Also, see our Organization/Study skills and Summer Regression

STAR Newsletters attached to the STAR's home page!

Please check out a wonderful strategy called the "SMART chart" under the folder called RESOURCES.

The "SMART chart" is a tool that helps students complete tasks with more than one step.

We should always "begin with the end in mind", of have a visual of where we are headed (in the red box). 

The next step is to come up with a list of materials and strategies (in the yellow box). 

The next step is to outline steps of the project/task (in the green box).  This can be tied to time, days, or can be completed in one setting. 

10 Helpful Homework Habits:

(See STAR Newsletter- Organization/Study Skills Edition, April 2015 for further details)

1)      Set a regular study time and routine

2)      Know the teacher’s weekly homework schedule

3)      Plan ahead for nights out of the house

4)      Make a comfortable study spot

5)      Take quick breaks during difficult or longer assignments

6)      Don’t argue with your kids about homework or do it for them

7)      Have a homework return folder

8)      Homework immediately goes into the backpack

9)      Have one spot to place all school stuff

10)    Read on days that there is no homework

Tips to help Organize Long-Term Projects

(Grades 2 – 4)

Organizing a schedule to complete projects can be daunting. We can organize a task by using a timeline or we can use a system to organize our thoughts and materials.  To accomplish this, at school we often use a system called a “smart chart”.  Here are some great tips to organize and complete tasks using a “smart chart”.  *See the resource folder for a blank smart chart and completed smart chart!

• Remember to always “begin with the end in mind”.  Your child should be able to show you what is expected as the outcome.  This insures that he/she has a good idea of what is expected. This might be referred to as the “done”, or redphase of a “smart chart” (often used in school)

• Your child should have a clear visual image of what the end product will look like.  Help

              your child figure it out if they don’t.  This might mean:

• Get samples of completed items for them to see

• Draw out a sample

• Get a photograph of an end product for your child to see

• Be sure you both know the due date.  (What is the firm deadline of when it must be completed/brought into school? There should be no “wiggle room” in this deadline- this will help your child organize future projects and timelines more efficiently.)

• Help your child come up with a list of necessary supplies needed to complete the project.  This can be referred to as the“get ready”, or yellow, piece of the “smart chart”.  List and gather all the materials you will need to work on the project.

• Now break the task, or project into specific steps, the “do”, or green portion, of the “smart chart”.  You can use steps tied to time, or pieces of the task, or step-by-step directions to be completed.  Use a clock to help define this for short term projects.    

• For longer term projects, use sticky notes on a large calendar so you and your child can plan what can be completed on particular days.  Be sure to add in outside activities that are taking up time on those days as well.  This will help your child plan and see how much he can get done on any given day.  It will also help him/her to see if they are “piling up” too many activities on a given day.  Take the sticky notes off the calendar as tasks are completed.  J  This is motivating!  Long-term projects can be managed more readily using this approach. 

• If your child is having difficulty managing time, be sure to use an analog clock so they see the sweep of time.  Use dry erase marker to mark out time deadlines.  Use notes and deadlines on calendars for long-term projects.  Discuss “time robbers” if your child does not show appropriate use of time.  Help work with them to figure out what is “stealing their time” when working.  Try to help them keep the “time robbers” away.  This might mean a change of room, a snack before homework, breaks built in, or prompts to the time/clock. 

  Project Organizational Tips by Leslie Paterson, Behavior Support Coordinator

Backpack Organization

(Grades K - 4)

Having trouble with helping your child organize his or her backpack? Here are some quick tips that will make backpack organization easier.

1. Start with an empty backpack (it doesn’t have to be new, just empty it- shake the crumbs out to start fresh!)

2. Depending on the age of your child, you need to take some responsibility for helping with organizing, and routinely reorganizing.  (The younger your child is, the more often you will have to help him/her reorganize.)  Most 8 year-olds, up to 10 years old will continue to need help with this.   

3. Leave the backpack in a specific spot every day, open wide and help build a routine to “empty it”.  Leave lunch box, books, and folders in the same place each day.  That will make it easy to find them.  This might be a hook, shelf, or cubby (whatever works for you – just be consistent!)

4. As soon as homework is complete, or papers are ready for return to school, immediately place them into the backpack for safe keeping.   

5. The main compartment will hold bigger items, such as binder, folders, and books.  You might also place a lunch box here.  Try to limit the “clutter” in this main compartment.

6. Use smaller compartments to hold pencils, and smaller items that will get lost in the bigger compartment.

7. Practice “filling” the backpack. 

8. Take a photo of what the inside of the backpack looks like when packed for school (unzip as far as possible and take a photo).  You can also make a list. 

      a) Use a luggage tag, baseball cardholder, laminate, or book tape over the photo to put onto the top loop of the backpack, using a hole punch and metal key ring or zip tie to attach. 

      b) Attach the photo to one side and the list to the other.  Place it in a visible spot on the zipper area of the backpack.  

Backpack Organization by Leslie Paterson, Behavior Support Coordinator