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| pixabay.com |
From the looks of my email inbox, 'tis the season for back-to-school sales. If you have official school supply lists to adhere to, style-specific shopping can be a challenge, but it's still possible to do some adapting so your kids can find tools that work for them. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
Have you ever watched a left-handed person try to take notes in a traditional spiral notebook? It's almost painful. The angle is wrong, the spiral's in the wrong place, and even the neatest handwriting approaches illegibility as fatigue and frustration take over.
That's how it feels to be a non-traditional organizer using traditional school supplies. While everyone around you slides papers neatly onto binder rings or into the pockets of folders, you just never manage to make things work as neatly and effortlessly.
So...why buy those supplies?
If you've got a kiddo (or two) at your house whose notebooks and folders look like they've been through a natural disaster somewhere between school and home, there are things you can do to help them adapt their supplies to their styles.
Ways to adapt a binder:
- Buy a portable three-hole punch to put in the front of the notebook.
- Load the binder with page protectors so unpunched papers make it into the notebook. Or, if that's not gonna happen with your cram and jammer or drop and run organizer, try folder pockets (hole-punched inserts that look like a pocket folder opened up and folded back) or a three-ring acetate envelope with a snap or Velcro fastener.
When I taught Organizing by STYLE
to an elementary school audience,
I found that clamp binders were a
huge hit with fifth grade boys.
Photo: staples.com - Add a clip to the front of the binder so the day's papers get clipped inside the cover and can be added to the right section of the notebook at home.
- Ditch the three-ring binder for one with a spring-loaded clamp. Kids who don't take the time to put stuff into the rings sometimes enjoy putting papers away when they have an excuse to play with the clamp.
- Replace the binder with an accordion folder. Choose one that's divided into sections, or one with just one wide, yawning opening, depending on your child's style.
What to use instead of a standard-issue, paper pocket folder:
- A file folder. Like pocket folders, these come in a variety of colors, and can be color-coded by subject. If the papers aren't going to go in the pockets anyway, why create an unnecessary battle?
- Transparent folders that allow kids to personalize them (photos show through the opening) or see what's inside. These also come in a variety of colors, with and without pockets.
- A folder that has top and side access and a tab closure at the top. Multi-colored (again). Never underestimate the value of being able to play with an organizational tool. The more fun it is to put something away, the more likely it is it'll get there.
- Clear acetate envelopes with string-tie and button closures. Sold at office supply stores, these often come in multi-packs that make them less expensive per item.
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| avery.com |
Not necessarily. Kids do need to learn how to organize themselves, but saying that they have to use tools that don't work for them doesn't accomplish that. Learning to organize ourselves means finding tools and methods that work for us and that let us put our hands on what we need when we need it without wasting precious time re-thinking someone else's filing system. Using the wrong (for them) methods and tools only convinces kids (and grown-ups) that organizing is something some people can do and others can't, a lesson they're likely to carry with them long after those pocket folders have landed in the trash can. Teaching kids to develop systems that work for them not only helps them learn how to get organized; it also teaches them problem-solving skills and reinforces the notion that creativity can be exercised in everyday situations.
And those are some formidable skills.
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