Dear Parents:

As we are approaching the end of the first quarter of the 2009/2010 school year, I would like to share some information about getting organized.  Now that routines are established and a comfort level with this school year has set in,   it’s a good time to encourage the children to continue in the right direction by thinking about their responsibilities for being successful for the remainder of the year.  This is the perfect opportunity to reflect on any of those habits that might be interfering with their school success, one of which is disorganization.  I hope you will find the following information taken from the National Association of Elementary School Principal’s Report to Parents helpful.

Disorganization is a problem that can plague children as they forget homework, lose assignments, leave lunches at home, and forget to share important papers or information from the teacher with you.  If you do not act now to correct this problem, it could have lifelong consequences, which you do not want for your children.  The following behaviors will assist you as you support your children’s growth into responsible, successful adults.

• Talk to your children’s teachers to see what they are doing to help the children develop organization skills.  This will enable you to follow up and provide consistency at home.
• Establish evening routines for packing up backpacks, preparing lunches, signing papers, laying out clothes and other “must haves”.  Get them all together before bedtime.
• Encourage your children to empty take home folders and backpacks every day.   This will remind them to give you any important notes or papers that you need to see.
• If a multi-task homework assignment or special project overwhelms your children, help them to break it into manageable chunks.  Encourage your children to share each chunk as it is completed so you can monitor the progress.  Also, contact the teacher so you can collaborate on ways to help your children.
• Teach your children how to set up and use a calendar to track school events, project deadlines, lesson and practice times, and upcoming responsibilities.  Review the calendar every day to note what is coming up and to add any new information.
• When your children are old enough to read and write, show them how to develop a “to do” list and use it to keep track of tasks until they are completed.  Knowing what needs to get done is an important step in getting organized.
• Give your children responsibility for cleaning up materials when they are done with them.  This will help them to learn to be independent with tasks and materials. 
• Set aside a day once a month to “dump” all unused papers and materials.  Show them how to file things they may need in the future by labeling and organizing folders.
• Set up small rewards together that they can work toward.  These small incentives can have large benefits for their futures.

Children need the support and involvement of their parents to develop strong organizational skills.  Being disorganized can affect their grades and stress levels.  There is a fine line between enabling children to become dependent and supporting them until they are ready to manage their time and materials effectively.  Any of the above suggestions will help you and them to know where that line is and how to slowly erase it so they grow into independent and successful learners.

I hope you will fine these suggestions beneficial.  If you have any questions about any of them, please feel free to contact your children’s teachers, Mr. Quinn, our Assistant Principal, or me.

Sincerely,

Carole Quental