Organization

Get organized! Lack of organization is a key characteristic of students with academic difficulties. Help your child learn to:

• Designate different folders for different subjects or tasks. When study materials are used from different folders, encourage your child to put materials back where they belong. When take home assignments are completed, make sure they are in the book bag and ready to go back to school.
  
• Keep notebooks clear of unwanted pages, and keep book bag clear of junk or unused materials. See our Backpack Basics article.
  
• Provide your child with a study agenda or notebook in which she can write all homework or study tasks; teach him to fill it in appropriately when at school. (Oftentimes schools provide them for students, and help them to fill them out in class as a group).
  
• Teach your child to prioritize study tasks in order of importance or by due date to avoid "forgotten" quizzes and tests, or tests that are far in the future. Use the study agenda to help in this process.
  
• Help your child to learn how to bring appropriate materials home for study according to quiz and test dates. Doing so may help your child to avoid the "all or nothing" approach to brining text books and notebooks home.
  
• If your son or daughter forgets to bring study materials home, make it a point to retrieve them from school immediately if at all possible. If not, use an alternate study task in its place. Taking an active and firm approach to study will help them understand that forgetting materials, accidentally or purposefully, will not get them out of study obligations.
  
• If your child appears to avoid certain study tasks, take time to explore the reason why. Is it because the work is difficult? Do they not understand a topic? Don't like the subject? Haven't been successful so far? Understanding why students avoid study of certain or all subjects may help you come up with a new study plan that takes their needs into account. Exploring study difficulties will also help you to work directly with teachers, school psychologists, or school counselors to develop interventions at home and at school if difficulties continue.

Back - Next

Parenting Start