Getting Organized for School - School Supplies and Backpacks

School Supplies

One of my daughters was a procrastinator. More than once she would announce after dinner that she had a project due the next day and needed poster board or other supplies.

To prevent myself from having to participate in her procrastination by making a special trip to get supplies, I started keeping supplies of poster board, foam board, report folders/covers, printer ink and paper on hand. I tried to maintain a good supply of markers, colored pencils, glue sticks, and other such items, too.

If you haven't purchased all your school supplies yet, you may want to pick up report and project supplies at the same time and save yourself a trip. I find that Sam's frequently has pens, paper, and ink at more reasonable prices than office supply stores. And the dollar store is a great resource, too!

Backpacks

Wheels are wonderful! A backpack on wheels is much kinder than one that must be carried over the shoulders. I've tried to lift our foster daughters' backpacks without success - I don't know how they do it!

However, if your child or his school insists on unwheeled backpacks, here are a few tips I have recently learned:

- the weight of a backpack should not exceed 15% of a child’s body weight, according to the American Occupational Therapy Association

- to prevent back strain, the backpack should be carried on two shoulders and should have wide, well-padded straps

- the lowest part of the backpack should be no lower than 4 inches above the waist

- heaviest books should be carried closest to the back with lighter objects in the front pockets

- backpacks should be cleaned out weekly to eliminate unnecessary items.
Source: CNN/health.com.


Any tips for us? Please click comments below to share your ideas.

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Are the Olympics Causing Road Rage?

I’m suffering from sleep deprivation. Each night I think, “I won’t stay up tonight to watch the entire Olympics.” Then my husband turns on the TV and I become immersed in (get it?) watching Michael Phelps make history by winning 8 gold medals and setting 7 world records, cheering on Dora Torres competing at age 41, witnessing the women’s gymnastics team win gold and silver in the all around – a first ever. I can’t believe I watched the entire women’s marathon! What is this magnetic hold the Olympics has on me?

I noticed I was rather grouchy on Friday and started wondering if there is more road rage on the East Coast due to the Olympics. Are there more cases of aggression, abuse and assault? When the Olympics ends after midnight on some nights (close to 1 am on the night of women’s gymnastics), what is the effect on those living in the Eastern time zone? Do we have a whole region of the United States living on frayed nerves?

But, hey. You need to experience those special events at times. No matter how organized and scheduled you are, you need to throw it out the window every once in a while and witness history or make memories.

When we lived in Kenya, the Safari Rally came through our little town of Kericho. At 2 am. The Safari Rally is considered by many to be the toughest rally in the world. My husband felt like this was an experience our girls should not miss. So he rousted them out of bed and took them to the main road, where they sat on the hood of our car in their pajamas watching the racers pass by.

Sleep is a wonderful and necessary thing. Having a workable schedule is essential to accomplishing your goals and leaving a meaningful legacy. But being spontaneous, making memories, and experiencing history-in-the-making energizes your life! Then, take a nap.

Getting Organized for School - Planning Dinner

Although I love summertime and the more relaxed schedule, I'm usually ready for school to start in the fall. By then, I'm looking forward to a little more structure in my life. An aspect of that is putting a quick, tasty, balanced meal on the table every night. I feel strongly that providing a good meal for my family is part of creating an atmosphere for their success.

These days, It is even more motivating to plan dinner with food becoming more expensive. I recently read an article on ways to fight rising food costs, which suggested:

- eat at home
- plan your menus before shopping
- shop infrequently
- don't buy prepared food.

With a little planning, you can prepare delicious and nutritious meals at home for a fraction of the cost of eating out. When you consider four combo meals at a fast food restaurant comes out to about $20, you could buy steak or fish, real vegetables and fruit for less than that for a family of four. It takes a few more minutes, but you don't feel guilty afterwards!

If you are at a loss as to what to plan for dinner or if you're bored with what you've been cooking, I have an answer for you: Hassle Free Dinners. I spent a couple of years creating this CD with a year's worth of seven dinner menus per week. Each weekly menu contains color-coded instructions for each day of the week and a weekly shopping list.

Recipes show amounts for two, four, and six servings so you don't have to do the math. Nutritional information and cost per serving is listed for most recipes. And no entree is repeated during the entire year.

Each week includes 1-2 chicken, 1-2 beef, 1-2 pork, and 1-2 fish recipes, with one meatless meal. Each meal includes protein, starch, and something red and something green - fruit and/or veggies. Menus are listed according to months, and use seasonal produce for that time of year. Don't worry - no liver or brussel sprouts!

This system allows you to shop once a week, saving bunches of time and money. I read the other day about a woman who plans her meals on the way home from work, keeps recipes in her car, and stops at the store each night on the way home. Even if she spends only 20 minutes each time she shops, that's 100 minutes for five days. I can usually do my weekly shopping in an hour or less when I have a plan.

Hassle Free Dinners is for people who don't mind cooking, but don't like to plan or are out of ideas. It's a marriage of dinnertime and professional organization, streamlining the time you need to spend in the kitchen in order to put a decent meal on the table.

For more information about Hassle Free Dinners, click the title above.

How do you streamline the time you spend in the kitchen?

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Organizing Your iTunes Music

There are a couple of programs out there that can help you organize your iTunes music, especially those designated "Track 01" where you don't know what song it is until you play it.

John Sanders from WBAL in Baltimore recommends TuneUpMedia.com which will read the digital fingerprinting on each song to identify the name of the song, the artist, and will even put the album artwork on your computer while it's playing. It's free up to the first 500 songs and then it's $12 a year after that for unlimited use. Sanders says that MusicBrainz is free but leaves a bit to be desired as it doesn't organize every song.

Sanders also recommends Last.fm, which is kind of like social networking for music lovers. It updates your profile with the songs you're listening to, as well as making it available for your friends to see.

To learn more from John Sanders' Web Trends, click the title above to see his article and video about organizing iTunes music.

It's Launch Day at Ellie's Bags

Ellie's Bags has some very creative ideas when it comes to diaper bags! These are not your mom's diaper bags. It's evident they have put a lot of thought into their diaper bag systems, and even have a tutorial on how to use them. Click the title above to see how cute and efficient they are!

My Guest Blog on Creating a Mudroom

Drop in on Laura at I'm An Organizing Junkie and see my guest blog on creating a mudroom. Check out her Round-Up for this month which is on entryways/mudrooms. Organize yours, submit it, and you may win her prize! Don't forget to look around while you're there to see all the resources she offers to make your life more organized.

Getting Organized for School - Document Organizing System

David Schwartz over at DOC-OA Document Organizing Assistant tells me that they have updated their organizing system for students. It's a very streamlined document oganizing system for elementary through college, helping students keep track of assignments, study sheets, finished homework, and more. Check it out! Click the title above to learn more about it.

Related Posts: Hope for Disorganized Students!, Homework battles, Getting Organized for School - Backpack Checklist, Getting Organized for School - Learning Style

Organizing Your Herb Garden, Part 2 - Drying Herbs

After listening to me rant and rave about squirrels destroying my herb garden, I want to assure you that I eventually did have herbs in my garden. In fact, I have a plethora of some of them! I decided to try some new herbs, one of which is pineapple sage. It smells delightful, and we've tried it on chicken, which wasn't a great hit. After searching for recipes using pineapple sage, I hit upon pineapple sage tea - delicious! Just pour boiling water over several leaves and let it steep.

Little did I know when I planted pineapple sage that it would grow into a monstrous bush! My husband has already trimmed it once to keep it from overtaking the other herbs around it - a good time to dry them.

Last year, Al, the guy who put in our new windows, advised me on how he dries herbs, so I used his method: wrap rubber bands around the stems of a bunch of the same herb and hang upside down in a dry, airy spot. I must say I felt like I was walking right out of the pages of Little House on the Prairie, having those herbs hang from pegs in my kitchen.

This year, however, I'm trying a different method. A woman in my arthritis aquatics class belongs to an herb club. Rose told me that you can dry herbs in your microwave. I tried it on some basil and it works wonderfully. I placed one layer of basil (make sure it's not wet) between paper towels. I started with one minute on high and repeated until the basil was dry, being careful not to burn it. I put my dried basil in a zip lock for now until I have time to take it off the stems.

Last year I put my dried herbs (sans stems) in my plastic colander and rubbed them through the holes into another bowl. My husband suggests whizzing them around in my mini-chopper this year, which I haven't tried yet. But it sounds like a good idea.

So if you were inspired to grow herbs this year like my friend Margaret, yours may be ready to dry. To keep your herbs tasting good, pinch off the flowers when they start to grow. If they go to seed, it makes the herbs bitter. I found out by accident last year that my parsley would grow through the winter. More than once, I brushed snow off my parsley and cut some for dinner. Even after cutting them for drying, some herbs came back and grew until frost.

Do you have any herb tips - cooking or growing?

Related posts: Organizing Your Herb Garden, Organizing your garden, Score: Squirrels 1, Bev 0, Feed the Squirrels? - Hah!, Managing Invasive Herbs

Getting Organized for School - Learning Style

One of the greatest gifts you can give your child is understanding her learning style. This greatly increased my ability to help my children learn - knowing whether she was an auditory, visual, or kinesthetic learner. I didn't force my learning style on her.

Cynthia Tobias has written several books on learning styles and learning in general. I'll recommend two that I found very enlightening: The Way They Learn and Every Child Can Succeed. She gives numerous ideas of implementing each type of learning style.

As you talk these concepts over with your child, knowing his leaning style gives your child confidence, the ability to adapt his learning accordingly, and the freedom from comparison. You may find it helpful to discuss this information with your child's teacher, especially if he is a kinesthetic learner aand must be moving in order to learn.

Click the book images on the sidebar to get a more detailed description of each book.


What have you done to help your child learn? What books do you recommend?


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Organizing for College - or Just Having Fun

If you're taking your child to college or just trying to squeeze in some fun - Expedia is offering a fabulous deal - 50% off hotels through the end of September. Even they say this is one of the best deals they've ever had. Just had to pass this along to you. Click this link to save some bucks (http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-2537020-10489996?GOTO=DAILY&page=/promos/deals/50_percent_off/default.asp&afflid=aff.wd.promo.50%_off.20080804)!

Ellie's Bags - A New Idea in Diaper Bags - For You or as a Gift

Ellie's Bags is getting ready to launch their new line of diaper bags on August 13. In the meantime, they are sponsoring a giveaway - a $25 gift certificate. Use it for yourself or give it to a friend. Click the title above to sign up!

Organizing for College - Time Management Tip for Campus Calm Blog

Campus Calm is a wonderful resource for college students. Maria Pascucci founded Campus Calm to help students reduce the stress in their lives while still succeeding in college. She has loads of resources and numerous experts who provide insight in many areas.

I am privileged to be the Time Management Expert for Campus Calm. Click the title above to check out my time management tip for college students for this month. While there, wander around the site. Give your friends who are college students a gift by pointing them in the direction of Campus Calm . Or buy them a membership to Campus Calm University!

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Announcing Our New Updated Website - 25% Discount

I am so pleased to announce the launch of our new updated website! Kudos to Comfort at Concept Design Studios for spending many hours redesigning the site to make it fun, colorful, easy to navigate and simple to use.

The site is organized to make it quick and effortless for you to find what you need to organize your home, your office, or your time. This is a great time of year to get organized, and we have just what you need to help you get started!

To celebrate our launch, we'd like to offer you a 25% discount on any order through August 20. Use the code 123 to receive your discount.

I'd love it if you'd pass the word to your friends!

Hoarders vs. Pack Rats and Living with Them

My mom recently sent me an article by Heidi Baker and Eden Jarrin, co-founders of www.BeJane.com, an online community and resource for women's home improvement. The article spells out the difference between hoarders and pack rats, and what to do if you live with either one.

Read the entire article published by Oklahoma City's The Oklahoman by clicking the title above. And if you're the handy type, discover home improvement projects to do yourself by clicking on their website above.

Thanks Mom!

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New blog post: Getting Organized for School - Creating a Hub. www.1-2-3GetOrganized.blogspot.com