By now, you likely all know that I’m a former Kindergarten teacher and I’m passionate about helping Moms transition into Back to School mode. Whether it’s your first time sending your child off to Kindergarten or you’re a seasoned Mom, getting the family organized and prepared for school is an important part of August. I’m thrilled to introduce you to Krista Hicks, Simply Breathe Now founder. She is going to walk us through how she organizes herself and her children. And trust me, you’re in for a treat! I’ve been using Krista’s Bullet Journal monthly planners and spreads for a few months and the organizational/creative part of me is in LOVE! Krista has a system to help us all use Bullet Journal spreads to organize back to school time in your family.
While Krista will be introducing you to some valuable resources, the purpose of this post is to inspire to get organized for back to school time in your family.
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It is that time of year again: Back To School!!!! How are you feeling? Are you filled with the excited nervousness of the unknown? Do you breath a sigh of relief to release the intensity of the summer? Are you full of dread?
For me, this time of year sparks an excitement with all the growth that the school year has to offer. It is like a second New Years!
New goals and intentions, a new start!
I get very overwhelmed with all the TO DO’s that hit my list in late August. I find the last few weeks of August very stressful with all the lists, shopping, school talk and extra-curricular organization. Have I sorted a schedule out that allows me to get everyone to where they need to be? Do I need to call in reinforcements? Have we taken some time to reflect on what we want this year to be like? Have we, as a family, reminisced about our summer? Taking time to talk about the things we loved and want to do next year and reflecting on things we don’t want to do next summer is an important exercise. But, have we taken the time to do this?
Every year I feel this way. When I started Bullet Journaling two years ago, it only made sense that I would make some spreads to help me through all these feelings and get myself organized. It brought the stress level down and now, I feel so much more prepared and therefore, I can enjoy the process. Last year, I realized I am not the only one who feels this way so I decided to start sharing my journal.
You can use Bullet Journal spreads to organize back to school time in your family.
Here are my Back to School organization spreads for you:
The first two spreads are the shopping list and the extracurricular activities list.
Our family lives with an “Intentional Life” Motto, so we don’t buy new just because it is back to school. We go through everything that we own and see if it is in good shape to use for another year. This has become a tradition in our family that we love! We gather our previous supplies and bins of second hand clothes from our cousins and friends and have a morning fashion show.
Our school sends us a supplies list for each grade the last week in June. We check off on our list what we already have and then we know what we still need to buy. Our next step is a shopping trip to buy what we need. I remember this whole process with fondness with my mom and I know that my kids enjoy this too.
I find in Canada that we have to book extracurricular activities SO early that scheduling gets overwhelming. Because the days of the week are not determined when you sign up, you only hope that nothing overlaps! I designed this spread to have one place where I could see all the kids activities at a glance; their contact information, prices, start dates, location AND then a weekly calendar to see where everyone is!
I colour code everything in my journal.
Pink is my oldest, then dark blue for my middle child, light blue for my youngest, gray from my husband and green for myself.
Once I have the organizing part taken care of, I feel more relaxed to reflect and reminisce with the family about our summer. For the last 2 years, I have done a Summer Memories page (not included in the back to school bundle). I love how this turns out every year and I love to look back on our summers. This year, to enhance the reflection process and take us into the school year I designed an Intention Setting Spread. There are three times to reflect and review. Each family member will fill out their own spread and we may also try to do a family intention. I am excited to see how this progresses through the year.
The last spread that I designed this year was due to a request from several moms: “Help us get our kids out the door with everything they need and less nagging!” So I designed the “DO YOU HAVE” spread. Each family member can fill out what they need to take and check it off each day of the week. Post it by the door for ease of use and watch the kids become more independent!
I hope these spreads make Back to School less stressful and more intentional for you and your family. Let us know if they work for you! I would also love to hear your family’s back to school traditions as well as struggles this time of year.
You can download the above Bullet Journal spreads to organize back to school and many more amazing things over at Krista’s Simply Breathe Now Etsy Store!
Coupon: Etsy shop for 10% off when you spend $12 or more. Coupon Code: BACKTOSCHOOL10
Krista is a mum of 3 beautiful souls (girl 8, boy7, boy3), married 13 years to her high school sweet heart, works as a Paediatric Physiotherapist and is an entrepreneur at Simply Breathe Now. She is a passionate woman who is creative and loves living an organized and intentional life. In fact, her family Motto this year is to live an Intentional Life, which includes conscious spending and eating, connecting, and time management.
Her family has lived in Scotland and Dubai and are currently settled in South Western Ontario. Both her and her partner demand a lot out of life, so being organized is of key importance.
Krista has always been organized and has had lists and journals. In August 2016 she discovered Bullet Journaling where she learned the “system” of how to move information through your journal, She feels this is key to productivity and efficiency and believes that everyone should be taught the system in school when given their first planner. The creative part of her Bullet Journaling journey was an after thought. She has been surprised by how much it offers quiet moments of mediation and fulfillment to her life.
Simply Breath Now was created in order to make all the aspects of Bullet Journaling accessible to everyone (ie: those feeling they have time restraints, who do not feel they are able to draw or are not very creative, or who just don’t know where to start). By offering pre-designed monthly journal inserts or instant downloads, she hopes everyone can experience the benefits from this amazing system.
Krista believes in sharing and connecting to increase everyone’s vibration to honour a world of love over hate and fear.
