Does your child frequently lose her homework, have trouble handing in assignments on time, and often have a school backpack full of crumpled papers and misc. items? If so she is probably pretty disorganized and also has a tendency to disrupt the homefront with frantic searches, anxiety-ridden meltdowns and urgent requests for last minute help. Imagine though if your child could find everything she needed when she needed it, could study effectively, meet deadlines, and no longer wasted time looking for assignment sheets? An organized school backpack is one of the best ways to encouraged organization in your child. When a child is organized she is better prepared to handle the challenges of school and homework. Encouraging your child to use the PACK method of purging, accessorizing, categorizing and keeping her backpack organized will go along way to assisting your child’s academic performance now and in the future. Team up with your child and go through the following four steps: Purge. Have your child take everything out of her school backpack and spread it out on the floor or kitchen table. Have a general discussion about what should and shouldn’t be carried back and forth on a daily basis. Leave it up to your child to ultimately decide what needs to be in the backpack and what doesn’t. Accessorize. Take into account how things should be stored e.g. in cell phone holder, in a pencil case, on a keychain etc. The use of a luggage tag is also a great idea in the event your child’s backpack is misplaced however, if she routinely carries house keys it’s wise to forgo your home address and simply include a contact number. Always look for a backpack that not only is well built, has extra padding and multiple interior sections but also sports exterior pockets and pouches for containing such things as water bottles (so books and papers don’t get soaked) and small items your child needs to locate quickly. Categorize. Start by encouraging your child to make piles of everything that came out of her school backpack e.g. textbooks, notebooks, agenda, loose papers, sports equipment etc. Once everything is divided into piles ask your child to then make new piles of what she needs for that night’s homework. Once that’s done go over what remains in each of the initial piles and ask what she thinks needs to be done with those items e.g. taken back to school, left at home or returned to their rightful owner. If your child has lots of loose papers have her sort current papers so they can be stored in the appropriate binder or homework folder. Now have your child start putting things back in her school backpack in order of size and where possible, with subject items together. Assign everything a home and encourage your child to return things to the same section each time. Soon she’ll be in the habit of putting things back in the same place. Don’t be surprised though if it takes a few weeks before she knows exactly where to find something when she needs it – old habits are hard to break. If your child routinely needs to transport lots of items in her backpack consider drawing a diagram of what items should be stored in each section. Post this on her bulletin board and place a second copy in an outside pouch of her backpack. This approach is not only a good reminder of what goes where but also of what needs and doesn’t need to be carried back and forth each day e.g. agenda – section 1, tonight’s homework (textbook, assignment sheet & binder) – section 2, and gym clothes for washing or library books – section 3. This diagram should also include reminders like library day, gym day, and to check the chalkboard or her agenda for details on what items are needed for homework completion each day. Keeping it organized. It has been my experience that some kids need more guidance in getting and staying organized than others. Positive comments go along way to encouraging your child to properly pack and maintain her school backpack. In our home Sunday is the day we as a family prepare ourselves for the week ahead, it’s also a great time to review backpacks and briefcases to ensure everyone has everything in place for the week ahead. I’ve always believed modelling a particular behavior is an excellent way of teaching. Once your child sees how easy it is pack the necessary items and experiences the benefits of carrying only what she needs to stay on top of her schoolwork, the practice of keeping her school backpack organized will become routine. |