Fail to plan, plan to fail. Organization is not taught in school. A smart, attentive child may have poor organizational skills that cause him to lose things, always be frenetic in the morning or prevent him from turning in his homework on time. There are a number of things parents can do to plan for school to keep things moving along and reduce stress levels.
Parents must decide ahead of time which activities they will agree to for the year before they say yes to any child’s request. The schedules need to be determined so that the child is not taking on too much and the parents not pulled to Janey’s soccer and Jason’s Aikido on the same night.
Once decisions are made, sit down with your child and make a list of all the activities and other components of his school week and estimate how long each takes. Map them out day-by-day to see how all the pieces may fit. Include mealtime and homework and play time.
Next make a step-by-step time line for the morning and evening routines (and/or have your child make a colorful chart). Hang it where everyone can refer to it.
Every evening, make sure children collect everything they need for the morning and place on their hook or cubby near the door. Post a checklist or pictures of everything needed to go out the door.
On Sunday, choose five outfits including socks and underwear and place them in the closet in a hanging sweater holder. Or set aside one drawer and make labels for the days or a tie colored ribbon around each outfit.
Train kids to empty their papers into an In Box for parents to sign. Parents can go over them each evening with the kids, catch up on the day’s events and see that the papers go back in their schoolbag.
Ask your child specific questions in the morning, instead of, “Do you have everything?” Ask, “Do you have your science book?”
Each Sunday, plan the week with your child. Use a large family calendar centrally located, and colored markers, to note activities and appointments. Make a list of to-dos or items needed such as ‘make a play date’, or ‘birthday present needed for classmate’s party’.
Color coding can help. Each child can have a different color dot on all clothing and belongings. Or use it to keep track of which book or notebook is needed on what day. Make a chart so it’s an added visual to grab all blue stuff on Tuesday, math day.
Teach your child that organizing their notebooks and their stuff is part of their homework. All papers, pens, books must go back into their backpacks and placed by the door, ready to go in the morning.
No comments yet.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Time management, Tips | andrea | September 6, 2007 