ORGANIZATION – My Child is Disorganized

By Stuart Ackerman

       In my many years of teaching, I must admit that organization, or a lack thereof, is a puzzling issue.
 
     That is, I have found that many gifted and lower students are often disorganized while most average and high achieving students are organized.  Regardless of academic performance, it is still important for students to become organized both at school and at home.  This is a life skill that children will need when they get older.
 
      You can help your child become more organized by trying some of the following suggestions:
 

·         Help your child to become physically organized at home by creating bins, folders, shelves and boxes for different items (e.g. school work, toys, books...).

·         Buy or create desk and/or wall calendars to keep track of school work, extra curricular activities, and family plans.

·         Encourage your child to place school items in a designated area the night before school (e.g. agenda, text books, lunch, etc...).

·         Model organization and appropriate use of your own materials at home.

·         Have your child help you around the house when you have to reorganize the kitchen, basement, or office.

·         You and your child can create a reward system whereby your child receives small rewards when he or she shows good organization skills.

·         Organize your child’s school workbooks/folders (e.g. color coded folders with dividers).

·         Create a checklist for your child for home time at the end of the school day.  Your child should refer to the checklist while packing up at the end of the day (e.g. 'bring home math textbook', 'fill out agenda', etc...).

 
     Try to follow these suggestions.  See which ones work best for your child.  Be consistent and you will definitely see some changes in your child’s organization skills.

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