PARENT ORGANIZATION SKILLS (AKA

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PARENT ORGANIZATION SKILLS(AKA How Can I Help
With This Schoolwork?!?)

• Counselor Coffee
• November 11, 2009

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PARENT ORGANIZATION SKILLS

• Background Information
• Current Efforts at SAS
• Strategies to Use at Home

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PARENT ORGANIZATION SKILLS

• Brain Development
• Adolescence is a time of extensive brain
  development
• pruning, rewiring, reorganizing
• Periods of forgetfulness and even confusion
• what happened to my child?
• Be patient and supportive

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PARENT ORGANIZATION SKILLS

• Cultural Influences and Somatic Factors
• Different cultural views on homework and
  academics
• Different lives in different cultures
• Students may be facing diagnosed and disclosed
  learning challenges
• Students may be trying to cope with undisclosed
  learning challenges

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PARENT ORGANIZATION SKILLS

• Time Demands and School Structure
• Kids today are FAR busier than previous
  generations
• Many time savers can actually turn into time
  wasters
• Healthy amount of sleep vs- overtired
• Sleep patterns and school start time
• Daily commuting time to and from school

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PARENT ORGANIZATION SKILLS

• Modeling
• Kids learn life skills through modeling
• monkey see, monkey do.
• and most of all they see YOU
• Unorganized parents often lead to unorganized
  kids
• Global approach to organizing life and daily
  tasks (resource links)

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PARENT ORGANIZATION SKILLS

• Why Teach Organization Skills?
• Organization skills are important to academic
  success (67 of teachers responded crucial in a
  study by Kerr and Zigmond)
• Disorganization affects a students academics and
  self-concept and may lead to other issues
• Post-secondary life requires good organization
  skills in college, careers, and family life

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PARENT ORGANIZATION SKILLS

• Principles of Teaching Organization Skills
• 1 Two categories organizing supplies
  (physical) and organizing behaviors (mental)
• 2 Dont assume your kids know how organize
• 3 Constant and consistent assessment is needed
  to reinforce organization skills
• 4 Consistent expectations more success
• 5 Organization takes time to do well

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PARENT ORGANIZATION SKILLS

• 6 Children need positive support and
  reinforcement
• 7 Patience, Patience, Patience
• 8 The ultimate goals are improved school
  success and self-esteem
• 9 School-home collaboration is key
• 10 Practice what you preach

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PARENT ORGANIZATION SKILLS

• Things to Keep in Mind
• Intelligence and organization skills are not
  (necessarily) correlated
• Disorganization need not be pervasive to be a
  problem
• Change is not going to happen overnight and
  improvement may not be smooth be patient and
  supportive of the process of changing negative
  behaviors into positive ones

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So Whats Happening At SAS?
Or this?
This?
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Organization Skills at SAS

• Advisor is one of a students teachers
• Grade 6 travels as a pod
• Organization and Study Skills are encouraged as
  part of the Advisory program
• Locker checks and clean ups
• Binder checks and Formative Assessments
• I-cal, homework and assignments posted
• Use of Agenda

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Organization Skills at SAS

• Targeted Interventions
• Gr. 6 Organization and Study Skills lessons
• HOT attendance
• Agenda checked by teachers
• Flex class placement
• HOT with Ms. Winpenny for Organization and Study
  Skills (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday)
• Organization Skills Boot Camp HOT

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• Building
• Parent
• Organization
• Skills

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Building Parent Skill Sets

• Be a good role model (monkey see.)
• Family calendar for organizing important dates
  and functions write on it and encourage your
  kids to do so too
• Familiarize yourself with the agenda and monitor
  its use - coordinate with the family calendar to
  model planning for major events
• Use the teacher blogs

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Building Parent Skill Sets

• Develop a weekly nightly schedule with your
  children block out dinner time and bedtime in
  advance (homework is more than whats due
  tomorrow)
• Have a quiet and public place for homework to be
  done (dining room table)
• Prepare school supplies in advance (and a snack!)
• Turn off TVs, cell phones, IM, etc (radio)

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Building Parent Skill Sets

• Timed work sessions (monitor completion)
• Check off items in agenda as they are completed
• Model homework behavior
• Establish a routine for arrival at home (book
  bag?)
• Pack and check before bedtime
• Homework is not done until area is clean

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Building Parent Skill Sets

• Avoid last-minute mornings
• Assign and monitor household chores
• Completion of chores and homework earns TV or
  computer game time
• Talk to your child
• Talk to your friends
• Talk to your childs teachers
• Talk to your childs counselor

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Parent Organization Skills

• Resources
• Child Development Institute Tips for Helping
  Kids and Teens
• http//www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/learning/study
  tips.shtml
• The Time Manager How to Organize Articles
• http//www.ineedmoretime.com/articles.htm
• Zen Habits Top 20 Parent Hacks
• http//zenhabits.net/2008/02/top-20-parent-hacks-t
  ips-for-organization-kid-optimization-and-happines
  s/
• How To Study.com
• http//www.how-to-study.com/
• American School Counselor Association
  Organizational Skills Boot Camp
• http//www.schoolcounselor.org/