If you have a child in school then you’ve probably discovered that there is some “black hole” there, where things just walk away and disappear. Your child has no idea where his coat went or when exactly it disappeared. If you’re lucky, the missing item(s) may turn up in the “lost and found” bin, but sometimes it simply can’t be recovered. Kids have so much going on while they’re at school that it can be hard for them to keep track of all their belongings.
Solution #1: Labeling
A way to circumvent these problems is to label your child’s items-coat, lunchbox, backpack, shoes, hats, school supplies, thermos, etc. You can buy pre-printed sticker or iron-on labels at a fraction of the cost that it would take to replace all the missing supplies. Iron-labels are especially nice because they do not come off, whereas sticker labels will eventually wear off. You can get the labels pre-printed with your child’s name or even add your telephone number for easy retrieval. This is especially handy when your teenager has to bring extra clothes and shoes for gym class. Losing an expensive pair of tennis shoes could be very costly to replace.
Solution #2: Color Coding
You can take your organization up a notch and try some color-coding of your labels. This is especially great for very young children who aren’t reading well yet. For example, try placing a colored label on a notebook and the same color on the corresponding textbook. Use a different color for each subject. Color code your child’s school supplies based on the subject. For instance, a compass, protractor, and ruler would fall under the math category, so all math supplies would be labeled in the same color. You can even have a separate file folder for each subject (in that subject’s color) where your child can keep his homework for that particular subject. One way to help homework keep from magically “disappearing” before it even reaches school is to have your child put the assignment in his backpack as soon as he finishes it. This way it will be ready to go the next morning.
Solution #3: Make Your Own Labels
If you’re going to be making a lot of labels (and if you have all the above to do, you will!), then you may find it cost effective to buy your own label maker. You would be surprised to learn that they are not very expensive. A very nice electronic model can be purchased for less than $30. Labels can be printed out in any of the following formats: paper, plastic, metallic, magnetic and iron-on. You’ll probably have so much fun that you’ll end up going crazy labeling around your home as well. And why shouldn’t you? This is a fantastic little organizational tool that might save you hours of time later looking for the proverbial “needle-in-a-haystack!” Read the rest of this entry »