In order to be successful in school, children need organizational skills as much as strong academic grades, notes Lillian Vernon, founder of Vernon Catalogs, on Organizing Network. Your kids have more school work and responsibilities than ever, but extracurricular activities and working parents leave less family time. Help your children be self-sufficient by teaching them how to organize their school and home responsibilities.
Model Organizational Skills
Children learn much of their behavior by watching their parents. Keep a master calendar for the family, tracking everyone's appointments, tests and activities, says LD Online. Show your children how you organize your datebook, bills, checkbook and other household tasks. Demonstrate how you organize bathroom materials, laundry closets and the refrigerator. Be supportive as your kids practice organizational skills by giving them gentle reminders to check their planners, do chores and clean up.
Checklists
Use checklists to help your child remember chores, homework assignments and other to-do items, says LD Online. Use age-appropriate stationary with bright colors, designs and themes your child loves. Keep checklists for younger children posted in a central location, like the refrigerator. School-age children can carry small notebooks. Give kids small stickers to place next to completed items. Remind your child to check homework and chore checklists for completion before beginning free-time activities.
De-Clutter
Each week, work with your child to remove clutter and trash from her study area, bedroom and backpack, recommends LD Online. Teach her how to distinguish between things to keep or trash. File tests, review materials and report cards in color-coded folders. Repair torn notebooks or backpacks before beginning a new school week. Donate usable toys and clothes that haven't been used in six months.
Clean-up Songs
Instill cleaning habits in preschoolers and toddlers by making chores a game, says iVillage. Sing a special clean-up song with your toddler while you pick up toys and clean up after snack time. Older children also work better with music, reports iVillage. Let your teen crank up his favorite music all over the house while he vacuums or dusts.
Add Storage
Work with your child to clean her room, and make sure she has enough organized storage space, notes iVillage. Provide containers for loose items, such as crayons, hair ribbons and small toys. Reader's Digest.com recommends using brightly colored baskets to attract kids' attention and raise interest in organizing. Add storage in small rooms by using under-the-bed boxes, door organizers and wall shelves. Use kid-friendly storage that is easy to reach and open by little hands.
Designate Study Areas
LD Online recommends setting a specific time and place for studying each day. Keep the area comfortable, distraction-free and stocked with any needed materials. Add small personal touches, like family photos or inspirational posters. Designate a time to study each day. Children often need time after school to decompress from the day, notes LD Online, so don't schedule study time immediately after school.
Nightly Rituals
Eliminate stress in your morning routine by setting a nightly ritual to lay out clothes for the next day, organize school materials, pack book bags and lunches and gather any sports or extracurricular paraphernalia, suggests LD Online.
Break Down Large Tasks
Over dinner or snack time, discuss upcoming projects and assignments with your child, suggests Vernon. Show him how to break big assignments into smaller chunks. Then create a schedule to complete each smaller piece. Big projects can be overwhelming to your child, but as he completes each small chunk, he is motivated to complete the rest.
Use this strategy for household chores, like cleaning his room, and extracurricular activities, like preparing for football tryouts. Teach your child how to prioritize which smaller tasks need to be completed first to successfully finish the large project.
