Description: Organize your kids' homework and activities with a family organizer board.

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Have you ever wondered how your childs' backpack can hold so many papers? Between the art projects, worksheets, Dad's Club flyers, and permission slips, I am completely overwhelmed with paper and I haven't even scratched the surface of their homework! It is no wonder that I win "Mother of the Year" at my son's school every time I forget to send him with his permission slip for the latest field trip, completed homework from last week and has anyone seen his library book? For an organizer, it was getting mighty embarrassing! We needed to find something quickly in order to get our little lives back in order and to make the school stop calling me.

So, we came up with our Family Organizer Board. I used one of the extra foam core boards we had left over from my daughter's science project and I used Velcro to attach two Poly File Folder Project Pockets to the board; one for each of my little people. When they come in from school, they immediately go through their backpacks and place their papers into their respective pocket.

Next, we used Super Sticky Post It notes and stuck them to the top of the board in groupings by color. Each member of our family had a different color Post It and one color that denoted the entire family. Underneath the Post Its, I printed labels for Sunday - Saturday. Whenever anyone has a field trip, doctor appointment, extracurricular activity, etc. we place it on the appropriate day of the week. Usually, we go over the weekly schedule on Sunday after dinner. The kids love to help participate in placing their Post It and my 8 year old still hasn't caught on that I'm having him practice his handwriting by "allowing" him to write on his own Post It. Ah, the joys of youth!

Realistically, all you need to create your own board is:

• 1 - Foam Core Board (your choice in size)
• Poly Pockets for each child in your home
• Labels for the days of the week
• Super Sticky Post It Notes in a variety of colors

Each day have your child empty out his/her backpack. I found that reviewing their folder after dinner works the best for our family, but you can certainly adjust the time frame to meet your needs.

Determine a time to update the schedule for the week. We use Sunday as our starting period so we always update our Family Organizer Board on Sunday evening.

That is all there is to it, really. I have had some people add additional items to their boards or even have individual boards for each child. You can have a chore chart, include a monthly calendar, put another Poly Pocket for bills or mail, or any other "tools" you need to help with your family. The sky and your imagination is the limit on your Family Organizer Board you may even want to consider decorating the foam core board with wrapping paper, tissue paper, or some of the left over scrapbooking pages you have laying around the house.

Happy Organizing!

Reprinted with permission.

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