WASHINGTON — You wake up earlier than usual. It’s been a long week at work and you’re exhausted. But your daughter has an essay due for her reading class that she promised she’d finish over breakfast, so you’re up.

To get things moving (which is always tough in the morning), you head down to the kitchen and open up her backpack to pull out her half-written assignment before getting her out of bed.[related_gallery align=”right”]

It’s at that moment that you see something else, and let out a labored sigh … an empty pre-algebra work sheet stuffed in the front. And yup, due date: TODAY

Sound familiar?

The details may differ, but chances are, if you’re a parent with kids in school, staying organized is a “work in progress.” And unfortunately, issues with organization end up spilling over to other aspects of school: attendance, grades, confidence, motivation.

Woody Allen once said “80 percent of success is showing up.”

And I would argue that in school, 80 percent of success is actually just staying organized.

Here’s the good news, though: There are a few simple, easy-to-start tools, tricks and routines that can get your child (and the rest of your family) a whole lot more organized this school year. Here are the top six tips:

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Now, there are plenty of ways to put these improvements into practice, so I encourage you to customize, mix and match with your family to pick out the ones that work for you in the way that works best with your existing routine.

Spend some time on these before the first day of school hits this fall, and kick off the new year with the tools in place to keep that momentum going.

Ann Dolin is a former public school teacher and the founder and president of Educational Connections Tutoring, which helps students throughout the D.C. area. She’s the author of the award-winning books “Homework Made Simple” and “A Parent’s Guide to Private Schools.”