How do you organize for homework?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to a homework seminar last year, and the consultant (who was trying to drum up business, but still had a lot of great ideas....) recommended a scrapbooking caddy for homework supplies.

I got this one at Michaels and love it: http://www.etsy.com/listing/32796093/scrap-paper-scissor-mini-accessory?ref=cat2_gallery_1

There are others too: http://www.organizeit.com/po801374neatnix.asp?cmpid=bzRate
Several here: http://www.franticstamper.com/storage.htm

I use it to keep all the supplies my 4th grader needs handy. For her it was very distracting to have to stop and find a supple (scissors, tape, glue stick, etc.) when she needed it. Having everything she needed at her fingertips is great.

This thread is truly awesome. Homework avalanche assigned by one our kids' insane, old school, childless, cranky old bag teacher is ruining the 4th Grade experience for a lot of kids at our school. This will help us cope.

[Anonymous]

Maybe you should ask your children how they would like to organize their work.
I can see wanting an organization system for yourself for school papers you have to deal with. And wanting to make sure supplies are in a handy place for kids.
But beyond the actual homework itself, kids get the assignments in part to learn to organize and plan, don't they? If a parent does all that for them then how do they learn to, for example, set up their own organizational system?
And what works for one person might not work for another. Some people like boxes. Other people like files where you can see everything.
If it were me, I'd challenge the children to come up with their own system and support their efforts. You could say, "I am putting a mailbox here so I can keep all the papers I have to fill out for your school. Here is an inbox and here is where I will put the paper for you to take. Would you like to set up something similar for your homework?"
I feel like kids would be more likely to use an organizational system if they helped create it...
but I guess I am old-fashioned in that I think homework is basically between the kid and the teacher and the parents' role should be extremely limited.

[Anonymous]

I have a tall chest of narrow drawers in the dining room where my kids work. Top drawer has snacks. Next drawer has my binder with important papers, school directory, class lists and other things I as a parent need for school. Next 2 drawers have pencils, crayons, glue sticks, etc and paper. When they sit to do homework I sit and go through papers, fill out forms, update calendars, help them weed out materials, etc. That's my ""homework". I toss 95% of take-home things. If it's a project or something, I take a photo and toss the actual item.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe you should ask your children how they would like to organize their work.
I can see wanting an organization system for yourself for school papers you have to deal with. And wanting to make sure supplies are in a handy place for kids.
But beyond the actual homework itself, kids get the assignments in part to learn to organize and plan, don't they? If a parent does all that for them then how do they learn to, for example, set up their own organizational system?
And what works for one person might not work for another. Some people like boxes. Other people like files where you can see everything.
If it were me, I'd challenge the children to come up with their own system and support their efforts. You could say, "I am putting a mailbox here so I can keep all the papers I have to fill out for your school. Here is an inbox and here is where I will put the paper for you to take. Would you like to set up something similar for your homework?"
I feel like kids would be more likely to use an organizational system if they helped create it...
but I guess I am old-fashioned in that I think homework is basically between the kid and the teacher and the parents' role should be extremely limited.

How old are your children?

[Anonymous]

I am the poster who linked to the organizers. Why assume I didn't talk to her? I went to the seminar and I mentioned some of the ideas I heard about to her. She loved the idea of the organizer and we found one together that works for her and her stuff. She decided what to put where and how to arrange it. We tried a few different things before we found the one that really worked for her.

[Anonymous]

OP here - thank you everyone for some of these fantastic ideas to think about! This week my goal is to keep the paper away - say no to everything, fill out every permission slip immediately if the activity happens during school hours, recycle unneeded paper as soon as it comes in, put returnable papers back into the backpack as soon as they're done, and make those decisions about pictures, etc. on my own without waiting for (sorry) input from the peanut gallery .

I also bought a plastic expandable file folder yesterday and put my son's composition notebook, tracing packet, monthly homework assignment sheet, and reading log into it. It's still on the counter, but I've re-purposed an expandable napkin holder to contain it and the few worksheets I have for my pre-schooler (she's a special needs kid and while we don't have "homework" for her, we do have explicit tasks/activities to work on that her teacher will write down for us).

Next weekend I'll look into some sort of a caddy that will fit into a cabinet and will be good for holding supplies. I'll get my son to help me with that.

The best part is that all of this is mobile. We can scoop up the caddy (when we have it), and the expandable folder, and get to work wherever the mood strikes us. I'll keep checking back if anyone else is going to post ideas. THANK YOU again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:5:42 You mean studying in one place? The NYT just had an article about studies that found that it was better to move around!

5.42 here - - To clarify, Yes recommenation is that you should not study in the same place night after night. Move around to different areas in your home Yes, NYT refers to the studies and I've seen more on the studies in Europe. At one school, they did work around this and a 50% increase in scores. I've seen studies on this with adults too in their work.

I try to implement this with my kids, but my caution is that children often need routine. So the trick is giving the routine (timing of when to do homework and not distractions) with the creativity of other spaces.