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Back to School
By Ziva Schapiro, OTR
The homework free days of summer are over and our kids are back to school. This year, there is almost a full month of learning before the break for the “chagim” giving teachers and kids a chance to get back to the routine. That means that parents also need to gear up to a new school year. While teachers of ten say that homework is the student’s job, parents know that our help is usually necessary, at least in the initial stages. Teaching your child proper organizational skills will go a long way in giving him/her skills necessary to work independently.
How often has your child left his notebook in school, forgotten to take his homework in the morning, remembered a long-term project that was due in two days, or lost the contents of his pencil case?
Most elementary school age children need to be taught organizational skills, as they are not always innate. And busy, overcrowded classrooms don't always allow the teacher to help children with this most important skill.
So it’s up to you, the parents, to provide your child with this essential tool.
Here are some simple strategies to help get your kids more organized this year, and to learn these skills for life:
- Prepare in advance: Help your child get ready the night before as much as possible. Take out clothing, prepare lunches and most importantly, make sure that everything that is needed is put into the backpack.
- Packing the backpack: It is important to maintain order in the backpack. Each pocket should be used to store different supplies. In the largest pocket, closest to the child’s back, put the heavier books and workbooks. Notebooks go in the next pocket, while food in the smaller, outer pockets. At least once a week, the backpack should be cleaned out, crumpled papers removed and make sure everything else is in place. The job of packing the backpack can be overwhelming for children under fourth grade. Help your child develop responsibility by packing it together with him and not for him.
- The pencil case: The pencil case holds the supplies needed for working in class but does not have to hold the entire supply of markers or crayons that your child owns!! Make a list of what belongs in the case and check it at least once a week. Keep extra supplies in the house so that your child always has what he needs for school. Parents- it is your responsibility to keep track of the supplies so that your child does not suddenly run out!
- Keep track of homework: Marking due dates on a white board calendar in the kitchen or the child's room is a good way to prioritize and prevent last minute rushes. (When several children use the same calendar use a different color marker to identify each one.) Make sure to mark down homework that is due a different day so that it doesn’t get forgotten. Train your child to check the calender each day to see what assignments are coming up and to help prioritize what needs to be done today.
- Help break down large assignments into smaller chunks-Marking the white board is a good start, but if it only says that the report on Italy is due in 6 weeks it does not teach the skills necessary to get the project done on time. Help your child break down the project into smaller steps ie picking topic, asking relevant questions, researching the answers, writing the body of the paper and preparing the bibliography. Make a time line and assign a due date next to each smaller chunk. This will help your child get the report due on time.
- Make a “homework place”: It is a fallacy that children need to prepare their homework at a desk; More often than not, the desk becomes a place of storage. This is because most children under fifth grade need to do homework while having eye contact with an adult. For this reason, a designated place - be it the kitchen table, a work desk or small table just for this purpose in the kitchen or family room, or the dining room table – is the way to go. Be available to help your child, but do not answer homework for him. If the assignment is too hard for your child, write a note so that the teacher knows. Also, if homework is taking too long (about 45 minutes for first to fourth grades), let your child stop after the allotted time and write a note to the teacher. Keep a homework box in near reach – see below.
- Understand individual needs while doing homework- Some children need quiet to work while others need soft music. Some kids benefit from chewing gum while working, as it helps them focus, for others it is a distraction. Don’t assume something is inappropriate for homework time, let your child guide you to find the right environmental adaptations she/he needs.
- Make a “homework box”: Pencil case contents are so often lost in school; try to minimize the damage by not using them at home. Use a plastic tote (a kid's tool chest for example, or any plastic container) and place in it all items needed for homework - pencils, sharpener, markers, crayons, etc…. Keep the homework box near the homework place.
- Work by Color: I suggest color-coding all of your child’s books and notebooks according to subject. If math is red, cover the workbook in red paper as well as the notebook (or cover the notebook with a red plastic cover). If a folder is needed for this subject, pick a red one too. This way when your child needs to gather his math materials, he will just look for all the red materials in his cubby, backpack or drawer. Another way to use color is to use colored stickers. Again, use a different colored sticker for each subject, on the workbook, textbook and notebook.
Junior High School brings a whole new world of organizational challenges. There are many more teachers and subjects and often the students move from room to room. If your child has learned to use a cubby efficiently in elementary school, it will help him now as well. Lockers are more common in junior high schools and the need to be organized is even greater.
Long term assignments are often given without thought to helping the students break them down into smaller segments. This skill is essential to ensure that the student does not get overwhelmed, and knows what is expected of him each step of the way. If you help your child with this skill with shorter long term assignments in elementary school, he will learn this critical skill.
Helping your child learn to be organized will help them develop essential life skills that will serve them way past elementary school. It is worthwhile to invest the time needed to nurture these skills in order to reap the benefits later in life.
Ziva Schapiro is an occupational therapist and the Director of Ligdol v'Lifroach - Mercaz Rakefet Child Development Center. She can be contacted at ziva@ligdolvlifroach.org.
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