I know I promised to post ideas of our steps for making the transition to school a bit easier. I apologize for the length of time it took to follow up on it. To make it easier and quicker, check out the following links. My wife has posted our steps on her blog.
This one talks a little about our chore charts and organization. These were really cheap to make and have been successful thus far.
Here you can read about our companion to the chore charts, a reward calendar. We use happy or sad dollars which they earn by doing their chores & homework. We have also used it as a behavior monitor when we have had behavior issues.
Lastly, she talks about meal planning here.
Enjoy!