Some people are naturally less-organized than others. When it comes to disorganized students, a lack of organization may be a reason to avoid tasks or homework. Or it could be something more serious.

If your student has learning disabilities they may also have poor planning and organizational skills. A little known fact is that some students with learning disabilities have great difficulty estimating time and they often lose things.

Whether your child is naturally disorganised or has a learning disability, there are ways to simplify their daily tasks:

Daily routine & getting ready to school

• Develop a checklist, written or pictorial that highlights their daily routine in one place. Encourage your child  to help by making the list, coloring the pictures and deciding where to hang it up.
• Create a box for each day of the week to put books for school and homework in. For example, a project that they finished on Monday and need to bring back on Wednesday will go to the “Wednesday” box.

Landing zone & communication board

• You don’t want your kids going to school wearing a pink shirt, on a “Canucks Fans day”. (you missed that note- BLUE shirt required). When your child brings home notes and tasks for you, make sure that they have a landing area – a basket or a drawer – where they empty their backpack so that you know exactly what came back from school.
• With older students, put up a communication board where they can pin their notes from school before running out to their afternoon activity

Time management

It’s easy to lose track of time. Almost everyone has a cell phone and some kids have smart phone with timers or reminders. Break down a big job intro small assignments by prioritising and setting a timer.

Here is a friendly-free online timer that can be used:

http://www.online-stopwatch.com/

Closet

Group items by activity. Your child has a soccer game and he can’t find the team shirt among all the tops? Pack all the soccer clothes ( socks, tops, bottoms)  in one drawer or a basket so that it will be easier to access.

Labels

It’s easier to follow rules then to make new ones every day.

Before labelling everything, I recommend checking the items your child doesn’t put away or constantly forgets where they go.

You can label above every child’s spot at the entrance closet.

Use a paper wall and trace your child foot. Stick it on the floor where the shoes should be.

Label shelves in the closet, so your kids can put things away easily (one less task for us!)

How to keep a clean desk

Use dividers in the drawers for school supplies. (cutlery trays work well )

Avoid dumping everything in one big basket where you can’t see what’s inside.

School locker:

Narrow lockers can be very tricky to organise and disorganised students may struggle to find things. To help, make a list of what’s need to be in the locker.

Divide the locker and designate a spot and container for every item such as school supplies, personal items etc, then label the boxes.

Use shelf extensions to expand usable space.

Hang up their schedules and the list of their locker contents.

Put a labelled bag inside for items that should go back home.

It’s all about building the right systems that can help student become more organized and efficient at school.