Helping Your Child Be an Organized Student

December 02, 2011, By Jack Heffron 2 comments

Jack Heffron

I love my sons. They're both smart, accomplished kids, and I'm very proud of them. But as students in elementary and high school, they were, well, there were issues. Their school problems had nothing to do with intelligence and everything to do with organization and time management. Their class folders were black holes that consumed homework assignments and notes from teachers. Reports were failed because the due dates were missed. And so it went—until their mindset about school changed. 

I have taught university classes for many years and have seen the scenario play out many times. I've also commiserated with other parents who have struggled with similar school issues. My experience has taught me one lesson: To get good grades, you don't have to be especially gifted; you need to be a good student, meaning well organized and focused. Conversely, a very gifted kid who is unprepared, largely because he or she is unmotivated, will find it very tough to earn an "A" and may even flunk. 

Improving your child's grades, then, many times will have less to do with finding a tutor or doing extra credit projects than with mastering organization and time management through increasing engagement and commitment. How? Consider trying the 3 F System, and you'll likely begin seeing more As on report cards. 

Focus

Poor students usually aren't focused. They daydream in class, missing important due dates and information. They do their homework while watching TV or texting their friends, or they rush through it so they can get back to their video game. If they do manage to complete an assignment, they're so ready to do something else that they pay little attention to putting it in a folder where they'll be able to find it the next day to turn in. 

With online services like School One, it's easy to track your child's progress throughout elementary and high schools. If you're seeing missed assignments and failed tests, that usually indicates a lack of focus. This behavior quickly grinds into habit so you need to address it immediately. Talk to your child and find out what's happening. Be ready for a lot of excuses. Don't spend a lot of time arguing about that. Instead, change the circumstances.

To treat the symptoms, create a work space for them as free from distractions as possible. Insist that there will be no TV or internet or phone during homework time. Also, help them create an organizational system that works for them, file folders for each subject, a specific notebook for writing down when tests will be given and reports due. You'll need to check in often, even daily, at the start, to be sure the system is working. The key is letting them help create that system, so they feel integral to the process—and responsible for it—rather than put-upon by you as the parent. 

On a deeper level, investigate why the student is not focused. Worst case: he or she suffers from ADD or ADHD, and if the problem persists, do consider those possibilities and contact a health professional. More likely: the student is not engaged by the schoolwork and is not motivated to excel. Now, no one likes every subject or is wired to excel at everything. As a parent, you'll need to talk to the student and find out which subjects are most troublesome and make an effort to help out. 

Do not focus your attention, however, only on the troublesome subjects. Find out which ones do engage the student and give those subjects at least as much of the homework time. If your child is struggling with science, for example, but loves history, spending the majority of homework time on science is only going to make the student feel less engaged and focused. Schoolwork becomes a penance that will receive as little of their time and attention as possible. Focusing on history, instead, makes the experience more interesting for them and makes the work less a chore. Try then to use that enthusiasm and focus to engage them in the troubling topic.

NEXT: Fear