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Organizing the Disorganized Child

August 24th, 2009 by Julie

Getting your kids ready to go back to school? Here are some tips from Marcella Moran, co-author of Organizing the Disorganized Child, for back to school shopping:

10 Tips to Survive Back to School Shopping: organizing-pb-c2-199x300

  1. Bring the kids along to shop for the supplies.  I know that it’s easier to go out and buy the supplies alone but if you let your child pick out the items she likes, she is likely to feel more empowered and excited about going back to school.
  2. Eat before you shop! Shopping and hungry agitated kids don’t mix.
  3. Look for bargains but buy quality.  Everyone wants to save money, but sometimes cheaper means nothing more than replacing the items in a few months.
  4. Look through last years supplies to see what you can salvage.
  5. If your school didn’t give you a list of needed supplies, create a list of supplies your child will need for school and bring it with you to the store.
  6. To avoid the crowds, shop during the week at dinner time.  I love the stores between 5:00 and 7:00.
  7. Heavier plastic binders with rubber reinforced edges are great buys and will last the entire school year.
  8. Thicker plastic 3 hole pocket folders are durable enough to last much longer than the cute, cardstock folder with the latest Disney character on the cover.
  9. When looking at backpacks, make sure your child tries the bag on.  The shoulder straps should be thick and padded.  Avoid backpack with lots of pockets.  Many pockets lead to many lost items.
  10. There’s always the option to shop on-line! Most stores are offering free shipping when you spend $50 or more.

Marcella_Moran_lg Marcella Moran MA, LMHC (Licensed Mental Health Counselor) is an educational consultant and licensed psychotherapist who specializes in ADHD. She works with her clients to develop personalized organizational systems that are based on her ability to assess a personal learning style. Moran’s clients have ranged in age from six years old to 60 years old, all working to reach their true organizing potential at school, work, and home.

 

Organizing the Disorganized Child: Simple Strategies to Succeed in School, the essential guide for parents and educators to help children get organized, goes on-sale tomorrow August 25, 2009!

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Get Organized

July 30th, 2009 by Julie

organizing-pb-c2-199x300 It’s almost August, summer is beginning to wind down, and it’s hard to believe another school year is almost upon us! Marcella Moran, co-author of the upcoming Organizing the Disorganized Child, gives us a jump start with tips on how to organize your child for the new year: 

  • Buy a backpack with thick cushioned shoulder straps and not many pockets.Lots of pockets make for LOTS of lost items. I happen to like the AirPack backpacks for Coreproducts.com. These bags have an inflatable pouch for added lumbar support.
  • Buy thick plastic binders that have rubber reinforced edges. They come in a variety of colors and sizes. These can be found at Staples.
  • Durable plastic 3 hole punch folders are great for lasting the entire school year.  Forget about the decorative, cardstock, 2 pocket folder that always seems to be in shreds by January. Buy stickers and decorate the plastic folder.
  • If your child needs to be a Trapper Binder, only buy the one that has one zipper and opens like a binder. The more complicated trappers with multiple sections are too confusing for many kids. Papers will get lost.
  • If your child has a difficult time getting up in the morning (there’s one in every family), try starting the waking process earlier. Your child may need more time to adjust from a sleep stage to a waking stage. To get her in the habit of getting up earlier before school begins, start the new schedule about a week prior to school starting. Sorry moms, I know how much you value your sleep!
  • For children in middle school and high school, purchase a small file box so they can keep all important school papers in it, such as tests, quizzes, labs, homework, etc. Come mid terms and final exams, these papers will serve as great study resources.
  • Talk about returning to school with your child. How is he feeling about going back to school? What are his expectations for the year? What would he have changed about last year’s school experience? If he is having any anxiety about returning, try to encourage your child to discuss his feelings about it.
  • Post-it Calendars are fabulous tools for time management and “chunking” tasks/assignments. What I love most about the post-its is that when a child is finished with a task, they remove the post-it that listed the task, and throw it away. This works well for the tactile child!
  • Colored flash cards are useful for memorization of vocabulary words, especially in foreign languages. Use pink cards for the feminine words and the blue cards for the masculine words.
  • A must buy – Organizing the Disorganized Child, to be used as a reference throughout the school year.
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