GREENWOOD, Ind. — With so many Indiana students being involved in activities while they are trying to balance school during this difficult year, it is more important than ever to be organized. That’s why we asked our education expert, Greenwood Middle School Asst. Principal Jennifer Brinker, for some tips on helping keep our kids organized.
Dustin Grove: When should we as parents start teaching organizational skills?
Mrs. Brinker: It is never too early to start and organization really starts in the home. From the onset, routines are very important for children. A large part of being organized is feeling secure and understanding that we follow some sort of schedule. Your routines don’t have to be 100% rigid, but even keeping somewhat consistent meal times and bed times can help your child with time management. As they get older, you can really start to involve your child in the process of putting events on a family calendar.
Dustin Grove: It seems like as a parent it can become overwhelming even early on to keep track of assignments. Any advice on when our kids can be expected to take the reins on keeping track of assignments?
Mrs. Brinker: I feel you, I think a lot of us as parents can relate and have had that moment where we open the backpack on a Sunday night and find an assignment that we probably should’ve helped our kids work on early in the weekend. I know each kiddo is different, but the sooner you make it clear to your child that school is their job and it is, therefore, their responsibility to complete tasks, the better. More and more often, teachers are expected to be the ones communicating everything home in newsletters, emails, online postings, etc. Of course, very young students are going to forget things. But we as parents need to focus our energy not on us or the teacher being organized, but on what you can do to make your child more organized.
Dustin Grove: So how do we do that?
Mrs. Brinker: Most schools provide some sort of planner or agenda for kids and if they don’t, you can provide one yourself. It is a good habit to get elementary aged students writing in those agendas just to get used to the process of taking control of their tasks. As kids get older, they can use something like google keep/an online calendar to keep them functioning at their best.
Dustin Grove: What about an older kiddo who is just completely overwhelmed with assignments, due dates approaching, balancing that with activities. Advice?
Mrs. Brinker: Well first you need to evaluate what your priorities are. School work comes before other activities. After scaling back if you need to, you need to show your child how to chunk up tasks by priority and celebrate each thing that gets checked off the list.