Organizational Skills for Students: Strategies to Help Students Stay Organized in School

Strong organizational skills are critical for academic success. Many students have difficulty with organization, time management, planning, and keeping track of assignments, especially as the demands of school increase. In this episode of the Real Talk Corner Podcast, Dr. Emily Levy discusses concrete and practical strategies parents can use at home to help their children build stronger executive functioning and study skills. These strategies can help students better manage their homework, school assignments, and materials, and feel more confident about their academic abilities.

Set Up a Consistent Homework Routine

Help your child build stronger executive functioning skills by setting up a regular homework time. Some children prefer to do their homework right when they get home from school, while others like a snack break or a longer athletic break before starting their work. Any of these options can work but the key is consistency. Pick a daily homework time for your child and stick with it! Even if your child doesn’t have homework on a given night, encourage them to use that time to study for an upcoming test, review previously learned material, or even just read.

Use Checklists to Help Students Stay Organized



Checklists are a great tool for staying organized, both in and out of school. If your child is groggy and disorganized in the morning when they wake up, come up with a morning checklist that you can hang on the wall in their room. This checklist might include items such as brushing teeth, getting dressed, eating breakfast, and checking their backpack. You might create a similar checklist with your child for an evening routine, like finishing homework, putting away or turning in homework, showering, getting ready for bed. Likewise, you can use checklists for packing for a trip or getting ready for a sleep over.

Read more homework organization tips for students here:
https://eblcoaching.com/homework-organizational-tips-for-the-new-school-year/

https://eblcoaching.com/4-tips-to-help-your-child-become-more-organized-at-school/

Use Color Coding to Organize School Materials



As your child moves through the school year, their piles of papers will likely grow. Avoid a giant mess of papers by encouraging your child to color code their schoolwork by subject. For instance, all science-related material might go in a green folder, math work might go in a blue folder, English work in a purple folder, and so on. They can even use highlighters and pens in the colors that correspond to each subject. This will help them stay organized as the piles of papers for each subject increases. Executive functioning tutoring can also help build these skills!

Teach Students to Break Assignments into Smaller Steps



Your child may feel overwhelmed by the volume of work they need to complete for school. There may be multiple assignments, long-term projects, and tests to study for. Help your child feel more organized and on top of their work by teaching them to chunk the material. Encourage them to use an assignment book (even if their teacher posts assignments online!), break the tasks down into steps, and enter those steps into their assignment book. For instance, if they have a project to complete for science, they might break it down into five steps, decide when to complete each step, and put each step into their assignment book as a task they need to complete. This will help build stronger time management, organization, and executive functioning skills. Executive functioning coaching can help build these skills as well!

Help Students Prepare for the Next School Day

The night before school, your child should organize their belongings for the next day. Specifically, they should make sure all the homework they completed is put away in their backpack in the right place to be turned in. They should also make sure they put any necessary books or materials they need for school in their backpack to bring to school the next day. Additionally, you may want to encourage them to lay out their clothes for the next day and even decide what they plan to have for breakfast to help make the morning calmer and less stressful.

Strong organizational skills can help your child excel in school. Study skills tutoring or executive functioning coaching can also help your child build these skills, but you can try these strategies at home to help your child on their path to success!

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do some students struggle with organization in school?
Many students struggle with organization when they have weak executive functioning skills. As they move through school, the organization and executive functioning demands increase quickly. Learning effective strategies for building these skills can help improve their overall academic performance.

What are common signs a student is struggling with organization?
If you find that your child loses their materials, forgets to turn in their homework assignments or turns them in late, or becomes easily overwhelmed by schoolwork, they are likely struggling with organization and would benefit from learning executive functioning strategies.

How can parents help children stay organized with homework?
Parents can help their child stay organized by creating a consistent homework routine, setting up organized spaces designated for studying, and using an assignment book for managing homework.

Is your child struggling with time management, organization, planning, time management, or other executive functioning skills? Learn how EBL Coaching can help them with specialized tutoring and executive functioning coaching at www.eblcoaching.com.
Learn more about helping your child build stronger organizational skills for the new school year at
https://eblcoaching.com/homework-organizational-tips-for-the-new-school-year/
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