Organizing Your New Middle-Schooler

If your child has entered middle school for the first time this year…then you already know what I’m going through. I spent a little over an hour Sunday night organizing binders, notebooks, unnamed, incomplete and undated assignments. Sheesh. Gone are the days where the teacher makes sure that your awesome son or daughter has his or her things neatly placed, named and dated in ONE little folder. Now there’s 5 or 6 different notebooks, all which have to be organized a different way; homework to help with, check, and keep up with from SEVERAL subjects; weekly reading and instrument practicing schedules which have to be filled out, as well as weekly projects, and online assignments.

If it can be overwhelming for us as adults…just think how impossible and overwhelming these tasks probably seem to an 11 or 12 year old. The best way to relieve yourself and your child of the stress of being disorganized and unprepared is to devise a plan to stay on top of things. Here’s a little help! 🙂

• Go through your child’s bookbag daily to make sure there is nothing that needs to be signed,  returned or looked over. Also, check your calendar daily to see if there are any pending assignments or projects due for the week.
• Choose a day every week to sit down with your child and re-organize– get rid of papers that are no longer needed, make sure everything is where it belongs, make sure anything that needs to be labeled is so, make sure anything that needs to be replaced or replenished such as writing paper, dividers, or folders are so.
• Spend time everyday talking with your child about school. Ask questions and if your child doesn’t know the answers shoot the teacher an email or write them a note so that you know what your child is learning and if there is anything you can do at home to re-enforce their learning.
• Use a dry erase calendar in your child’s bedroom or homework area so that they can also be reminded of when things are due and what their schedule is for the week.
• Create a routine study/reading/organizing schedule so that you and your child aren’t cramming and doing rush jobs on assignments or projects.

 

I hope these tips were a little helpful! Feel free to share your own tips and advice here for organizing middle schoolers. 🙂