The start of the school year is the best time to go over organizational routines.  Children need to understand that organization never guarantees success, but it is the first place to look when a child or adult struggles.  Many problems can be resolved simply by adjusting organizational routines.

The best teachers have a tight schedule for organizational routines.  There is scheduled time in the day to turn in homework, finish desk work, relax with classmates, work on computers, get from class to class, eat lunch.  Although it sounds ominous to have a life too tightly scheduled, the time a homeschool parent puts into organizing a day for children is priceless.

Children need to begin the year with a sense of orderliness when it comes to school.  Once patterns are established, the routines can be broken to take advantage of learning opportunities.  But the greatest fear a homeschool parent has is the fear of not knowing what happens next.  Once this is overcome, the homeschool parent feels comfortable with the natural rhythms of learning.

Parents need to consider their own organizational routines.  In some places they can be strong in others less developed.  The sooner a child understands that organization is a lifelong pursuit, the sooner the child will see that living a successful life is a never ending quest.

There are plenty of children’s books that focus on organization, including the author’s Success Trait Read Aloud Series (soon to be released).  Organization month can begin with a daily reading and discussion of a variety of books for younger students.  Older students should be given specific information about how routines are to be organized in the home school.  Both younger and older students should be asked throughout the month to assess their own progress with organizational skills.  A measure of a parent’s success would be that by the end of the first month of schooling, organization should not be an issue in the classroom or at home.

Parents should review Traits for Success: The Case for Character Education in American Schools for other ideas about teaching Organization at the start of the school year.

Next: How Homeschool Families Might Implement a Trait for Success- Focus

From our first posting:

“As parents and teachers, we need to reclaim our traditional role as influencers of our children – not by shouting louder than the influencers our children discover online, but by stressing ideas that are more important than fancy shoes and snappy TikTok tunes. We need to emphasize traits that everyone agrees children will honor.  We need to convince our children that the people who are most important to them have a better understanding of what it takes to be successful in life.”

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