Tips For Getting Back-To-School Ready

September’s here! School’s back in session. At least for some. Others are just days away from beginning their first day back or they might even be homeschooled. No matter when or how your schooling commences, there’s still a whole lot to get done and look forward to as you begin your new school year.

Some may think that getting those back-to-school clothes and supplies on your grade supply list is everything needed, but honestly it’s not. Depending on the grade level, each student is unique with their own ways of preparing/getting ready for classes ahead. For me and my parents, I got three kids going their separate ways during this school year coming. The eldest is going into 10th grade, the oldest twin going into 7th and the youngest twin is being homeschooled this year.

If you’ve read about the cool onscreen twins “Liv & Maddie,” you got a pretty deep introduction to my twins. Just as they are unique in appearance, attitude and personality, they also differ within educational standards. One may need help with a certain subject while the other understands it pretty well. The oldest is great at math, but the youngest has a hard time comprehending it. Due to circumstances, one’s a grade higher than the other, but they both work as hard as they can in school.

Just as my own kids, there are plenty of you out there that may be good at one or more subjects, but don’t understand another. Fortunately, some kids are raring and ready to begin while others are a bit wary of going back. And with higher grade level kids, that usually means more subjects, homework, book reports, essays, theses, projects, presentations and whole boat load more. However, it does depend on your school district, teachers and curriculum.

Seriously, school can get pretty hectic depending on your day but it’s the most important part of your life whether you’re more likely to gloom about it or create a good work ethic with possible education after high school.

Despite how your school year may start, it’s a good idea to plan ahead for future assignments, reports and projects. How can you do that? Check out a few things you can do to keep organized, stay on track and be able to work efficiently:

Organize Your Room – Before school starts, you might want to think about what goes on in your room. With summer, everything might be all over the place and hard to find. But taking time to get everything set up just the way you want can save you tons of time when you finally start hitting the books again. You can study without mom or dad yelling at you to clean your room even though you got that history essay due tomorrow.

Study Place – If you have a desk in your room, that’s perfect. Make it your own personal space when it comes to studying and homework. Set it all up to where things are in reach without having to go across the room to get it. But make sure you keep it just for school, if possible. It’ll help keep you focused on the subject at hand. Any distractions prior to that in your space may cause you to fall off track.

Calendar/Agenda – The best thing you can do is keep a large calendar on your wall or desk to keep track of very important dates like that project due, the day of your presentation, a school rally/dance or even non-school days. An agenda is the simplest idea you can keep on your person and nearby as well. Keep track of your assigments, projects and important dates in there as well. Not only will you be organized in what needs to be done, but you won’t miss the deadline for your chemistry report.

Computer/Laptop – One of the biggest educational resources you can own. Sure you’ve used it for surfing the net or chatting it up with you friends on social media, but it’s a very useful tool when it comes to retrieving information. Many assignments have you looking for research in books, but also online when it calls for it. Just make sure that you only have it on when you really need it. If necessary, keep that messenger up and running with your friends just in case you need a bit of help with that reading assignment. And Skype definitely does wonders with video chat.

Notebooks – Always have an extra notebook or two handy. Doing those problems from your math book requires paper and if you failed to bring your notebook/binder home, at least you have a back-up when you truly need it. Plus, within reach as scrap paper.

Writing Utensils – Extra writing tools like pens, pencils, markers, etc are very useful in your study space. Run out of ink on a pen, you got another. Pencil sharpened way too small, grab a new one. Need to highlight that entry, grab that highlighter.

Library Card – A definite must-have for the hard-working student. Some assignments require books from your local library. Get a library card and have it on your at all times if you can. You never know when you have to head to the library after school to get a research item. Plus, it’ll be nice just in case your friend might have forgotten theirs. (Just make sure they return the item on time. Don’t want to deal with that library fine.)

Calculator – For those more serious problems of the math persuasion, you need your handy, dandy…calculator! (You thought I was going to say notebook, didn’t you?) Having it front of you with mathematical subjects is a must-have. Unable to solve it mentally or on scrap paper, this is the most efficient way to get those problems solved when needed.

Notecards/Post Its – Notecards and PostIt notes are any student’s best friend. They’re useful for writing cliff notes, important passage reminders or even helps when making your oral presentation in front of the class.

Music Playlist/Headphones – Some students need complete quiet to complete studying or assignments. Others are used to some background noise of a specific sort. Calm music is a great relaxer. Just turn on that stereo or plug in the headphones to your iPod so you can get to work and not have to hear your parents yell “Turn that music down!”

Snacks/Beverage – When you get home from school, chances are you are parched. A good idea is to have a snack and drink handy before you get ready to study or work. It will help fill your stomach beforehand instead of getting up in the middle of your thesis just to grab a bag of Cheetos. Your favorite drink, or better yet, some water, will also be handy to have sitting on your desk. Working hard, you get thirsty.

Phone – Now this is certainly not a good idea for a necessity to have in your study space. It can cause serious distractions with phone calls, Facetime or texting. But it is a good study tool to have. Why? Because what faster way to get a hold of your classmate or tutor than by calling or texting the problem you are having if they’re not online.

There are plenty more ways in which you can ready yourself. However, like was said, every student is different and unique. Some of these ideas may seem helpful while others are just thinking “That won’t work for me”. Despite whichever may or may not work for you, hopefully all you fantastic young minds are ready to hit that educational path and begin another fun year of learning!

If you have your own ways of prepping for school or study time, shout out your ideas! Who knows? They might be very helpful to a fellow student!