1. Envision Goals and Success
It's often said that the palest ink is stronger than the best memory. Setting goals for the academic years, writing them down and referring to them can really help your child get in the right mindset for success. Start by asking her to envision what a successful school year look like. Ask her to think about which subjects she does well, which one she doesn't. What does she like/dislike about school? Then follow up with some more specific goals - Would she get straight A's in every subject? Does she wish to stop dreading math tests?
Once all that is done, encourage her to put her thoughts in a letter, a goal list, a story or a collage. Have her hang her "Success Map" someplace where she can see it daily, like her study area, or on the family message board.
At the end of each quarter, review the map with her and see how she's doing. Look for areas to praise, and areas to improve on. If she's been successful in all areas, find ways to keep her going, or look for more goals.
2. Shop Wisely for Supplies
Having the right supplies can make all the difference. But school supplies can really add up. So try this method to help control costs and avoid meltdowns at the store. Take a piece of paper and label one side "Supplies for School" and the other side, "Supplies for Home". Most teachers or schools provide a list of supplies, so you can use that, but keep in mind that separate notebooks and folders for each subject help with organization. One central planner or homework pad where all assignments get listed is a help. For writing or paper intensive classes, consider a binder, ideally one that zips up.
For supplies at home, consider extra paper, notebooks, pads, pens, computer paper, and things like scissors and staples. Store these things in your child's study area and take stock of supplies every month - or have your child do it and make it his responsibility to add to the shopping list.
And when you do go shopping, hand the list off to your child and let him shop for himself. This will allow him to be more invested in his success - after all he can't say he hates the folder if he picked it out. Be sure to check the cart contents before checking out to see what has "sneaked in."
3. Create Study Central
All kids need a place to call their own for studying. But not all kids need the traditional desk in room - in fact you may prefer to have them do homework and study in a central location so you can monitor them - and keep up with the subject yourself. But any study area should have good lighting, electrical outlets, a hard flat surface to spread out books and papers, an absence of distractions and a place to house supplies. Some kids will love the stationary desk and you can stock up on supplies. Other kids will move around, and to minimize the time spent searching for a pen, paper, etc, consider creating a mobile supply unit - a file box with separate folders for each item.
Invest in a filing milk crate and set up a hanging folder for each teacher/class. Use it to file papers - consider one file for "done" work and one for work in progress. Work with you child to ensure that papers filed in school folders or scrunched in the bottom of a backpack move into the filing system - set a two-week schedule for this and you'll find that the task is manageable.
If you use a binder - one for all classes or one for each class, set up a system and schedule to move papers into the binder and out into the file box so that the binder doesn't become mammoth and unwieldy.
4. Locker Organization
If your child is in middle-school, he or she might have a locker for the first time. The locker is an important storage space for kids and a great way to teach them organization skills. In most cases, the locker should be their space and off-limits to you. You can provide them with a locker shelf to help them stack books and binders, magnets, sticky note pads, and a magnetic pen box. A dry-erase board might also be helpful to jot down notes.
Since lockers can easily become a dumping ground, consider giving your child this list of Do's and Don'ts
- Do Replace materials to their original location
- Don't just throw things in
- Use magnets to hold up important papers
- Don't just drop papers into your locker
- Don't expect anyone else to organize your locker for you
As your child enters middle-school it's important that she starts to take personal responsibility for her success - but as a parent you need to provide the structure to make this possible.
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