Blueprints for the Disorganized Child

When Sandra Romero looked inside her 12-year-old son's backpack, she was in for a shock. Inside, she found crumpled papers, uneaten lunches, even dirty basketball shorts. Everything was in that backpack—everything but his schoolwork.

Unfortunately, her son's backpack was only one sign of his complete disorganization. Chris would often spend hours playing video games, forgetting that he had assignments due the next day. Plenty of kids are messy, and many have a habit of forgetting about homework assignments until the last possible minute. But for Chris, it happened way too often. The situation made him stressed out and frantic.

"I couldn't understand what was going on," Sandra Romero says. "Often, his work was so disorganized he wouldn't even hand it in. He also didn't get the concept of work being due in a week's time. In fact, he would tell me he had no work. But a week later we'd be up late at night finishing projects."

To help parents like Romero, Donna Goldberg and co-author Jennifer Zwiebel wrote The Organized Student: Teaching Children the Skills for Success in School and Beyond. They offer advice for helping chaotic children find a sense of order. Is your child disorganized? Here are some clues.

Does he:

• Lose his homework and papers
• Always leave homework until the last minute
• Miss assignment due dates
• Fill his backpack with random junk
• Disrupt home life with anxiety-ridden meltdowns

Some people think that being orderly is an innate quality. But these skills can be taught, say Goldberg and Zwiebel. Kids can learn to prioritize and organize, and parents can help:

• Clean out backpacks, lockers, and desks frequently. You can help your child sort through loose items and discard unneeded ones.
• Identify what is actually necessary, such as books, binders, and gym bags, and keep these things in order.
• Divide textbooks and notebooks by subject. If your child arranges books and binders by size in her backpack, everything will be easier to find.
• Understand what your child's day entails. Does he have too many activities? Does he have enough time for his schoolwork?
• When stocking up on school supplies, bring home options. For example, to keep her papers in order, would she work best with a binder or an accordion file? It's best to be realistic about what to expect from your child, especially if she's not used to being organized. Check in with him or her to see if the new system is working, and realize that the change may require time and patience.

Sandra Romero is glad she and Chris took the time to discuss his disorganization, because once they did there were immediate changes. Still, she knows that she'll have to stay on top of her son's progress. "When he realized that he wasn't alone in this and that I could help him, it became easier," she says. "Being disorganized is not the end of the world and it's not hard to tackle when you work together."