As the little ones put carefree summer days behind them and hop on the bus to learn and grow at school, parents can establish resolutions that keep kids focused and their schoolwork organized. Start the school year with these six resolution ideas, and your elementary student will be an A+ star.

Locker Stations

Designate a space in your home that’s dedicated to your child’s school supplies. Freestanding metal lockers in bright colors like orange and blue are available for home. Your kid will love to keep belongings in an at-home locker, and you’ll love freeing the couch from backpacks bulging with notebook paper and pencils. For the DIY family, build homemade locker spaces with shelving, hooks and cubby holes. Paint the locker shelves with your kids using fun colors and patterns like stars and polka dots.

Work Areas

Now that coats are hung on hooks and backpacks are stored on a cubby shelf, create a work area for your little student. Rather than flooding the kitchen table with multiplication flash cards and spelling homework, place a desk in a distraction-free zone where your child can focus during an hour of working on homework. You don’t have to put your kid into quarantine, but assigning an area that’s specifically used for studying and homework prevents TV watching, computer play, and distracting siblings. Decorate the work area with colorful drawings and artwork.

Healthy Lunches

As a team, come up with healthy lunch ideas, make a list, buy groceries, and pack lunches at night together. Use school lunch preparation as a time for bonding and a way to practice a nutritious lifestyle. Also, kids will have fun eating lunch from a bento box because of the little compartments that can be filled with ham and cheese rollups and grapes. Throw away the PB&J lunch tradition and go for healthy and creative lunches, like chicken salad lettuce wraps, pitas and hummus, and vegetable pasta salad.
Sleep & Play

Younger children still need playtime. As much as you want your little one to excel academically or become a star athlete, young kids should still be kids. Encourage your kids to play in the park, go for a bike ride, and hang out with friends in the neighborhood on certain evenings. Ask your child what sport or activity interests them. If over-scheduling practices and activities stresses you out, then your child will mostly likely feel stressed as well. Pick and choose; don’t hesitate to say no. A healthy week includes three free evenings for family, friends or independent playtime. Also, create a chalkboard or whiteboard calendar. Involve your little one with planning. Scheduling assignment due dates and soccer games provides your kid with a sense of accountability and responsibility.

Weekly De-Cluttering

Math quizzes, spelling worksheets and art projects quickly accumulate. Make it a routine that every Friday you and your child will go through the backpack and folders to throw away items that are disposable. Similar to filed insurance documents and important records that you save, store special writing assignments or art projects in a binder. Maintaining a binder keeps clutter from filling up kitchen drawers, countertop corners, and dining tables. Eventually the binder becomes a collection of your student’s greatest work that the family can admire at the end of the year.

BDST: 1655 HRS, Sep-17, 2013
SIS/GCP