Help Your Child Get Organized

By Tracy Alt

As a parent you have, no doubt, worked hard to teach your children good manners, how to read and write, how to tie their shoes and all of the basic life skills necessary to succeed in the world. But is there a life skill you are overlooking? Are you teaching your children to be organized? Proper organizational skills will greatly increase your child's potential to succeed in life.

The best way to teach your children how to be organized is to lead by example. If you are organized your children will naturally grow accustomed to living in an organized environment and they will be more likely to become organized adults. The best place to start is in your own home. Be sure that you have a designated home for all of your belongings and strive to keep things in their designated place when they are not in use.

Now, pass this rule on to your children and their toys. The younger your children are when you being training them to put their toys away, the more successful this task will be. Start by putting their toys away for them while they watch. As your children grow older have them help you put the toys away. As they become able, require that they put the toys away themselves. The goal is for this task to become second nature. Putting things away is a basic foundation of organization.

Next, take the organization one step further by allowing them complete control over their own bedroom . Putting them in control will increase their pride and might even get them excited about organization. Keep in mind, however, that what appears organized to a child may appear completely disorganized to you. Be sure your child understands what you expect the bedroom to look like but allow them the freedom to choose the method they will use. A child's level of organization will naturally increase as they grow older.

Teach your children time management as soon as they are old enough to read a clock. Communicate with your child to be sure they know what time you must leave the house and give them time warnings along the way. Each time you provide a time warning ask your child to look at the clock to make note of where the hands are. This visual aid will allow your child to develop an understanding of the pace at which time moves and make them aware of what can be accomplished in a certain amount of time.

When your children start school you have another opportunity to introduce organization into their lives. Help your child develop a school routine and encourage them to become more independent and responsible for their own assignments. Encourage your children to take responsibility for tasks such as remembering their homework, packing their school supplies and keeping track of special dates.

Use a family calendar and encourage your children to mark their own dates on the calendar. Again, giving them ownership over their own time will help to encourage their eagerness to track their own schedules.

Creating a schedule will be helpful for your younger children to become responsible for these school-related activities. If your child knows that homework is done immediately following dinner each evening they should be able to get their backpacks and get started without you having to remind them. Routines are a great way to develop independence.

As your children grow older they should grow in independence as well and their responsibilities should grow with them. Children who are taught organization, time management and responsibility will have a much easier time meeting the challenges of adult life.

Tips to Organize Life is the website that provides shortcuts, tips and tricks to help you get things done faster and better.

 Tips to Organize Life focuses on all aspects of life, including organzing your home, cooking, entertaining, money management, children, communication, gardening, planning for emergencies and more. http://www.tips-to-organize-life.com 

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