Hi everyone,
Whether your child is just starting in Secondary School, or is heading into an exam year, getting organised in terms of their school things and their time is not only important to making school life easier, but it’ll stand them well when they start working.
Getting organised is the most important thing a student can do to ensure better study and good use of time. Setting daily routines and study habits reduces procrastination and helps the student feel more in control of their work.
Here’s 5 organising tips for every Secondary school student:
1. Organise the Stationary:
It’s a good idea, to have all the supplies bought at the start of the year. Having everything together not only helps get homework and projects done more smoothly as the supplies are to hand. But, and more especially, having the supplies from the word go will help organise all the paper associated with school.
Folders
If you’re buying some Lever Arch folders, then get some folder dividers and plastic pockets at the same time. A word of caution with these however. If your child uses plastic pockets and folder dividers together, make sure to buy the extra-width dividers. The regular sized ones are the same width as the plastic pockets and so makes the divider defunct because you can no longer see the divider nor it’s tab. Unfortunately, this larger width divider can sometimes be hard to find but I really do recommend trying to find it if you can.
Stapler and Paperclips
Again another essential in the organisation of paper. Loose paper – and there’s a lot of loose paper with school – is a pain. Especially if it has no corresponding date or page number to it. So as soon as you have sheets of paper that belong together, either staple it or paper clip it.
Here’s a list of the most vital stationary supplies most houses usually need – whether you have children in education or not. Time to stock up!
- Pens & pencils
- Highlighters
- Erasers, pencil sharpeners and rulers
- Stapler & staples
- Labels
- Scissors
- Pritt stick
- Sello tape
- Plastic pockets
- Folders – Document or plastic wallets or Lever arch
- Folder dividers
2. Have ONE area for all school supplies:
While they might like to spread out and do their homework on the kitchen table instead of in their rooms, make sure that afterwards, when storing school items, that there is one home for all that paraphenalia. From books to folders, supplies to bags, choose one area as their school base. This might be in their room, or in a den or the hallway. Having one place to keep everything school related will keep the rest of the house tidy.
And if your teenager is going into an exam year, it’s important for them to have ONE place to do their homework and study. Set up a desk/ study area for them to work at. Make sure they’ve all the stationary supplies they’ll need, space to spread out and good lighting. Being surrounded by clutter is the number one reason students get distracted from their studies. Getting their space set up now will help them get into the study routine faster.
3. Assign a folder to each subject:
If you have a tendancy to put multiple subjects into one folder, I can almost gaurantee you’ll run out of space.
I strongly recommend giving a folder over to each of the main exam subjects. Having enough storage space is vital for good paper organisation and if you’re stuffing a lot into one folder, even a big Lever Arch one will quickly fill up.
Whether your teen opts for a lever arch folder or more a wallet shape, make sure the folder is large enough to hold a fair amount of paper. That way it might actually last a few years, saving you money and making staying organised much simpler.
4. Label everything:
Make sure every folder, divider, plastic pocket has a little label on the outside that says what’s inside.
Don’t label with a pencil, as it can smudge or wipe away. Use a black marker as this will keep the labels uniform and very clear to read.
5. Create a study timetable:
Just like the timetable they have in school, drawing one up for the homework and study that needs to be done at home, is a good idea. It gives structure to the evening after school and/or structure to any homework or study that might take up some of the weekend.
This will help get homework and study done and out of the way so that they can get on with what they really what to do!
Happy Organising!
