the afternoon, and to help them with the entire homework process.  These homework tips should streamline this process and make the homework ritual more manageable and organized.

1. Backpack Placement: When my boys come home from school, they know that their backpacks are to go directly into our home office.  This allows the front hallway to remain uncluttered, and it ensures that the backpacks are in the right location for getting homework done.  Whether or not you have a home office, you can specify exactly where you want the backpacks to be, and you can train the children to place them in the right location.

2. Break Time: My kids are allowed about thirty minutes after they arrive home to unwind, get a snack, and tell me about their day.  They know that they have this time, but they also understand that it’s limited.  I remind them to find a snack quickly when they get home (or I have one waiting for them already) and then I let them know when they have a ten minute homework warning.

3. Homework Time: Next, it’s time to get the homework done.  They aren’t allowed to play outside, go to a friend’s house, or do any other activity until the homework is finished.  I have a few items set up in the home office that facilitate the homework process.  We have one large bookcase in the office, and each child has one shelf to himself.  Here, he can place homework materials, books that he won’t need for school the next day, extra pens and papers, and more.  He knows to retrieve materials from this bookshelf and to return materials here.  In addition, each child could have a specific office desk where his homework is to be done.  My children love working at the dining room table, so this idea wouldn’t work for organizing homework in our house – but it certainly could work in other homes.  I keep myself available to help with homework during this time in the afternoon.  The two boys who have homework know that I won’t be sitting next to them; they are in charge of doing their own work.  I am around, however, should they need help.

4. Extra Help with Homework: Should there be a day when one of my boys needs extra help, or when I need to help him study for a test, we put off these activities until after dinner.  With five boys underfoot, I can’t always concentrate all of my attention on one child who needs lengthy homework help.  For this reason, we’ll postpone that assignment under the evening time, when my husband is home and the little kids are getting ready for bed.

5. Finishing Up: My boys have a daily planner (provided by the school) where they write their homework assignments each day.  When they finish their work, they bring me the planner and I sign that they have finished.  This is a great way for me to see each day what homework the kids have, and what they’ve accomplished, and it allows both me and the teacher to know how they are doing with their homework.

Finally, once all of the homework is finished for the day, the boys put their backpacks back into the home office, and their materials on their bookshelves.  With homework done, they can go and play…and I can relax until it’s homework time again tomorrow!

Posted on September 30th, 2009 by Romi
Filed under: Household Management, Kid-friendly