Report card - organizational skills

[Anonymous]

My dd is in first grade, and while her academic grades were ok in the regular subjects like reading, math, geography, etc., her grades in organizational skills were not good. Her scores in organizing her work, staying on task, staying focused in class, were all below average. Where should I start to help her with these skills? Should I meet with the guidance counselor? Or is there a Kumon class to help with these skills? I was a bit floored because I had met with the teacher, and she said my daughter sometimes would draw or write in her journal instead of completing her work in class, but she didn't tell me it was to this extent until I got her grades. I guess a follow up discussion with the teacher would help as well.

[Anonymous]

Kumon will be a waste of money for this (and in general).

Start here:

http://www.ldonline.org/article/108/

here's another good article with suggestions for the classroom:

http://www.ldonline.org/article/29043/

[Anonymous]

Yes, I'd follow up with the teacher. It sounds like maybe even after the teacher spoke with you, your daughter's behavior/skills did not improve, and so her grades reflect this. Ask the teacher if she can think of anything in the class that might be distracting your daughter (sitting by the door or window, other kids) and also if there's any pattern to the behavior (difficulty refocusing after recess, if mid-morning maybe she's hungry) or may it just mean she's bored in class? Depending on the cause or causes, the teacher should be able to offer some suggestions. A few times our kid got report cards indicating "with limited prompting" under the "exercises self control" and "task completion" categories and it took a little while to figure out the causes. Ask your daughter targeted questions to help determine any causes and also let her know why it's important that X behaviors improve and then make sure she has the tools to do so. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I'd follow up with the teacher. It sounds like maybe even after the teacher spoke with you, your daughter's behavior/skills did not improve, and so her grades reflect this. Ask the teacher if she can think of anything in the class that might be distracting your daughter (sitting by the door or window, other kids) and also if there's any pattern to the behavior (difficulty refocusing after recess, if mid-morning maybe she's hungry) or may it just mean she's bored in class? Depending on the cause or causes, the teacher should be able to offer some suggestions. A few times our kid got report cards indicating "with limited prompting" under the "exercises self control" and "task completion" categories and it took a little while to figure out the causes. Ask your daughter targeted questions to help determine any causes and also let her know why it's important that X behaviors improve and then make sure she has the tools to do so. Good luck!

Ok this is good advice. I met with the teacher only about 1 week before report cards, and the teacher said that my dd liked to color or write in her journal instead of doing her work, so the teacher took that away, and will only return it when my dd's work is done. Then the teacher seemed to think that if my dd did not understand the directions, she would just sit there confused and not ask for guidance, so I will work with my dd on that. I guess I will follow back up with the teacher and also have conversations with my dd to try to ferret out what is happening.

[Anonymous]

Why would you farm out how to be organized instead of teaching her yourself? It's such a simple, basic thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why would you farm out how to be organized instead of teaching her yourself? It's such a simple, basic thing.

I am not trying to farm this out, I am asking for advice and guidance. Could you provide some please? All of the articles I have found so far talk about organizational skills in relation to homework. I am asking about help for her performance in the classroom. Sorry, she is my first child in school, and I don't know where to start.

[Anonymous]

Here are more classroom strategies to help kids stay on task--these things work for pretty much all kids, they don't have to have ADHD:

http://www.ldonline.org/article/19975/

http://www.ldonline.org/article/13701/

[Anonymous]

NP here, thanks for linking the articles. I have a 3rd grader with similar issues.

[Anonymous]

First, every teacher grades differently, as you will learn over the years. This teacher might be particularly "picky" about these issues. Or maybe not--maybe your daughter is challenged in these areas--but I wouldn't assume that is certain.

Second, this is the first quarter. Teachers typically will grade for growth over the year. So look for growth in your daughter's abilities over the year, and ideally the report card will reflect this growth, too.

Third, she is in 1st grade--still pretty immature.

I would do what you are doing (stay on top of it) but I wouldn't stress too much about it. My guess is you will see progress this year.

[Anonymous]

Not, OP, but mom of first grader with executive function challenges. Many thanks to those who posted links!