Six practical steps to making your child organized

Every parent seeks to have their child to be organized, develop healthy habits and have a good sense of belonging. Leading the child towards organization is the dream of a parent.

Growing statistics show that majority of the parents agree that most children need a reminder before they can do their tasks. Examples of such tasks are–

• Hang the towel on the cloth hanger after a bath.
• Keep the shoes in the shoe rack.
• Put the dirty clothes in the laundry basket.
• Place the toys back in the toy box after playing.
• Leave your plate in the sink after having meals.
• Brush your teeth before going to bed.
• Clean your study table after completing your homework.

The above list is still incomplete as there are many more such routines of everyday life for which the child has to be prompted repeatedly. At times the efforts of parents don’t prove to be effective and the dream of developing organizational skills in a child doesn’t come true. Therefore, it’s obvious for the parent to get annoyed and rebuke the child for not being responsible.

That is the moment when a parent needs to ponder on the root cause of the mess the child creates. This chaos is created due to the lack of organizational skills in the child.

What are organizational skills?

Cambridge Dictionary defines the organizational skill as the ability to use your time, energy, resources, etc. in an effective way so that you achieve the things you want to achieve.

Moreover, Collins Dictionary states that organizational abilities and methods relate to the way that work, activities or events are planned and arranged.

Why is it important for children to be organized?

Being organized at an early age would develop time management, goal setting, decision –making, planning and thinking skills. Organizational skill is an important for improved performance in academics, sports and self-management; and it leads to develop self-care and self-discipline.

Six practical steps to making your child organized –

Parents must set routines and procedures for children to coordinate numerous activities of their life.

Make place for all items in possession – Prepare a list of all the items a child is expected to organize. Generally, your list would include these items. Once the list is ready, display it at a place in the house where it is visible to all members of the family.

It would ensure that the child is aware of the items he is expected to take care of.

Arrangement of space and materials- After preparing the list of items, next step is to organize space. It should be decided where the items need to be stored after use. Label or colour –code all the storage containers.

• Peaceful and brightly lit study area should be identified for the child.
• Racks and shelves should be arranged to stack the books, notebooks, assignment files, papers, notepads, graph books.
• Stationery boxes help to keep pencils, erasers, sharpeners, colours, sketch pens, ruler etc. in place.
• Closets serve an important purpose of keeping shoes and clothes.
• Toys may be stored in storage bins and containers.

Remove unnecessary items– You would observe that over a period of time many things become redundant. There would be clothes the child has outgrown, but they are in good condition. Moreover, some toys would no longer be required by the child. Remove these unessential items and either recycle them or donate them to the needy. This way, a sense of giving is inculcated in the child, and the child learns to make the best use of waste. Weekly cleaning of all storage spaces will easily eliminate clutter.

Schedule tasks- A planner is mandatory to organize the day to day routines. Timing should be set for watching TV and mobile, having meals, playing, studying, going to bed and waking up in the morning. It would be a good idea to provide a clock for the child for keeping a track of time. It also helps to develop a pattern and ultimately leads to imbibing good habits.

Develop a habit of writing – It would be great for children to write their plans in a diary or a notepad. They should also be encouraged to note down – the reasons for the none accomplishment of an assigned task or what could they have done to be punctual? This habit of writing will help them in future when they grow up as adults.

Assign responsibility – When you have arranged everything and provided the materials required, then it’s time to hold the child accountable for any mess created by him. The child should be guided to take responsibility of all his belongings and task assigned to him.

Habit formation – It’s difficult to change habits when children grow big. Correct immediately whenever the child defaults. In the words of Sean Covey, “We become what we repeatedly do.” Developing good habits in the early years of life is paramount to achieve success as adults.

Happy Parenting!