Previous: Understanding your child's mathematics education

Table of Content:August 2001

Home  Library Join 

Tired of stumbling over backpacks at the front door and shuffling through school papers strewn around the kitchen table? Resist the temptation to pick up yourself. Instead, empower your kids to get organized. The start of a new school year is the perfect time to help your family set up a system for handling the onslaught of papers that come home. Barbara Jolly, a professional organizer from Springfield, Virginia, and author of “Getting it Straight,” has helped her three children – and many others – to better manage clutter.  Here are some of her tips: Help kids organize with their own style. Don’t come in, as a parent, as say: “This is how to do it.” Instead, tune into what your kid likes. Develop an organizing system that attracts the child’s interest – using colors or pictures they select. Get the right equipment. Start with a large crate for each child with a label or color code for younger kids. This can be a place to store their backpack, folders, books, hat, gloves, etc.  Parents can check backpacks here for impor- tant papers or school memos.  Don’t overlook a system for mom and dad. Try a file box with sepa- rate hanging folders to keep your children’s school papers orga- nized.  Have jars of pencils, crayons and pens in several places around the house. Prepare the night before. Keep a basket in each child’s room for them to choose their clothes for the next day. (Be sure to include the ever-elusive sock and shoes.) Put snacks or lunch food is a sepa- rate place so there is no last-minute searching as you pack up. Post a family calendar. Hang it in some central location, such as the refrigerator. Let kids fill in their activities. Be sure to block out family commitments so everyone is aware of what’s coming up. Use stickers and a variety of colored pens to make it fun and easy to read. Keeping it up. Go through your child’s things periodically and help them throw things out. Have a box for things to keep. Try a daily, two-minute, family, pick-up time. (You can post it on the family calendar.) Hold a summer “pitch party” before the school year starts and toss out stuff. Be flexible. Try to approach organizing as a game and make it fun – giving kids points and rewards. Be sure to give the family some time to adapt. However, if your new organizing system doesn’t work, try another approach. Keep the parts that work and let your kids help come up with ideas to revise and improve your system. vouchers or other district schools. Contact your state’s education depart- ment to learn more about your options. Never forget, you are responsible for the educa- tion of your children. You are the only constant from kindergarten through college in your children’s education. There is no guarantee any educational system will ensure your children’s educa- tional needs are met; ultimately, it’s your responsibility. Don’t abdicate that responsibility to your children’s schools; delegate and oversee it. Your children’s futures depend on it. –Onnie Shekerjian of Tempe, Arizona, is the mother of three. Over the last 14 years, she has served on over three dozen public education committees, boards and commis- sions at the state, district and school level. In 1995, she co-founded Arizona Parents Association for Children’s Education (APACE), a parent advocacy organization. Shekerjian also facilitates the site council at her daughters’ high school, coordinates the APACE hotline and is vice president of the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools. CONTINUED   FROM PAGE   1 How to Advocate for Your Child Getting organized: Help your kids get off to a good start this year