The Organized Student – maintain an organized desk and locker

Although kids may appear organized at home, a peek into their desks or lockers may surprise you! Even an organized kid can create chaos in those small, often neglected spaces.

Elementary Age

If you’re concerned about the state of your child’s desk, contact the teacher. Perhaps she could hold an “organize your desk” time once a week or month that would benefit all of her students. If your child needs extra attention, ask the teacher if you could stop by before or after school some day for a brief desk tidy-up. Teach your child to take home food containers daily, toss garbage, purge papers that are no longer needed, and keep important take-home papers in a designated folder. See what type of order makes sense for your child. Perhaps she associates colors with certain subjects, so notebooks and folders could correspond to those. Maybe she likes all the notebooks on one side of the desk and folders on the other. Or perhaps she prefers the items she uses in the morning on one side and afternoon items on the other. Whatever makes sense for her is okay, as long as she understands and maintains the system.

Middle and High School Age

This age can be more challenging for parents to help, because you’ll likely not be invited into the school by your student. But you can assist by providing helpful accessories like an extra shelf and a magnetic pencil cup and a memo board to make staying organized as easy as possible. Discuss ways to organize your student’s things (see prior paragraph) in a logical order. Encourage frequent clean-outs.  If it really gets out of control, give her a large garbage bag and have her bring everything home over the weekend. Spend time helping her sort, purge, and rearrange. She can return the organized items in her locker on Monday.

All ages

Inventory students’ school supplies at least twice a year and restock anything broken or used up. Check in frequently to see if their desks or lockers need tune-ups and help as necessary.

Originally posted 2009-09-13 13:06:52. Republished by Old Post Promoter

The Organized Student – create a designated study space for school success

After you’ve considered and established your student’s daily routine, it’s time to create an efficient study space to maximize your child’s study routine.

If you want to raise successfully organized students, you must give them the tools they need to succeed. A proper study space, that is both comfortable and fully stocked with school supplies, is essential to get kids motivated for after-school studying.

Start by deciding where your kids will do homework. Involve them – ask where they prefer to study, considering their age and independence level. Do they like the privacy and quiet of a desk in their bedroom? Or do they want to be near you in a centrally located area such as the kitchen or family room? It’s also important to consider your child’s learning style and ability to focus. Given the choice, my daughter would study in front of the TV, but I know that doesn’t work for her with all the added distractions. Whether she likes it or not, I know that for her to be successful, she needs to do her schoolwork in a quiet area with minimal distractions. Students need to understand that although parents will consider their preferences, the parent may make the final decision on the most effective study space.

Once you decide on the best study space for your child’s learning style, maturity level and routine, make sure it’s well stocked with supplies. If your child has a desk, you may choose to organize supplies inside the drawers or in containers on top of it.  Make sure to categorize, containerize and label items (such as writing utensils in one area, paper in another) so the desktop and drawers don’t become chaotic catch-alls.

 For those that study outside their bedrooms, create a portable office. This will allow them to work anywhere inside (or even outside) your home. A tackle box or any type of small storage box (even a shoebox) will do. For storing school papers, like graded tests, handouts, etc. I like small desktop file boxes like the Show Off by Sterilite. Notice the lid with handle that allows for easy mobility.

Fill the portable supply box with supplies such as pens, pencils, sharpeners, crayons markers, highlighters, colored pencils, glue sticks, scissors, tape stapler, paper clips, ruler, calculator, sticky notes, paper, and any other supplies that your child frequently uses. Keep an age-appropriate dictionary and Thesaurus handy. Also consider keeping small stock of rarely needed but important project accessories, such as report covers and poster board.

At the end of each study session, remind your students to put away any home supplies they used and pack up their school materials so they’re ready for the next day’s use. Teach them to make a list of items that need replenishing. Maintain consistency but allow for flexibility for happy and confident kids!

Suggested tools:

Task clips:

Informative File Folders:

To Do Notepad:

Originally posted 2009-09-04 16:29:10. Republished by Old Post Promoter