Helping your Student Stay Organized (An Executive Function Skill)

By Monica McGuire, Director of Communications, Russell Coaching

This week’s executive function skill is organization. This is your student’s ability to keep their belongings organized, tidy, clean, and in good shape. Organized belongings help your student do the things they want to do. It is hard to play soccer if their cleats never made it into their duffel bag, attend a field trip if their crumpled permission slip never saw the light of day, or drive to a friend’s house on time if their keys aren’t where they are supposed to be. Here are three things you can do to help your student get organized.

Create a weekly bag organization ritual. Have your student get out their backpack and grab your own purse or briefcase too. Share how you are organizing your bag and ask if your student needs any help with theirs. This weekly ritual can help your student learn how to stay organized and instill an important habit. Weekly backpack clean-outs can also help them stay on top of forms and homework.

Create checklists for important items. Students who have a hard time staying organized may not even notice when they leave the house without the things they need. They may be surprised when they arrive at swim practice without their suit or to school without their homework. Creating laminated checklists for events that require your student to remember multiple items can help. You may have a checklist for school, basketball, babysitting, and overnights. If your student takes a different bag to each event, consider leaving the checklist inside the bag — that way your student can check the list before they leave the house and before they come back home.

Create a task list for cleaning. Students who find organizing difficult can become overwhelmed when trying to clean. There can be so many tasks that need to be done that it can be difficult to know where to start. Creating a task list that includes everything that needs to be done can help your student stay focused and get the job done by working through the list one task at a time.

Creating a weekly bag organization ritual, checklists for important items, and a task list for cleaning can help reduce overwhelm and keep your student organized. Being organized can help your student to fully participate in the events that are most important to them and help them lead a fuller, happier, and less stressful life.

About the Author
Monica McGuire is a writer and parent who believes all relationships, including parent-child relationships, flourish under mutual respect, curiosity, kindness, and compassion. She lives in Michigan with her family where she is constantly being challenged to listen to, understand, and appreciate her teenagers’ points of view. You can reach her at monicamcguire100@gmail.com.