Kids Organizational Skills

 

What is organization?

 

Organization involves the ability to establish what is it that you want to do, to know where to begin the task, to understand the sequence in which to carry it out (including pulling together the necessary materials), to problem-solve in the event of a challenge, and the ability to persist with the task to completion (and within an appropriate time frame).

 

 

Organization skills include:

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• Self-care skills (getting dressed, eating, grooming)

• Planning and sequencing skills ( following routines and knowing how and what to do next)

• Academic task performance (e.g. completing homework, project planning)

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Why is organization important?

 

Organization is an important aspect in play, language, social interaction, personal management (e.g. self-care tasks or bringing home all their belongings from school), and academic task performance (e.g. homework, project planning and performance).

Organization is typically a skill that needs to be specifically modeled and supported by sensible structures (such as diaries or visual charts, labelled storage containers) and reinforced by realistic routines (pack away one toy/task before commencing another).

Organization is important to develop a structured and consistent approach to tasks at all times, but is even more important for those with poor planning and sequencing, language challenges, attention difficulties and learning difficulties.

 

 

If a child is having difficulties with organization you may notice:

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• Your child is generally ‘disorganized’ (lacks awareness of time frames, the materials needed for a task).

• Struggles to get themselves ready on time.

• Has difficulty packing their school bag

• Has difficulty collecting the materials needed for play activities.

• Has difficulty putting multi-step tasks together (e.g. construction).

• Appears lazy and not completing work (when in fact they may not know how to start the task).

• Gets distracted easily or shows poor attention to the task.

• Has difficulty getting thoughts down on paper.

• Has difficulty using language in an ordered and logical way to give instructions, tell a story, to
  re-count an event or express ideas and thoughts.

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