Beyond Folders : childcare

The ABCs of Organizing for Students

Community Manager — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 09:17:00 GMT

This school year, teach your children the most valuable lesson they will ever learn: how to be organized. Long after state capitals and algebraic equations are forgotten, the ability to organize one's time and belongings will serve your student well.

Why Get Organized?

Being organized increases productivity, improves student achievement and reduces stress. Being organized also increases free time for leisure pursuits. Other benefits include:

A (relatively) neat desk, book bag and room
A workable system for tracking assignments and managing a weekly schedule
The ability to tackle big projects that require planning over time
Decreased stress; feeling in control, rather than overwhelmed
The ability to make healthy lifestyle choices such as time for exercise and a decent bedtime

Getting Started

Students aren't born organized, they need to be coached on the basics of organization just as they would any skill. Equip your student for organization with the right set of tools:

Three-Ring Binder: The linchpin of organization; ensure it can hold papers for a particular grading period.
Folders: Three-holed pocket folders corral paperwork. Encourage your child to think about what kind of paper comes home from school, label each folder accordingly.
Calendar or Day Planner: Provides a big-picture view of schedules and helps with time-management. Parents should let children manage their schedules, but can offer guidance. Demonstrate how you manage your own calendar.
A stack of 3×5 index cards: A cheap, portable means to create lists, notes and study guides. Index cards are perfect for test review.
Designated Study Zone: Designate a distraction-free place for work. Work in a quiet, low-traffic area and set boundaries for desk use: i.e. storing books on the desk is okay, while electronic games are not.

Make it a Habit

Good study habits are created with repetition. New habits take time to become routine; parents should monitor initial progress and then slowly, give a child room to manage on their own.

Parents can help by:

Going over the child's list of homework assignments
Asking your child to create a to-do list of priorities, then vetting the list
Building in time to proof and review work
For long-term projects, demonstrate how to break the work down into a series of steps. Have your child plot out a timeline for completion.
Encourage your student to check off each item on the to-do list

Effective Time-Management

Parents can help their students manage homework and sports schedules by teaching students about time-blocking: the process of designating specific blocks of time each day for tackling particular activities or tasks. Students should examine their daily schedule and homework to-do list and establish timelines for all tasks.

Other time-blocking tips include:

Keep it real: Set realistic time-blocks; allow time for snacks, transitions and breaks.
Interruption-free zone: Schedule blocks of uninterrupted time each day. Close the bedroom door; turn off the phone and keep younger siblings away. Students should tackle tasks that require deep concentration during this time-block.

Finally, remember that organization must be learned and practiced to become a habit. Parents can and should guide their students but should ultimately allow their students to take the lead.

Family, Filing and Fun

Community Manager — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 16:43:00 GMT

Filing doesn't usually rank high on the list of fun family activities but if you want to get your family on-board with family filing, we have a few strategies.

The Family That Files Together

To begin, educate your family members. Explain that the volume of paperwork coming into the house (bills, receipts, permission slips, class trip notifications, sports schedules, art work, etc.) is too much for one person to handle. If everyone pitches in, the job will go faster leaving free time for enjoyable family activities such as movies or game night.

Next, set up a basic system to triage paperwork that is easy enough for the whole family to follow. Consider using manila envelopes in the kitchen labeled with each family member's name for offloading documents. Or label the envelopes with categories such as to-do, to-sign, to-file, etc. and have everyone stash their paper in the corresponding file. For more on making the most of manila envelopes for organizing, read Creating a Home Paper Management System.

Keep family members involved by rotating tasks. Consider having an older child pitch in on the weekly or monthly filing. Having an older teen file bills and medical paperwork is a great way of teaching budgeting fundamentals. If one spouse typically handles the bill paying or filing, consider switching off every other month so the division of labor is fairer. This also allows both partners to be fully up to speed in the family's financials.

Incentivize you family for pitching in. The child who unloads all their school and sports papers into their correct manila folder for a week gets a special treat. Did a teen tackle a particularly onerous stack of filing or bring order to an unruly pile? Let them pick the next movie for a family outing.

Miscellaneous

Other family filing ideas include creating a customizable family notebook where paperwork is divided into categories (i.e. sports/religion/menus) when family members can always find schedules and important contact numbers. Store this in the kitchen. Families should also have a go-to file for emergencies in the event of a weather of health disaster. For tips, read Life Hacker's Organizing Family Papers for Emergencies.

How do you tackle family filing? Share your thoughts here and at the Pendaflex Facebook page.

by Bradley Eggers

The Working Parents’ Toolkit

Community Manager — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 12:56:00 GMT

Working parents pull double-duty, managing both paying work and labors of love. Pulling it all off requires patience, planning and frankly, luck. If you've ever had a child fall sick on the day of a major presentation, you know what I'm talking about. In the ounce-of-preparation-is-worth-a-pound-of-cure mode we've assembled some useful resources for working parents. Think of it as your toolkit for sanity.

Finding Child Care for Sick Kids: A Working Mom's Guide to Sick Kids: Daycare for sick kids? Yup, it exists; here's how to sleuth it out before Johnny has a fever.

Stress Management Tools for Parents: Take a deep breath and read on for stress-busting tips, everything from parental date-night to effective time management tools that help keep stress at bay.

Working Parents: A clearinghouse of information from leading web resource BabyCenter providing tips for working parents on topics ranging from childcare to managing mom-guilt.

25 Parent Productivity Tools for Busy Moms, Dads and Kids: Great productivity resources ranging from pet care to allowance trackers. Offers a productivity overhaul for virtually every aspect of family life.

Mom Puts Family on Her Meal Plan: Healthy, home-cooked dinners every weeknight? You heard me right. This helpful article takes you through the planning process for dishing up dinner after work.

Do you have any great tools that help balance the demands of work and parenting? Share your thoughts here and on the Beyond Folders Community's Facebook and Twitter pages.

by Carly Fadako