Joe Bruzzese (10 page)

Learning to use any organizational system takes some time and energy. The good news is that the time and energy are relatively minimal in comparison to sifting through a semester's worth of
paper in your child's backpack. The key to maintaining any filing system is creating a regular schedule for moving papers into the file folders. The typical middle schooler can hold out for a month before moving papers from his backpack and binder into the file crate. Every two weeks may be a more realistic interval, depending on the flow (or flood) of paper your child brings home. At the end of each grading period, take some time to reevaluate how the filing system is working.

The volume of paper can change during the course of a year. Teachers are famous for sending home a stockpile of assignments at the end of a grading period. If you can predict when these deluges will occur, mark the date on the calendar and plan for a filing party. Regardless of when that occurs, try to establish a consistent time and schedule for emptying the binder and backpack into the file crate. As with any new routine, the first few attempts take more effort to complete than will be required after the routine becomes a habit. Kids need the most support from parents during the early stages of building a new routine. Here are some tips for supporting your child through the organizational process.

In association with a backpack, your child's binder is the critical link between school and home for all assignments and parent-school communication. It can be a challenge to create a system that meshes with your child's preferences while meeting his teachers' demands. The binder setup we describe here is meant to provide your child with a starting point for building an organized binder. As teachers become more explicit in their expectations, your child can adapt the binder to meet the new demands.

Prior to engaging in this activity with your child, confirm that you have the recommended list of supplies that follows. Running to the store midway through the setup will put a halt to your momentum.

• One heavy-duty or zippered binder
  
• A package of six to eight binder dividers with folder sleeves
  
• One seventy-page wireless notebook
  
• Heavy-duty three-hole punch
  

To set up the binder, label each binder divider with the name of one class. Insert the dividers in the same order as the class schedule. The first class of the day belongs to the first divider in the binder and so on. Insert a wireless notebook after the last divider. Each divider has a pocket on the front side. This is a temporary home for any papers that are not three-hole punched. Encourage your child to make a choice about where new additions to the binder will go; then refrain from offering additional advice.

Ask to see the binder after the setup is complete. If your child can articulate how his system works, then consider the task complete. Check in regularly (every two to three weeks) to confirm that the system he started with is still working. If papers appear to be falling out or you hear complaints about lost assignments, take the opportunity to sit down with your child and brainstorm ways to overcome the challenge.

Like the file crate system, the setup steps for a binder are easy to complete. The challenge with both systems is maintenance. Creating a regular routine for filing papers and hole-punching the remaining papers will ease the stress of trying to stay organized. Papers tend to pile up quickly in a binder, so consider a schedule that will keep the binder looking good on a weekly basis. Removing or hole-punching papers can usually be done once a week; however, there are always exceptions. The English teacher who loves to read, write, and copy everything he reads and writes can lead his students to a binder explosion in a few days.

An efficient study space, together with a filing system and an organized binder, minimizes stress during study time while maximizing the time spent working on homework activities in the after-school hours. With the foundation for your child's home organization system in place, let's turn our attention to a new and equally challenging space to organize—the school locker.

The task of setting up and maintaining a school locker presents a wonderful opportunity for children to practice taking responsibility for the ongoing upkeep of a space outside of the home. Parents should consider their child's school locker off limits unless an emergency warrants access. The responsibility of maintaining a locker rests solely on the shoulders of the child. Given the small dimensions of most middle school lockers, the possibility of losing supplies remains relatively low, and thus the chance for organizational success is high. However, without a plan for organizing the space, your child's locker can easily become an extension of her bedroom or backpack—with assorted goodies sticking out of every available nook and cranny.

With the goal of creating an organized space, consider purchasing the following supplies for your child:

• One to two locker shelves with supports (found at most office supply stores)
  
• Six magnets
  
• Two sticky note pads
  
• Small box for extra pens and pencils
  
• Magnetic container large enough for pens, pencils, and sticky notes
  

The challenge for middle schoolers is to gain entry to their lockers, stash unneeded items, and gather supplies for the coming class, within the span of four to five minutes. This wouldn't be nearly as challenging if it weren't for the hundreds of other kids who are scrambling to do exactly the same thing at the same time. Encourage your child to adopt a trial-and-error mind-set when it comes to her locker setup. As with most new organizational systems, lockers require an adjustment period that includes time to remove and reposition supplies. After a few minor changes, kids generally find a setup that enables them to reach each class on time with all the required materials in hand.

If your child asks for help or complains about having difficulty reaching class on time, then offer a few ideas. Proceed cautiously. Being asked for your assistance does not give you license to assume ownership and responsibility for maintaining your child's locker. Instead, suggest a few minor changes, like stacking textbooks and notebooks together by class or taking supplies for two or three classes during a single visit to the locker. Kids particularly like this suggestion because shuttling supplies back and forth after every class takes time that could be better spent socializing with friends.

Remember, transferring responsibility to your child is a process that takes time. If you offer too many potential solutions for confronting locker woes (or other common dilemmas), you'll slow down the transition to independence.

Here are several locker dos and don'ts to discuss before school begins:

• Do return or replace materials in their original location.
  
• Don't throw materials into the first available space in your locker.
  
• Do use magnets to hold up important papers and keep other papers in a binder.
  
• Don't leave papers lying around inside your locker.
  
• Do give yourself at least one month to learn a new system.
  
• Don't expect your locker to organize itself.
  
• Do take responsibility for your materials. Now is a great time to take on more responsibility and become more independent.
  
• Don't expect anyone else to organize your locker or backpack.
  

Middle schoolers in the first few weeks of a new school year often have trouble remembering their locker location and combination. And returning after every class to retrieve a new set of materials can also add extra stress to an already busy schedule of events. You can help alleviate your child's anxiety—and raise her confidence that she
can
successfully navigate the halls and arrive safely
at each destination—by helping her create a map of the school campus.

Begin planning a route around campus by identifying the location of each room on the class schedule. In the weeks prior to the start of school, class schedules are distributed, either by mail or at a school-wide orientation session. Most class schedules contain a list of teachers and room numbers for the typical school day.

Find ten minutes to sit with your child and sift through the orientation materials for a school map. With this map and the class schedule in hand, highlight the following locations:

• Classes one to six (or seven), including P.E.
  
• Locker
  
• School cafeteria and where the lunch line begins
  
• Bathrooms
  
• Main office—where the principal, vice principal(s), and counselors live
  
• Pickup and drop-off location (either the bus stop or a mutually agreed upon location where these exchanges will occur)
  

During orientation, teachers and staff members will introduce new students to the school campus through a series of activities. Remembering the location of six or more classrooms may be low on your child's priority scale compared to socializing with friends, so consider visiting the school in the evening hours with your child to get a better idea of where to locate each of the highlighted areas from your mapping activity. After a brief trip around the campus, consider challenging your child with the following scavenger hunt.

This activity will give your child a better sense of how long it takes to move from class to class during the day. Becoming more familiar with the school campus also decreases the possibility of getting lost on the first day. The summer months provide an ideal
opportunity to visit the school campus. As your child traverses the corridors with a map in hand, he begins to form a mental picture of the school's layout. Prior to the summer break, stop by the school's front office and request a map. Inquire about any times when the school may be closed or inaccessible. Typically, schools close their doors and prohibit access to the campus for at least one month during the summer break. Opt to explore the campus in the weeks immediately preceding the return to school; your child is more likely to focus on the details of your trip then—and to remember them later.

The parent's role in the scavenger hunt is to provide transportation to and from the school site. Beyond the free shuttle service, you may also offer to hold the stopwatch and record notes on the activity sheet. Follow your child's lead as to how much assistance to offer. If she decides to invite a friend along, you can offer to record times for both kids; if you sense impending embarrassment, just let them know you will wait at the front of the school for them to complete the activity. Take a few moments to tour the campus on your own. Note the location of the front office. Ideally, your visits with the staff inside will be limited to positive discussions.