Back to School Ideas from Avery

Just found a good post on the Avery website about organizing for school. "Getting Ready for School is as Easy as ABC" is a good reminder to do the things we as moms know we need to:
A: Assignments - have a place for kids at home to put these.
I have several ways I do this at home.

• Most important is my clipboard. On it I attach current items that need attention (permission slips, trip details, project due dates, party invitations, etc.) These are things I need to do or have the kids do, and I put the most current on top.
• Next is our kids area at home. On the odd-sloping wall by the stairs are coat hooks (one for each kid) and backpack hooks (one for each kid) and a shoe storage bin. On this wall I tape several things we need for the year: the monthly school menu, the band practice schedule, a weekly schedule (the same for the whole year) showing which "special" each kid has each day.
• The wall is important because the kids can read things for themselves to see what's for lunch and what they have that day.

• Finally, we have a shelf at home where I put folders. Each kid has an accordian folder where I keep their "keep" papers, class rules or handbooks or other ongoing items and bulky schedules that don't hang on the wall. (For these, each month I write the date of their special class on the menu, so they see it.) Other folders on the shelf are for IEPs and after-school activities, like Scouts, sports, band, etc. Usually I just label these with the activity and we reuse the same folder every year, since some things aren't on the same timeline as school and some paperwork is ongoing.

B: Belongings - label everything so it doesn't get lost at school.

This is a great idea. I usually label things with our last name, since some items get handed down.

C: Clothing - label things like jackets.

• I learned to do this when a few years ago I gave my son a spare jacket to wear to school because it was too warm for a winter coat and not cold enough for a fall coat. The teacher called me at the end of the day asking what color his coat was. Apparently there was one coat left in the closet and my son swore up and down it wasn't his. It was! LOL

• I admit what I do for the spare coats is write our last name on masking tape and tape it over the tag at the back of the item. It works until they get washed. For the "good" coats and sweatshirts they wear a lot, I used to write in the coat (usually they have a label to write on) with a permanent marker.
  
• I think I might try the Avery iron-on labels this year. It sounds like a good idea and more permanent than my masking tape idea.