Organize Your Child For Back to School

If you're looking for back to school activities, you can make this the best school year for your son or daughter by getting them organized. Together you can create a mentally stimulating study environment complete with personal habits that will last a lifetime.

A comfortable study environment

Create an area for your child to call their own. It should feel comfortable for doing homework. Let the child participate in the organization process because if he doesn't like the space he won't use it. Children seem more motivated to replicate positive school habits when the home environment is similar to their classroom. This means no distractions (music, television, or video games), good lighting and the tools needed within reach.

Clutter is very distracting for both adults and children. An organized study area makes it simple for kids to find things they need and helps them to avoid wasted time looking for study tools.

Create A Home for Everything

For younger children: Containerize (baskets or bins) all their stuff in categories. Store your child's toys according to the activity, for example: building blocks, books, cars, dolls and art. Label containers so your child knows what goes in each of these boxes. For "pre-readers" put a picture next to the word to assist with word recognition. For small children, "lid-less" or flip-top containers are better than ones that snap on and off.

Teach pre-teens and teens to set up a filing system for school. A filing cabinet or filing box with color-coded files for each subject is a great way to start preparing your child for managing his work. The corresponding colors can then be reused in the schedule/day planner, making it easy for them to coordinate homework and notes.

It's all in the Routine

Train children to come home and follow a routine. For example, a good friend has the following routine set-up for her six-year old. YES! A six-year old:

The first thing he does is go to the kitchen and unload his lunchbox (in the dishwasher - if you can be that lucky!)
Puts his school paperwork for mom/dad to review/sign in the designated folder (designate one area and use it consistently)
Takes his backpack to his designated study area
Has afternoon snack
When he's done with homework, he returns his completed homework to his back pack.

Believe it or not kids LIKE having a routine and quite frankly, they need routine to learn positive habits. You might find yourself having to reinforce the habits but the payoff will show in their grades and your peace of mind.

Oh and don't forget to incorporate rewards, for example: if your child comes home at 3:00 from school, a "wind-down" time for about 30 minutes is nice for having a snack, outside playtime or watching a favorite television show. It's never to early to start teaching life long positive habits.