Simplify Back-To-School Preparation

It's that time of the year again—summer's days are numbered, and kids will be back in school before you know it. This can be a particularly stressful time for parents as they scramble to readjust to a busier schedule for themselves and their children.

, professional organizer for , spoke with Patch to share some back-to-school tips.

"The goal is to ease the stress and the craziness or the hectic-ness of school starting," Smith said. Here are some organizational pointers directly from the pro to get parents through the next few months:

1. Household Action File Holder: to eliminate all of those school paper piles on your kitchen counter, have a file bin set up on your kitchen counter with hanging file folders for each child, activity, schedule. i.e.  "Sarah's Band Schedule," "Ryan's Teacher," "Church Directory." You'll know right where to put each paper that comes out of the kids' backpacks!
2. The Mom Bin: Right when the kids come in the house after school, have them take out any permission slip, letter, or schedule that you need to see and put it in the 'Mom Bin' located in an easy to reach spot for them.
3. Supply Stash: Ever had to do a Target run at 9 p.m. because your child needed poster board for tomorrow?  Save yourself some stress and have a school supply stash on hand. Include in this an envelope with 1's and 5's for permission slip money. 
4. Plan Ahead: Get your students 2012–13 school schedules loaded into your family calendar right away. Color-code activity by child. Have calendar be in common space which will encourage children to take ownership and even record their own schedules for the family to see. 
5. Keep vs. Toss: Starting now, have your kids sort through their clothes by matching up outfits that they want to keep and making a donate pile for clothes that they've outgrown or won't wear anymore.  Not only will your kids have more space, but they will also have an idea of what outfits to wear on school days.

While it may seem like there's still plenty of time to put off employing these tips, Smith insisted that parents avoid procrastinating.

"People think, 'Oh, I've got another month or so,' but just get it all set now," Smith said. "Save yourself some stress."

Want more back-to-school advice from Emily Smith? Check out her Set Up For Success workshop tonight at

Other Mokena Patch Back-To-School Stories:

Two Ways to Stay Connected to Frankfort Patch:

• Subscribe to our newsletters to have headlines and breaking news delivered to your inbox.
• "Like" our Facebook page for updates throughout the day.