Organization is a struggle for many of us as well as our children, especially children with Sensory Processing Disorder. Just as we teach other important life skills to our children, organizational strategies must be taught directly so that they can implement the strategies independently and habitually. Although children begin to learn these skills as toddlers by sorting and putting away toys, it is never too late to help your child build organizational skills. Initially, it may feel as though you are shouldering the bulk of the responsibility, but modeling and teaching good strategies from the get-go will do both you and your child a big service in the long run.  Here are some ideas to get started.

Posting a large family “calendar” in a visible area is a great way to model good habits for your children and keep everyone organized at the same time.

• What events should go on the family calendar? Family outings, sports practices, club meetings, etc., especially those that require car-pooling so that Mom and Dad are not double-booked.
• Make pictorial stickers of the events to place on the calendar so that preschoolers and beginning readers in your house can keep up
• Color code the calendar by assigning each family member a color

Create individual after-school daily planners for each child to plan out homework time, play time, play dates, birthday parties and other commitments. This can be particularly helpful to carve out time for homework on days that have an after school activity. Working on the planning together with your child is an opportunity for you to teach time management.

• Put Velcro on the back of small pictures depicting daily events to help children who are more visual, or those who struggle to write

Each child should have a daily planner where he/she has written the day’s homework and assignments. Check off each assignment as is it completed.

For specific ideas for organizing homework, check out the Homework Hassle Help blogs on POTSOT.com, posted October, 2008

A monthly calendar is important for listing long term assignments/projects and upcoming tests. Teaching your child to prepare in advance and break down big projects into small, manageable components is a critically important life skill.

Create a “Things to Bring to School Checklist” for each child that includes general materials, such as pens, pencils, and highlighters, as well as notebooks or textbooks for individual subjects. In order to ensure your child is prepared for class with everything he/she needs, display the checklist in an obvious location where he/she packs his/her backpack.

Color code your child’s classroom books, notebooks, folders, etc. so that he/she can easily recognize what subject materials are needed for in class work and homework.

Lighten your child’s load by regularly sorting through superfluous papers. Keep color coded files at home and have them file extra papers according to subject matter.

By: Aviva Goldwasser, OTR