When you think about kids, one of the first images that might pop up in your head would be ‘lots of mess.’
Kids and disorganisation go hand-in-hand.
Having organisational skills helps your child excel in school and will help them throughout their career as well later in life. So, it is necessary to teach them the importance of organisation at an early stage.
An essential part of being a successful kid is being organised. It is vital that your child understands not just the importance of organisations skills, but also how being organised will help them throughout their lives, in everything they do – be it school, sports, their social lives, and so on.
One key area where organisation helps kids is education. Learning is enhanced with organisation; let’s see how.
4 Ways Kids Can Use Organization Skills to Learn
Being organised will help your child in the long run. Kids with weak organisational skills find it hard to handle information effectively and logically.
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Organisation and Following Directions
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Organization and Learning to Read
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Organization and Literacy Learning
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Organization and Learning Maths
1. Organisation and Following Directions
When your child has to follow directions, he will need to take care of two things: focus and an action plan. Skills that are required here are - organisation and planning.
Kids with strong organisational skills are more likely to plan better, enabling them to follow directions properly. At the same time, it can be challenging to do the same for kids with weak organisational skills.
2. Organization and Learning to Read
Organisation for kids becomes relatively more important when they learn to read. For example, phonics requires them to connect the dots between written letters and spoken sounds.
If your child has weak organising skills, they will struggle to connect these dots.
3. Organization and Literacy Learning
Literacy learning is the combined process of reading and writing continuous text.
To read and write fluently, your child needs to take care of many things in one go. For example, keep track of the storyline, character information, events, and the main plot.
Your child can stay on track only when they have a habit of organising.
4. Organization and Learning Maths
The complex rules and methodical procedures that exist in maths require excellent organisation.
For your child to keep up with sorting information at every point in maths, they need to possess the ability to organise information as well as their thoughts.
11 Effective Tips to Get Your Child Organised
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Break tasks into chunks
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Make checklists and to-do lists
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Teach calendar and time management skills
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Establish daily routines
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Introduce idea organisers
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Use colour-coding
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Create fun memory aids
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Three steps to success
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Teach them how to use their “free time” effectively
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Conduct weekly cleanups
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Cultivate an interest in collecting
1. Break tasks into chunks
Break their tasks up into smaller parts.
For example, if your child has a project to work on, help them break it up. Tell them where to begin, which part to prioritise, give them a step-by-step guide on how to prioritise tasks, and finally, how to wind up their project.
2. Make checklists and to-do lists
When we think about staying organised, a proper checklist pops up in our heads. Keeping a checklist is the most effective way to stay organised.
Including tasks of homework completion and household chores in their to-do list also helps them manage time.
3. Teach calendar and time management skills
Let your child develop a habit of writing essential tasks down in a calendar. Help them assist in estimating the time lap required for each job.
Once they complete the task, ask them whether or not the time was accurate. If not, then help them in adjusting to it.
4. Establish daily routines
Once you make a daily routine for your child, they know what to expect throughout the day and later establish time management and organisation.
5. Introduce idea organisers
Teach your kids how to use outlines and other graphic organisers to cultivate the habit of organising their projects or tests.
6. Use colour-coding
Assigning different colours for each subject will save them time searching each subject on their desk or bag.
They will know what topic is associated with what colour.
7. Create fun memory aids
Making up silly acronyms to remember important information is a great way to add fun to their studies.
8. Three steps to success
Assemble, focus, and action - these are the three steps to success. Including these into your child’s daily routine will help them develop a good habit of organisation.
9. Teach them how to use their “free time” effectively
Kids naturally have a lot of free time in their hands.
Assign them valuable tasks to teach them time management since it is all about planning, prioritising, and estimating the time required.
10. Conduct weekly cleanups
A weekly cleanup makes a child organise their daily stuff in place.
11. Cultivate an interest in collecting
Let your child get into the habit of collecting things they like. This encourages them to organise it neatly into a collection.
Low-Cost Organisation Tools for Kids
Cultivating good habits for your child does not need to be expensive. You can make them organised while staying within budget.
Below are few low-cost organisation tools for kids.
1. A family calendar
Kids learn through what the adults around them are doing. Involving your family in the teaching process is the best way to make your child learn.
Marking important dates or appointments on a family calendar helps them organising things.
2. Visual checklists
Kids grasp better through attractive graphics.
With visual checklists, kids are more likely to take an actual interest in going through it entirely. You can convert their morning routines into stickers or illustrations.
3. A Supply Caddy
Having a proper place to store kid’s toys saves time and strengthens their organisational ability. A supply caddy serves the purpose of organisation and storage.
4. A family calendar
Kids learn through what the adults around them are doing. Involving your family in the teaching process is the best way to make your child learn.
Marking important dates or appointments on a family calendar helps them organising things.
5. Pizza box portfolios
Low-cost, space-saving, and attractive-looking solution to your storage problems.
Take empty pizza boxes and clean them. Let your child decorate it, and then start segregating the space according to their storage needs.
Key Takeaways
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Your child’s planning and time management skills develop with their organisation skills.
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For help, tools like calendars and checklists are a great way to get your child to organise effectively.
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Weak organisational skills make learning difficult for kids but not impossible.
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Organisation requires kids to plan, collect information and take necessary actions to complete a task. This takes up a systematic approach and hence strengthens their problem-solving skills.
