Keys to organizing your middle school student

I've found that a middle schooler will find self-confidence and success as they learn to organize. On more occasions than I can remember, I've walked past these teens' searching through their lockers for that hairbrush or crumpled assignment, only to find it at the bottom of the whole mess. There are two keys to helping your child with organizing in middle school. These two things must be repeated for the whole two year stint (or three year, if it is a junior high). The first one I'll share in this blog, and I'll share the next one, Establish a simple binder system, in the next blog of this two-blog series.

1. Clean up the storage areas (locker, backpack, and under the bed)

Cleaning up the storage areas
I had to laugh and shake my head along with the mother of one of my 9th graders. This kid was student council president, happy to be at school, friendly with everyone and their dog, and the most absentminded of his kind. His mother was going out of her mind--somehow this good student was failing several of his classes and she couldn't figure it out. She'd seen him do the homework, she'd planned makeup times with his teacher, and he swore he had no idea where his work could be. Where did she end up finding it? At the bottom of his locker, stuffed in a corner under his bed, and stuck to other papers in his backpack. Does this situation sound similar? Could this child be one of yours? Then this tip is definitely going to be a lifesaver for you.

When your child's grade shows a missing assignment and he/she swears they did it, before you call the teacher and demand an answer, send your child to their binder. If nothing turns up, then send them through their whole backpack, having them turn it upside down and throwing it all out on the ground, like their halloween trick or treat bag. If you're lucky, they'll find it there. And if not, then send them into the jungle of their room (though not due to any lack of nagging on your part) and have them look under the bed, in the closet, and in whatever other rat hole they somehow managed to create. Guaranteed, your child will even find assignments they thought they already handed in! And, even if nothing turns up, if you mention this story to their teacher, you will find a teacher who is much more willing to look through her jungle of papers to find it because of the effort your child already went through theirs.


The next step is to get the main homework storage areas decently clean. Are we expecting perfection? No way--these are teenagers, right? But you can expect to be able to see the bottom of their room, locker, closet, etc. You can mandate a "Spring Cleaning" of their school work to become a quarterly event, after the end of the last term.


Is it easy as a parent to put yourself and your child through this hassle? No way. But will your student learn to place their papers in the right place after doing it half a dozen times (and, finger crossed, perhaps less)? Let's hope so. And maybe yes. And even if they don't, at least they know that you love them and that you will help them if they need it.