Help Your Child Get Organized and Finish the School Year Strong!
Organization is critical to good grades and academic success. Helping your child create a system for staying organized is one of the most important roles you can play in your child’s education. This year, getting organized is even more critical. Not sure where to start? Here are some great ideas to get you going!
Choose an ideal workspace
When you create a designated workspace for your child, you give them a space that they can make their own. Provide a pencil holder or pencil box for small school and ample lighting. Give them the creative freedom to decorate the walls around their desk or table with pictures, photos or words that inspire them. Feeling ambitious? Paint the walls and all them choose a wall color that makes them happy.
Create a schedule
Schedules provide predictability and security for kids and help facilitate an environment where they can thrive. Each weekend put together a schedule for the coming week and hang it up in your child’s workspace. Make sure to include distance-learning school hours, Zoom meetings with teachers, project due dates and any extracurricular activities your child is involved in. Add homework assignments throughout the week as they are assigned
Consistently sort through materials
A child’s backpack, folders and desk can quickly become disorganized. Weekly go through these spaces with your child, tossing garbage, recycling or, organizing homework assignments, returning supplies to their proper places. Helping your child keep their materials organized allows them to work more efficiently and minimizes frustration.
Implement a daily routine
Similarly, create a daily routine and stick to it as much as possible. Create a set time for working on schoolwork, a predictable dinnertime and a consistent bedtime so your child is prepared, nourished and well-rested for school. Educate your child about the effects of screen time on sleep and implement a screen time cutoff each day.
Get organized the night before
The morning sets the tone for the entire day so get organized the night before. If your child is going out to school the next day, encourage them to pack their backpack and lunch and lay out their clothes the night before. For older children or children working at home on a family laptop, make sure all devices are fully charged. Any preparations you make the night before will contribute to an easier and less stressful morning.
Color-code folders and notebooks
Assign each subject a color. For example, the orange folder and notebook are for English and the yellow notebook and folder are for math. Color-coding subject materials makes it easier for your student to locate the correct notebook to write in or the correct folder to put homework in, helping them feel more competent, prepared and on top of their work.
Use mnemonic devices
Dating back to the time of the ancient Greeks, mnemonic are helpful when it comes to organizing information. These memory devices help a person retrieve information that is otherwise challenging to recall. Mnemonics can be used to help your student remember anything from letters to planets in the solar system or the name of a person they just met. If your child is struggling to memorize, help them come up with mnemonic devices that can assist them!Hybrid and distance learning can be challenging and there is always room to refine your processes and make learning easier for your student. As you head into the fall and new school year, set your student up for success with some new organizational approaches. If you find that your student continues to struggle with learning, contact us to learn more about our brain training services and how we can help!
