Back-to-School Organization |
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 by Stacy DeBroff, Mom Central
To really succeed at school, one of the critical issues kids will face in the upcoming school year is being organized to learn.
In my research with 350 teachers nationwide for my most recent book,
The Mom Book Goes to School, I have found that being organized is
essential to a child’s academic performance. Everything from missing
homework assignments to disorganized study notes affects children’s
grades. Yet in a recent survey I conducted, 60 percent of parents
report struggling with how best to help their disorganized kids.
That’s why I partnered with Office Depot to provide parents with
insider advice and smart tools to get kids organized to learn, and I
want to share my favorite tips with you.
1) The first challenge is keeping kids and all their stuff together.
Create a space at home for each child for all the papers that come home
from school. In addition, pick out a backpack for them that:
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has lots of pockets to do the organizing for them.
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is ergonomically designed to prevent back strain from all the stuff they lug to and from school.
2) Older kids now have to organize not only paper but also all electronic documents.
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Get your child a portable memory drive to attach to their backpack for
everything from homework backups to group projects they work on at
school.
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Look for one with built-in virus protection to save your home computer from crashes.
3) Create a master binder for organizing class handouts and homework so they don't go missing.
Notebinders (from Mead) are great—no more running back to the locker between classes for forgotten homework assignments.
4) Finally, kids tend to be forgetful about bringing stuff home from school.
Attachable reminders are fabulous for little kids who forget everything
in sight. Plus, older kids can attach them to their backpacks as
self-reminders.
Stacy DeBroff is president and founder of Mom Central Inc. She is the
author of several books on household and family organization and sends
a monthly email newsletter to more than 15,000 moms around the world.
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