I work in a public middle school and every week I host an Organizational Seminar to help students organize their binders and backpacks. Your child will be more successful in school if they are organized and are able to keep track of assignments and learning materials. Every student that participates in my organizational seminar indicates that they want to be more organized and dislike feeling overwhelmed. By helping to scaffold your child’s organization skills, you will be assisting them in become more competent students and professionals. Here are my suggestions to help you begin the process of organizing your child.

Backpacks:

Backpacks often become black holes for important school information, teacher notes/messages, assignments, gym clothes and old food. Routine organization is the key to keeping your child’s backpack from becoming a hidden danger of disorganization.

Begin by copying the following checklist as a reference for the weekly cleaning of your child’s backpack:

• All loose papers belong somewhere. Collect these from the backpack and set aside for now.
• Empty the main storage area as well as any pockets or pouches
• Check for any spilled, sticked or soiled areas. If necessary clean the area with a damp cloth with warm soapy water. You can also wash many backpacks in the clothes washer.
• Take out any clothing items: launder and put away. If your child needs their gym clothes or sweater/hoodie at school, replace these in the back pack.
• Gather all the school supplies in the backpack and ask your child what supplies they will need for the next week. I like to use a small preprinted checklist for them to check while we are cleaning the back pack.

1. Pencils
2. Pens
3. Markers
4. Crayons
5. Paper
6. Notecards
7. Ruler
8. Calculator
9. USB Drive
10. Folders
11. Dividers
12. Page Protectors
13. Lunch Money
14. Field Trip Money
15. Other______________________________________

Have your child highlight the things they will need for the upcoming week. Begin to purchase and keep these on hand to avoid having to make special trips to purchase these every week end. Add any needed items to the back pack. Then sharpen two pencils and put them in the back pack.

Remove and clean out any lunch boxes or bags. Wipe the inside with a disinfectant cloth or wash in warm soapy water and hang to dry. Put any ice packs in the freezer to be ready for Monday. Wash thermos or hot/cold food storage items.

When my children were in school, we cleaned out their backpacks every Friday evening. This proved effective so that I would know if my child needed materials and if there were any projects or homework that needed to be completed over the week end. As a result, the Sunday evening meltdowns were eliminated and getting the boys ready for school each Monday was easier as everything was in place for a successful beginning to the week.

Binders:

As we took all the loose papers out of the backpack, it is time now to organize the binders and put all loose papers in their place. Loose papers often get lost, misplaced or thrown out so effectively placing them in a secure place in the binder will help to avoid lower grades and much frustration.

Begin by referring to each class syllabus for specifics on each class requirements for notebooks and binders. Then start categorizing all the papers according to subjects: such as math, history, science, english, and elective classes by title (music, art, technology, foreign language). Hole punch any papers that need holes so that they can be put in the binder. Use dividers to differentiate the subjects. Place all papers in the appropriate section of the binder so that they can be found easily. Important papers for each subject can be placed in page protectors to keep them for the duration of the class. Continue until all papers are properly placed in the binder. Then have your child check each section of papers to ensure that all the papers are in the appropriate section so that they can find it when needed.

Any information from the school or teachers should be returned promptly if needed. This will help you to communicate more effectively with the school and keep informed of the activities and events at your child’s school.

Many schools have on-line access to your child’s grades and class information. Be sure to sign up for this service and check often. I checked as we were cleaning the backpack and binders to be aware of any work that my child was missing so that as we were going through papers, we could find them and turn them in on Monday. If your child has many papers that they report that they no longer need, the safest strategy is to keep these in a separate, at-home binder until the marking period is over. If you find a discrepancy in the grading of the work on-line or see that a paper was listed as a missing assignment, yet you have the paper with the grade, you can then communicate with the teacher to amend your child’s grade for that assignment. After the marking period is over, the papers can be shredded and recycled (be certain to check with the teacher first).

Lockers:

Your child will need to clean their locker from time to time. I suggest you making a trip to school to help your child clean and organize their locker or desk to help them stay organized. I also suggest taking along some reusable bags to help carry books, papers, clothing and lunch boxes home to clean and organize. Once a month or marking period usually suffices but depending on your child’s organizational habits, this may vary. (Disinfectant spray is also suggested).

Other tips:

For young ladies, a small zippered pouch for keeping personal hygiene products is helpful to reduce stress and frustration for your child. If your child has braces, a small bag, pouch or ziploc bag for dental wax, toothbrush and oral pain relieve is also helpful. Remember that all medications must be given to the school nurse to help ensure student safety. Also, extra lunch money can be kept in the locker in the case that your child forgets lunch money one day.

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