School has been back in session for some time now. Have you checked your child’s backpack lately? Are they growing little science experiments in there with left over crumbs and crumpled up paper?
A backpack is just one organizational tool your children will be carrying around with them during all of their schooling years. Teach them to organize it properly to prepare them for success. Here are a few tips to get you started…
- First things first, Label It! If something happens to your child’s backpack make sure it is identifiable so it can be returned to the proper owner. DO NOT emblazon your son or daughter’s name on the backpack so that a stranger can see it and call them by name. DO, however add a discreet label like a bag tag or iron-on label for easy identification.
- Most backpacks come with multiple sized pockets for storing supplies. Teach your children where to put everything and not just use the section for books as a large dumping ground. Use a pocket for pencils, and smaller objects and a section for notebooks and books.
- Show your children how to properly keep their papers in a folder instead of just shoving them into the abyss of the backpack. Otherwise you might not see that paper in one piece again.
- When your children get home from school have them empty their backpacks and show you what homework needs to be done and have a place to set aside graded papers.
- Last but not least, have a designated place for your child’s backpack to hang until the next day. Make it routine that the backpack goes to that place every night so that there is no confusion where it is the next day.
Your organizational habits go with you into adulthood so we want to get our children off on the right start. We have all had our share of backpack days like them and some of you may still be using them. Many of you are using purses or briefcases now. What does your purse say about your organizational habits? Does your purse or briefcase look like your backpack did in high school?
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No fair — you peeked!! Hehehe … It’s like you could see right into my son’s backpack, which is similar to the maw of madness!
Good ideas here – And you’re right: isn’t it funny how all those pockets are such a selling feature when we’re shopping for the right back pack, but then our kids rarely even end up using them to their full advantage! Hmmm … really must do something about that …
Thanks for the tips, and bringing the ‘scary backpack’ issue out of the shadows!
=)
Thanks Deanna, My son is 8 and I have been working on him for some time and the concept of pockets still has not set in. I always look in his backpack before reaching in. I never know when a pencil will be sticking up just waiting for me to reach in.
[...] such as your child’s artwork and graded schoolwork (everything that gets dumped out of the backpack when your kids get home!). In your folder would go incoming mail and things that need [...]
If you have purchased a luggage cart with big six-inch wheels you can easily roll your load up and down a staircase, but don’t try this on bags with tiny built-in wheels. You might scratch the cover on a wheeled bag which will scrape the edge of the curb or stairs, so it would probably be best to do the traditional “lift it up and carry it” on a bag with tiny wheels.