Kids learn everything has its place
By Deena Yellin, Sunday, February 10, 2008
Three worn notebooks. A half-eaten sandwich from yesterday's
lunch. Some crumpled papers. Oops -- that was last week's
homework assignment. And those are only some of the
things hidden in the black hole that is the knapsack
of the disorganized student.
Fortunately, there are plenty of experts willing to
help the frazzled keep their papers, pencils and schedules
in order. Assuming, of course, you are willing to dole
out $100 or more per session.
These über-organized mavens have made an industry out
of helping the muddled become as prepared as Boy Scouts.
They arm their clients with color-coded filing boxes,
binders and folders so papers can be divided into categories
and produced when needed.
Carrie Greene
of Carrie Thru Coaching and Organizing
in South Orange said those who struggle with these issues
typically grapple with organizing materials as well
as time. Many suffer from lowered productivity as a
result, she said.
Greene advises
creating as much structure as possible. Even something
as obvious as where to place a knapsack needs to be
established to promote routine. "Your child also must
understand that completing homework means that he knows
what the assignment is, he finishes the assignment,
puts it in the knapsack and then hands it in to the
teacher on time."
Children should do homework at
the same place and time every day. "It doesn't need
to be at a desk or even in a quiet room, as long as
they follow their own work habits," she said.
Vicki Roche, a life coach in Morristown, helps her
teenage clients by working off assignment planners and
calendars. "We go over what they need to get done that
week, and we discuss their long-term projects. I help
them to plan out the steps involved in getting things
done week by week so they don't have to resort to cramming.
This helps them learn the skills of planning their projects
by creating a time frame."
Students today have it harder than their predecessors,
acknowledged Norwood Schools Superintendent Andrew Rose.
"In contrast to years ago when much of school learning
centered around memorization and rote tasks, the learning
requirements are different today," he said. "Today,
there's a lot more multitasking required, and a lot
more homework assignments are project-oriented. So children
who are not organized can founder."
Donna Goldberg, an organizational coach for the past
17 years who works throughout the tri-state area, believes
organizational skills can be learned.
Goldberg was motivated to become a coach after years
of helping her son with his organizational problems.
He has since become a successful college student. Now
she is not only a sought-after coach, she is the author
of "The Organized Student." It offers a range of solutions
for everyday organizational problems, including strategies
for the backpack, locker, notebook and desk.
Goldberg believes that part of the problem today stems
from teachers distributing too many handouts. Years
ago, students learned from a textbook and that was it,
she said. "I go to clients and see the papers are flying
back and forth to school. The kids are struggling with
finding their materials," she said.
Some students struggle when their classes are departmentalized
and they have minutes to move their materials to another
class and transition to a different subject.
"You have to keep working with them to help them through
all the changes," she said.
Monica Roth of Monmouth County said that her fifth-grade
daughter, Rachel, was so disorganized she was constantly
missing deadlines for homework and losing her papers
for school. Then they met with Goldberg.
"She organized her subjects so that they are color-coded.
She has an accordion file for all her papers in one
place. She goes over how to plan reports and how to
plan ahead," Roth said of her daughter. "Everything
is easier for her now."
Pamela Macleod, who launched the Englewood business
Organized From A to Z nearly four years ago, says it's
not just the backpacks and the papers that need to be
filed away, it's the parents of disorganized children
who often must learn how to de-clutter.
"Everyone has so much stuff nowadays and nobody knows
where to put it," she said. While she works one-on-one
with children who need help, it's not in isolation,
she said.
"If there's a lot of chaos in the household, it won't
work. You can have a perfectly organized bedroom for
a child, but if a child has ADD or emotional challenges,
you need his entire environment to be perfectly uncluttered
and organized. The entire home needs to be structured."
She forces everyone in the home to purge items and
organize closets and drawers. As for the papers that
come home in the knapsacks each day, she said she makes
filing boxes with color coding according to subject.
Not everyone touts organizational skills as the precursor
to academic and intellectual success. Westwood Regional
Schools Superintendent Geoffrey Zoeller said that while
organizational skills help students maximize their time,
he noted they are irrelevant to brainpower.
"Being organized allows students to approach homework
and projects in a more efficient way and relieves stress
in getting things done," he said. "But I don't know
that organizational skills result in any greater academic
achievement. Some of the greatest minds I've ever met
had no organizational skills whatsoever."
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