How to help children develop organisation skills?

Students need the right tools and basic organisation skills to be successful both in their academics and in life. Some students are able to develop these strategies on their own. These students can create effective methods for organising, processing and comprehending what they grasp in class. They can also plan homeworks, assignments, studying for test and determining effective strategies for test taking.

Most of the students require direct, systematic instructions to develop these skills. They need specific instructions and sufficient practice to do so.

Ideally these organisation and study skills are developed in the early elementary levels. However, it is never too late to help your child develop these skills. Good study skills taught in schools will benefit if they are reinforced at home. Some children need constant monitoring for them to independently apply these skills.

Here are some tips on how you can develop your child's organisational skills:

Create checklists: Creating simple to-do checklists and referring them to your child will develop your child's ability to strategise tasks and organise time.

Assign them chores that require sorting or categorising skills: Chores like sorting photos, cleaning a closet, grocery shopping and similar tasks require pre-planning. Have them do things like making lists or arranging things as these enhance organisational skills.

Build time sense into their daily routine: Give your child containers and a place for all his/her things. The child will find it easier to locate items in his/her allotted space. Make sure the child keeps the place neat and clean. This will help him pick his things faster and brings in him the importance of time and organisation.

Help your child organise schoolwork: Make sure your child is organising his schoolwork in separate folders which includes keeping notes, handouts, homework, and graded assignments. Try to go through his/her backpack timely, and set time each week to go through your child's folders and get things sorted.

Establish a homework schedule: Help your child to create a homework routine and a comfortable workspace for him to work. Encourage him/her to stick to the schedule though he doesn't have homework.

Create a supply box: Encourage your children to create a supply box where they can store pens, pencils, papers, measurement tools in it so they have easy access to what they need.

Try cooking together: Cooking will let a child learn all organisation skills including measuring, following directions, sorting and even managing time. So cooking together is a great activity to develop organisational skills.

Cultivate interest in collecting: If your child likes anything in particular encourage him to create and organise the collection. This will teach him skills to sort, classify and arrange.

These are certain tips to parents on how to help their children become more organised. Organisation skills are important as the child gets older so as to handle his increasing homework and extracurricular activities.