A school project for parents

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With the school year under way, the kids have already had a lecture (or two) on how to stay organized. But parents, too, must keep track of blinding amounts of paperwork and school-related duties.Here are some tips:-- Get a binder for all the school papers, fliers, Web-site passwords and carpool info you'll be accumulating. MomCentral.com founder Stacy DeBroff, who has written several books on school and extracurricular activities, creates a notebook for each child each year in which she puts papers that may be needed later.A notebook that has pocketed dividers lets you easily jam in handouts and newsletters. Think how smart you'll feel when your first-grader asks you how to write a cursive Q and you can lay your hands on the guide passed out the first week.-- Have a "launching pad" near the front door for all the things you need the next day. Even if it's just a chair, it's good to have a designated place to put the backpacks, soccer cleats, library books that need returning-- anything that needs to leave the house with you in the morning. If the pile is big, a laundry basket is a handy way to cart everything to the car in one trip.-- Routines are lifesavers. Take five to 10 minutes each night while the kids are doing homework to do paperwork of your own, such as signing permission slips or marking dates on your calendar. Do not set it aside to do later.-- Lay out tomorrow's clothes and prepare lunches at night to make the mornings smoother. Or, better yet, teach your kids to lay out their own clothes and make their own lunches.(E-mail Sharon Kennedy Wynne at wynne(at)sptimes.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service www.scrippsnews.com)