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It is hard to believe, but the school year is right around
the corner. My nephew, Michael, will start middle school this year. (Yes,
the once 4.5 pound baby is now eleven years old and 5'5".) He will
soon learn that changing classes and having different teachers means new
challenges and responsibilities. It is important that he forms
strong organizational habits, because now he will need to
be responsible for organizing his time and setting his own
priorities. Michael is just now getting use to his newly organized
closet, but his mother, Ginger, and I are about to introduce him to an
organized backpack, desk, locker, and schedule.
Anyway, thinking about back to school got me thinking
about how important learning to be organized is
for anyone whether they are starting school, middle
school, high school, college, or a new
job. Organization is generally not viewed as a
set of skills that needs to be taught but rather as something people
do on instinct or a behavior they will mimic.
Organization is, however, a set of skills that can be taught and needs to
be taught. If you struggle with disorganization, you may want to
begin working on this struggle so that you can be a better role model and
teacher for your child.
The start of a school year is a great time to teach your child
organizational skills, or maybe a great time for you to learn these
skills. In this issue of Living Orderly, Living Well, I will give you
some tips to help you start a foundation for organized living.
Jill
Get Your Home Ready For Back To School
1. Designate an area to keep school supplies. When
purchasing school supplies, go ahead and buy extra of the
things you know your kids will need more of during the year. In
the same location, I kept a bin where I would put things that may be
needed for school projects. I saved things like egg cartons, styrofoam
vegetable trays, and the tube inside of a paper towel or toilet paper
roll. Now, don’t go crazy here and create clutter. I’m just suggesting
you keep a few things in a bin that you know will come in handy for a
project and replenish as they are used.
2. Designate an area where backpacks and other belongings that go with
your child each day will be kept.
3. Set up a routine for lunch boxes. When do you want to
fix the lunches? Where do you want them returned? Will the kids be
involved in making their lunch?
4. Set up a routine for the flow of papers. How do you want to handle
papers that need to be signed and returned? What will happen to graded
papers that come home?
5. Put a family calendar in a location that is seen by everyone.
Designate a day that everyone will get together to fill in their
activities/appointments/deadlines for the week.
Visit our website at
www.livingorderly.com to
get more back to school tips.
Please give
us a call (813-685-9986) if we can assist you with setting up routines, a
calendar, or a paper flow system for your family.
Tips To Help Your Kids With Time Management
We all get the same twenty-four hours each day and some of
us manage them very well and some of us don’t. It is really not about
learning to manage the time but learning how to manage ourselves. The
people who manage themselves well seem to get more done and are happier
for it. The people who don’t manage so well are being pulled in every
direction and seem to be stressed out.
It is no different for kids. They get the same twenty-four
hours and some kids accomplish a lot and some, not so much. We can’t change
the speed of those twenty-four hours, but we can try to manage how we use
them. Below you will find some things you can do to help yourself and
your kids.
1. Talk with your kids and have them write down the things
they have to do (chores, school, homework, sleep, eat, bath), the things
they want to do (sports, relax, hang out with friends, music, hobbies),
and their goals for the year. Have them estimate the time it will take to
do each of the things they wrote down.
2. Practice estimating how much time an activity takes.
Make a game out of estimating the time for different activities. As your
child does things such as getting dressed, eating dinner, doing chores
have him estimate how long it will take and then time how long it
actually takes. This will give both of you a better idea of how to
schedule your time.
3. Use an analog clock. Kids today are so use to using
digital clocks that they don’t see the time moving which can hamper their
concept of time. Make sure your kids know how to tell time.
4. Teach them to use a calendar. Have them write their
activities and deadlines on a calendar. Even young children can be taught
to cross out days on a calendar, so they can begin to be aware of time
passing.
Time management is not a part of the school curriculum,
but teaching this skill to your child is a wonderful gift you can give to
them. If it is something that you struggle with, you can work on
it along with your child.
For more tips and information
be sure to visit us at www.livingorderly.com and www.theprofessionalorganizer.com.
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