By Rachel Speal

http://teachingthefuture.net

Color-code

Try using color to help your child stay organized. Every notebook, folder, workbook, or textbook that pertains to a particular subject should be the same color.

For textbooks and workbooks, you can use contact paper, plain wrapping paper, or large colored stickers (depending on your child’s preference and school rules).

When you or your child’s teacher tells her to take out her science homework, she has a visual clue that will help her find what she needs easily and quickly.

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Take only what you need

Some children have a tendency to take

everything they own to school. This

means they will drag along with them

the entire pack of pencils, four

erasers, eight pens, three sharpeners…I

think you get the idea.

A better idea is to allow your child to take the minimum: three pencils, an eraser, a pencil sharpener, and two pens are generally enough.

Include markers and crayons if they need them. Store the overflow in a marked box out of eyesight, which discourages your child from using it when they are not in the mood to look for that elusive eraser.

Create a homework caddy

How many times has your child left their

pencil case at home, because they

forgot to put it back in their backpack

after they finished their homework, or

borrowed a pen to write down a friend’s

phone number?

Instead, use a caddy (a plastic basket or cardboard box are also fine) to store all the supplies your child might need, such as a ruler, a compass, a protractor, colored pencils, markers, etc.

When your child does his homework, he leaves his pencil case in his backpack, and uses the caddy instead.

The caddy should not be stored in his room; it should be kept in whatever room your child does his homework, and can be available to anyone who does their homework in that room.

Teach your child to use a homework

planner/calendar

Being organized in school includes

knowing how to organize your time.

There are many different types of

homework planners on the market, so

you should easily be able to find one

that suits both you and your child’s

needs.

You will need to train your child to use it, initially. Start out by helping your child fill out a school schedule. Color-code each subject.

Then, every night when she prepares her bag for the next day, she simply looks at her schedule, and sees, for example, geography (green).

She then makes sure that anything with a green wrapper or label ends up in her bookbag.

If you want to get even more organized, you can put a little number in parenthesis next to each subject; this number will indicate the number of materials that correspond to that subject.

So if geography includes a notebook, a textbook, a workbook, and a handout folder, she will put the number four in parenthesis next to the word geography in her planner.

Next, you will have to help your child get into the habit of using the planner properly.

Don’t try to do everything at once. Teach her a little bit each day.

When you have taught her everything (and you will probably have to make a list in order to make sure you don’t forget anything), then you can slowly hand over the reins.

Plan to spread out the process over a month, since it takes about 30 days to develop a habit.

In the first week, you will teach her how to use the planner, and you will supervise her while she uses it.

This is full supervision, meaning she fills in the blanks or checks off work completed, but you stand next to her while she does it.

Don’t try to take short cuts, and don’t try

to supervise while cleaning the room or

doing the dishes, because then the

following conversation will take place:

“Why didn’t you finish the second half of

your homework? What do you mean you

forgot? Didn’t you write it in your

planner? But I told you to write it in!”

During the second and third weeks you

will gradually decrease the amount of

assistance you give your child.

You will do this from back to

front, meaning the last steps you

undertake when preparing with the

planner will be the first ones you hand

over to your child.

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