Look and sound familiar? This was the sight that greeted me most mornings when hurriedly hunting through the abyss that was my son’s school bag. My hand would emerge sticky- fingers glued together with half wrapped Chewits!
Like busy parents don’t have enough to manage and contend with: juggling a long day at work, school runs, packed lunches, buying ingredients for the next day’s cooking lesson, washing and ironing school uniforms, let alone having to organise a highly disorganised child. It brings me out in a cold sweat just remembering how fraught those mornings were!
So, when your child has difficulties with planning, organisation and time management, you manage this for them. You do so, because if you don’t, they’re at risk of failing. You’re fed up of reading negative notes in the Homework Diary, informing you that yet again, Jimmy didn’t hand in his Homework. ” What? I know I put it in his bag?”
As frustrating as this is, many young people struggle with Executive Functioning– skills required to plan, organise, pay attention and start and complete tasks- skills that are needed not just now, but to enable them to function competently in adult life.
We attempt in earnest to ‘rescue’ them, to ensure that they don’t get another detention, to prove that they CAN do it, but the truth is ( and I did it myself) we’re not doing them any favours, not in the long run. Interestingly though, parents whose children don’t have these difficulties are also inclined to organise their children, to save time- understandable, but we need to, as far as possible, allow them to take responsibility, refine their planning and organise themselves as far as possible.
The following strategies, will go some way to supporting your child, whilst freeing up time and relieving you from additional stress.
If your child is prone to writing homework in the incorrect week of their diary, oversee see them finding the correct week and get them, to stick a post-it there. This way, they don’t have to shuffle through endless pages- they’ll arrive on the correct week with ease.
Ask your child’s teacher/s to check that homework is written in and what they’ve written in, can be and is understood- “Tell me what you have to do”
Get them to choose a brightly coloured folder to put homework straight into and remind them to put this in their bag at the end of the school day.
If your child, like me, benefits from knowing what’s coming up across that week, without flicking through the pages of a diary, you can’t beat a large whiteboard, that gives an overview of the entire week. They can use a colour of their choice for lessons or activities that require further organisation, such as Games kits, swimming etc.
Bag Packing/ Games Kits
Last, but by no means least, the all important bag pack. This is such an easy one to crack and without doubt, one of the most important planning and organisation tasks, but you will have to oversee it, to begin with, to check they’re following the rules!
Take a photocopy of your child’s timetable and laminate it. Then, on the night before school, get them to empty their bag onto a table. Get them to check what subject they have, find the books and place them in the bag, then they can tick it off. They MUST put the books in the bag, before they tick off each subject.
If they have games or swimming, you could supervise them generating the clothing/ equipment they need on a piece of paper , before laminating it. Again, they can use this to place each item in their bag and tick off after each item is placed in the bag.
Not only will they have everything, but they’ll also have a more calm start in the morning and just as importantly, so will you!