Kids using planners? I can hear the confused grumbling now. Well, isn't that just the latest Yuppie parent affectation!

Wrong! Teachers, parents and homeschool families know that training kids to the planner habit makes for successful students. School districts throughout the USA issue planners to pupils and integrate planner use into the school day. Homeschool families use planners to track and organize lessons, chores and activities, while techno-hip high school kids tote electronic organizers as a status accessories.

A student planner is only a tool. How do you teach a child to use one? It's a bit much to expect a 7-year-old to pore over a complicated biz-speak guide to time management and put the method to work independently.

Try these tips to teach kids the planner habit:

What's the fast-track to an organized holiday season? Create a Christmas holiday planner notebook!

Organizing holiday preparations in a simple three-ring binder takes the household notebook concept to new holiday heights!

To create your tool for efficient holiday planning, try these pointers from sister site Organized Christmas:

Imagine a genie, a butler, a secret servant at your fingertips. Someone who remembers everything: when your kindergartner got his last round of immunizations, the name and number of that other Mom in the soccer carpool, what your second cousin named her latest baby. Someone who whispers into your ear, like the nomenclatores of ancient Rome, reminding you of who and what and where in every transaction of your life.

Every home manager needs this informational paragon, but no one has to scour deserted beaches for a jeweled bottle. This secret servant is called a planner--and every home manager worth her gym socks needs to have one.

Who among us hasn't squandered a happy afternoon in a store specializing in organizing products? Drifting from aisle to aisle, we make a mental list: this for the bathroom clutter, that for the computer desk.

All is bliss until we consider the bottom line. Specialty organizers can be costly! Someday, we vow, we'll get organized at home, but for now, budget realities step firmly on organizer dreams.

Stop the presses! Over the years, these top tools have proved their value, and they cost a fraction of the price of specialty products. These everyday products from office supply and discount stores can take us 80% of the way to total home organization--for 20% of the price. It's a frugal application of the 80/20 rule.
Ready? On to the power tools for home organization!

Personal organizers are hot, hot, hot. Smart home managers tackle time management and goal setting with the help of an all-in-one calendar, scheduling and information retrieval tool.

Families need a organizer, too! Whether it's called a household notebook, a home management binder or family organizer, this simple idea saves time, cuts stress, and enhances communication in any-sized family or household.

A standard-sized binder stocked with calendars and schedules, planner forms and inventories, a Household Notebook creates a one-stop information center for busy families. Whether it's a carpool schedule or a co-worker's phone number, the Household Notebook holds the information you need to check each day.