How to teach your grade-schooler organization skills
Many kids struggle with basic organization and time management. You may need to work with your grade-schooler on these skills.
Here are seven ways to teach your child organization.
1. Recognize “wants” vs. “needs.”
Goal: Sort out and prioritize what your child wants to do vs. what your child needs to do.
Example: Your child does homework first. Playing with friends comes later.
2. Take one out, put one in.
Goal: Keep messes from becoming overwhelming.
Example: Your child has to put away what’s already out before taking out something new.
3. Categorize, label, and sort.
Goal: Keep things neat and orderly.
Example: Your child looks at toys, groceries, or homework to figure out which things go together.
4. Picture the day.
Goal: Know the order or events in the day.
Example: Your child plans out the day by drawing a picture of the day’s schedule as a comic book.
5. Make daily checklists.
Goal: Keep track of what needs to be done.
Example: Your child lists out things to do, checks off what’s finished, and transfers unfinished items to the next day’s list.
6. Keep a family calendar.
Goal: Plan for the future.
Example: Your child checks the calendar nightly to know what’s happening tomorrow.
7. Break big projects into smaller steps.
Goal: Make big projects easier to manage.
Example: Your child breaks a science project into steps — first coming up with an idea, then listing materials needed, and then gathering supplies before doing the experiment.
Get more help by exploring low-cost, simple tools to help with organization. Try visual schedules to help your child with everyday routines. Watch a quick tutorial on how to organize your child’s backpack.