SCHOOL NOTES
A+ School Year
12 Planning Tips for Student Success
BY ANN DOLIN
here’s that famous quote that holds
true in almost every area in life: “Eighty
percent of success is showing up.”
For school purposes though, let’s amend
it slightly: Eighty percent of school success
is showing up and staying organized.

It’s organization that usually makes or
breaks students’ level of success in school
because it’s one of those “cornerstone” hab-
its that impacts almost every other area in
their academic lives.

Whether your child is in elementary
school and just starting to get the school
routine down, in middle school and figuring
out how to manage an increased class work-
load or in high school and getting prepared
for upper-level courses and SAT’s, these 12
organizing tips below will help students of
all ages start off the year strong.

Before you jump
in, spend a little
time to think and
determine what level
of involvement you’re
going to have with
homework, grades
and other aspects of
their academics.

1. Set up a regular
school “check-in” time
First up is a common cliché in parenting:
Get involved. Unfortunately, just “getting
involved” in your child’s schoolwork isn’t
quite the right approach, because more is
not always better, and sometimes you can
create an even bigger issue than you started
with in the first place by being nitpicky or
overbearing. So before you jump in, spend a little time
to think and determine what level of involve-
ment you’re going to have with homework,
grades and other aspects of their academ-
ics. This way you have a good idea of what
you need to discuss with them before you
start. Then, set up a regular meeting time
with your son or daughter to talk each week
about assignments, what’s going on in class,
upcoming tests and any other concerns they
might have.

2. Don’t nag
Now that you’ve established a line of com-
munication with your child, it’s extremely
important to then give them the space they
need to get organized and figure out how
to manage their schoolwork in a way that
works for them.

Kids may not immediately see the benefits
of staying organized, but constant reminders
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SEPTEMBER 2019
are the last thing they want to hear. When
you are helping them get organized this year,
make it clear that you don’t want to nag, you
just want to set them up for success.

Then, because you have a regular meeting
time set up to discuss school together, use that
time to suggest changes, voice your concerns
and make sure that they’re staying on track.

3. Set up a homework routine
Making the best use of time after school can
be a big struggle, especially for busy fami-
lies. Your kids just finished sitting in class all
day, and the last thing that they want to be
thinking about is studying and homework.

That’s why this is one of those times that
can benefit tremendously from setting up
a routine that you hold to, especially for
elementary and middle school students.

First, set a regular start time to help avoid
the “I’ll do it later” syndrome. This could be
right after school, after a 30-minute break,
before dinner or right before bedtime. And
consider scheduling in some downtime after
school or other activities to give younger
students a break.

For high schoolers, it’s hard to tell them
exactly when they have to start, but using one
of those “blocks” as a general rule can help
curb the late-night stress of realizing it’s time
for bed and their homework isn’t done.

4. Keep homework
contained (but mobile)
Another problem that crops up during home-
work time is the seeming explosion of papers
and books and binders all across the house.

Some studies are now showing that kids
are more productive when they vary where
they do their homework. But that being said,
it can be hard to stay organized when they’re
constantly shifting spots.

So first off, make sure you’ve designated
at least three spots that homework can be
completed and try to stick to them. This
will help eliminate some of the clutter if you
have a space cleared off already.

Then, for younger students, you can try
putting together a mobile organizer for all
their school supplies that they can take with
them from spot to spot. For older students,
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SCHOOL NOTES
you can try helping set up their backpack so
that it permanently holds all of the supplies
they’ll need to do their homework regularly
at any point during their day.

5. Get everything ready
the night before
A lot of energy during the school week is
spent during the mornings, making sure that
everybody is ready to go and out the door on
time. But a truly productive morning starts
the night before.

A great way to stay organized is to do
things like making lunches or packing back-
packs the night before, making sure that all
assignments are in there and ready to go. You
can even put it all together into a basket or
in a specific spot next to the door each time.

Additionally, you can have your kids set
aside outfits for the next day. Say hello to
less stressful school mornings.

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6. Improve the sleep schedule
A big part of staying organized is having
enough focus during the day to remember
assignments and have the ability to sit down
without distraction and study or do home-
work on time. And probably the number one
contributing factor to that is getting enough
sleep at night.

Making sure your child is getting to bed at
the same time consistently will help improve
their level of focus throughout the day. A
great way to do this is to set an electronics
curfew and enforce an hour of quiet time
before bed for winding down. This may not
be a popular decision, especially if you have
kids who are older and in high school, but
they’ll thank you when they’re not dragging
when they get out of bed the next morning.

7. Use color-coding
A great way to make organization fun, espe-
cially for younger kids, is to use color-coding.

Now that’s not to say it can’t be helpful for
older students as well, because some research
does show that it can help with visual mem-
ory. But, figuring out how to get your kids
engaged in the organizing process can be
difficult, and this is one way to let them have
some say over how they want to do it.

You can have them organize their note-
books and binders by color (e.g. math is
green, science is red, etc.) or even go as far
as using specific colored pens and pencils
for either different types of assignments
or different subjects. And let’s face it, who
doesn’t love going to Target or Walmart to
pick out some new stuff?
8. Label and organize
binders and notebooks
Once you have some initial color coding in
place, you can further organize all of your
notebooks and binders by adding in some
labeling. Not only can you have a binder for
a specific subject or subjects but you can
also designate certain sections within them
for notes, homework assignments, study
materials for tests, etc. You can also create
labels for things like papers that need to be
signed and returned to the teacher, returned
assignments that are already graded and
any longer-term homework or projects that
aren’t due right away.

Again, this is a great way to get your child
engaged in the process by allowing them to
figure out what organization method works
best and to run with it. So put out the sug-
gestion, and then let them determine how to
get it implemented.

Encourage your child to fill it out with what
homework is due, what tests are coming up,
projects or after-school activities and any-
thing else that’s important to remember
each day.

Once it’s down on paper, it’s going to be
easier for your son or daughter to figure
out how to schedule time to complete their
assignments based on when they’re due and
their importance.

12. Create a calendar for
extracurricular activities
Finally, creating a calendar for extracurricu-
lar activities is a great way to get the entire
family on the same page. Getting everyone’s
after-school schedules on a calendar that the
whole family can see will help everyone stay
informed. You can even take a step further
and give every person a different color to
stay even more organized!
Although these are just a few organization
techniques that you can apply to your kids’
9. Schedule a weekly
schoolwork and other activities, they can have
“Clean Sweep”
Even the most organized among us tend to a huge impact if used regularly. Use it as a
build up clutter over time, no matter how hard starting point, then experiment and customize
we try. A great way to combat this is to sched- for what makes sense for your family. ■
ule a 20-minute pre-arranged session each
week where everyone in the house drops what Ann Dolin is a former Fairfax County
teacher and current founder and presi-
they’re doing to clean and get organized.

Not only will this help your kids stay on dent of Educational Connections Tutoring,
track with their school organization efforts, serving the D.C. area.

but it will also help foster a sense of family
involvement so that it’s not just that your
child is being singled out.

10. Archive old assignments
Your kids are also going to have a buildup
of old papers and assignments that aren’t
necessarily relevant to what they’re doing
in school right now. Archiving and properly
treating (i.e. not throwing them out too
soon) all assignments should be a regular
part of your organization routine.

A great rule of thumb is to make sure that
you’re keeping old tests and quizzes and then
tossing everything else. That way, if there are
any cumulative tests throughout the year,
your child will be able to reference back to
previous questions to study and will know
which areas they need to work on where they
may have gotten marked off previously.

11. Use an agenda book
It’s incredible the impact just getting some-
thing down on paper can have. For students
in middle and high school, an agenda book
(or something like it) should be the offi-
cial holding place of all things important.

A great way to make
organization fun,
especially for
younger kids, is to
use color-coding.

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