My 10 year-old son is struggling with organizational skills at home and school. Now that he's in fourth grade, it's becoming a real problem as he doesn't know where his books or papers are so it takes him a long time to get ready to do projects.
I've seen a lot of strategies aimed at teenagers, but not many for younger kids. Any advice or help would be very welcome how to help him keep track of papers and keep his desk organized. I'm particularly looking for things I as a parent can do.
Hi there. I'm going through the same thing with my kiddos. I have twin 9year old boys with ADHD. What doesnt help is i have bipolar and im disorganized myself. It's difficult for me to keep focus and teach my kids, but i try the best i can. They both have a binder for school and its seperated according to their subjects with their homework. For home, i keep them separated when studying. They let me know what subjects need to be done. And if they need extra supplies, then we'll prepare all that before they start. Once done, we'll clean up and move onto the next subject. The need to read for 20mins. We'll set the timer and when it rings they're done. This is what we do in my home. I hope this helps. Sending hope, prayers, and encouragement.
I just watched a presentation by Sara Ward on executive functioning in children and it was really great. If you Google her and children you’ll find really great ideas. For example, she recommends relying heavily on the visual of the completed act. So literally taking a photo of what your child’s desk should look like when organized, or what goes in their backpack, so that the photo becomes the prompt when you ask if they are ready to do homework or ready to go to school.
We also found the accordion file inside a zip binder to be very helpful (Five Star Zipper Binder, 2 Inch 3-Ring Binder, 6-Pocket Expanding File @ a.co/d/5xmTHeu) All school assignments that are going to school or coming home to work on go in there and are easy to see. Returned work is filed in the binder once home, or if the teacher isn’t having them return to it (busy work) to study, filed at home in a stand up filing case by subject.(amazon.com/Hanging-Organize.... That way it’s on hand if there is a question about it later. Desk top stand up calendars for project planning, dry erase board for daily homework and “to-do’s”, and time-timers to stay on track also help here.
At their age parent support and modeling good organizatioal habbits is a good start. Make small things a habbit and add as success and confidence grows.
An example of modeling might be how you put your bag by the front door so you dont forget it in the am. Or making to do lists.
An example of supporting might be helping organize papers. Making sure the have a pencil to do homework. Putting their backpack at the fromt door when they forget. No shame or how many times do I have to tell you comments, just support.
If the school uses google classroom make sure you have access and can see assignments and due dates. Teachers often post outlines, graphic organizers, rubrics that you can help make available for them.
If they dont have a 504 or IEP it might be time to look into it.
Good luck!
something that helped my son in 5th grade was to meet with the counselor at the end of day. They would fill out his day planner together; make sure he had all books/supplies he needed to bring home for homework; and make sure he had any papers I needed to sign.
I struggle with organization, too, so I feel your pain! It is hard to teach things we can’t do ourselves.
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