Teach Your Child How to Organize

Organization can be the one of the largest contributing factors to your child’s success or to your child’s failing grades in school. There is more than just one benefit children will receive from learning to be organized. Think of all the time they’ll save not looking for their things, the less work you’ll have to do providing them with your organizational skills, and the future success your child will gain from learning to be organized young and extending that into their professional life.

Consistency is an important attribute for children, keeping a well-organized environment with young children will help enhance and maintain the child’s organizational skills. Although a bustling and busy household can be tough to keep well organized, be sure to keep bins and containers for a variety of things as well throughout the home as well as the child’s room.

Preschool
Young children should have their room designed with small containers, bins or crates. Everything should have its own place, a crate for cars, a crate for legos, a crate for dolls, etc.  Label each crate or box for easy access and for a faster clean up for young children. Consistently show your children to place their belongings back in the appropriate bin, “the Lego’s go here so when you are finished playing with them just place them back in the box.”

Be sure all their belongings and clothes are easy for them to reach; this will make their organizational skills easier to keep current. You can provide a poster or chart of your child’s room responsibilities. Many parents use this system to reward children for taking care of their responsibility. Each time a child puts their toys away without being asked they receive a gold star, if they get so many gold stars in a week they get a treat, like they get to go out to the movies or pick out a toy from the store (whatever you as a parent feel most comfortable with).

Main points to address:

• Have their clothing and toys in accessible places
• Label their crates or toy containers.
• Initial daily tasks of picking up their toys and belongings.

Grades K-3rd
Once children begin school their organizational skills will take off or plummet. Be sure to provide the right equipment for children to place their papers for school and home. One of the biggest problems children have with keeping good grades is constantly losing or misplacing homework or classroom work. You can discuss with your child’s teacher about the best equipment for your child to not have this problem in school.

You can also provide a similar poster or chart of your child’s room responsibilities, as described in the preschool section. Many parents use this system to reward children for taking care of their responsibility. Each time a child puts their toys away without being asked they receive a gold star, if they get so many gold stars in a week they get a treat, like they get to go out to the movies or pick out a toy from the store (whatever you as a parent feel most comfortable with.)

Main points to address:

• Provide the right equipment for schoolwork and papers.
• Provide a well-organized atmosphere.
• Provide a task chart or calendar they can reach.

Grades 4th-6th
Older children have a tendency to organize in a manner that is most helpful to them. They begin to have their own personality that coordinates with the way they decorate, organize, and conduct their daily activities. Although their room may not exactly reflect the way that you would like to see it cleaned or organized, as long as you can see the floor, allow them that space.

Give them the opportunity to explore their surroundings and make their room the way they would like to feel comfortable and easier for them to keep organized. Sit down and talk to your child about how they would like to design or organize their room. Take them shopping for the materials needed to get their room organized the way they feel most comfortable. When children are in surroundings they are comfortable with they will make sure to keep that environment clean and tidy  Eone less thing a parent has to worry about.

Main points to address:

• Allow your child to organize their things the way they like it.
• Give them the option to decorate their room the way they want it.

Resources
Resources that can help you in your venture include:

• Home Organization Solutions – http://www.orghomesolutions.com
• Organize Tips – http://www.organizetips.com

Posted in Character.

Related articles

• Teach Your Child About the Use of Foul Language

• Teach Your Child the Importance of Appreciation

• Teach Your Child How to Be a Good Guest