Back To School - Fun or Blues
Do you look forward to your children going back to school? Do you
dread getting them ready? There’s so much to do such as purchase
new school clothes and office supplies and then get it all organized.
Make it a fun time for all of you. Use this time to teach your children how
to organize. Encourage them with the excitement of having neat,
new, and clean things. It really does make a difference!
Setting up a new notebook with each child will help them have a
place for everything and everything in its place. This lessens the
chance of lost papers and lower grades. If you let your child choose
how they want to set up their binder, but oversee the process, chances
are they’ll be able to find what they’re looking for when they need
it throughout the year. This includes that all-important homework!
Our schools have binder checks at least once per month. Sadly however,
they don’t have the time to teach organization skills.
I feel the most important aspect of back to school time is organization
of their school supplies, primarily their notebook/binder. Children
who aren’t taught how to set up their binder usually have trouble
in school because of missing papers. We had a child come to our home
one day in absolute tears. When we got to the root of the problem,
we started by going through her notebook with her and found it an
absolute wreck! Everything was out of order, mixed together, and
she was unable to find any papers on any one subject. There were
way too many papers from at least six months prior. When I asked
her if she could find her spelling words, she could not.
My daughter and I sat with her for almost 2 hours taking all of
the old papers out, organizing the papers she needed to keep, and
putting together an almost brand new binder, neat, clean, and in
order. After that she was able to find her papers. Unfortunately
it was a little too late because the school year was almost over.
And something else we’ve encountered with teachers of all three
of our children is grading a paper and somehow not getting the grade
into the grade book. In California our children have as many as 40
children per class. But because my children are organized they were
able to pull out the paper in question and show the grade to the
teacher. This has happened more times than I can count on both hands.
I know this only touches the surface so check the website for more
back to school tips.
©2001 Susie Glennan
Susie Glennan has been happily married since 1982,
is mom to 3, grandmother to 2, and is a Home Maker, Teacher, Author,
Professional Speaker, Toastmaster, President of The Busy Woman, Inc.,
DBA - The Busy Woman's Daily Planner®. She teaches time management
seminars, offers FREE consultations with your order, and will help
you set up a schedule that's right for you. 800-848-7715 www.thebusywoman.com
|
