How to keep your children organized

Start the school year right, by establishing an organizational system that’ll keep your kids from losing their homework, projects and other important documents.

Invest in a binder

By middle school grades, kids often do their schoolwork on loose-leaf sheets of paper that can be wrinkled, forgotten in a school desk, or lost forever. Buy a binder encourage your child to keep his/her notes and homework assignments in chronological order. You can also purchase dividers to separate different subjects.

You can get them used to this idea by organizing your younger child’s work in a bider that stays at home with plastic sleeves, then when he brings home tests or homework, you have one place to put it.

Set up a homework system. If the folder has two pockets, put unfinished homework in one pocket and transfer it to the next pocket when it’s complete.

Keep a detailed schedule

Most schools give agendas to students. Check it for project due dates and any homework assignments. If the school doesn’t give out agendas, they’re easy to find in office supply stores and are a great purchase even for primary-aged kids.

If your children are more visual, calendars are a better way of keeping them organized. Get a large, dry-erase calendar so you can pencil in the days of each month and make note of any big days for your children such as projects, presentations or field trips.

If your child has long-term assignments like a book report, calendars are especially helpful. You can suggest a day when their first draft should be written and the final due date. (Hint: Tell them to finish it a few days before it’s due to leave time for editing.)

Use brightly-coloured sticky notes

Sticky notes in bright yellow, pink, orange, blue and green are great visual cues to help children remember when they have a project due or if they have any homework. Encourage your child to use them throughout their agendas or on their calendars to trigger their memories.

Keep a to-do list

For day-to-day stuff like small homework assignments, teach your children to write a basic to-do list when they get home from school. Your child’s teacher may be doing this too. This teaches them time management and prioritizing skills as well when they figure out what assignments they need to handle first and how long it’ll take them.

Check the backpack

Make it part of your child’s daily routine: empty the lunch bag, show you the agenda, hand over any forms or parent letters.