| HomeschoolingResourceCenter.org Home | Search | About Us | Contact Us |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Neurodevelopment Teaching Tip of the Month September 2010 |
Organization. Does the thought of that word elicit cheers or groans from you? What about from your children? Your answers most likely result from your learning style.
What most people think of as organization is a tidy, neat system where every item in the household has a logical storage place and every activity follows a set routine. And that is the rub. Logic and routine are very specific traits that come naturally for only a few learning styles. Yet organization is a vital component of any successful endeavor. Here’s why. The Greek root word refers to an engine, implement, or instrument. It is what drives performance or life. An organ in your body is designed to fulfill a specific function in the body. An organism contains the basic elements of life. Organization is what makes our life run smoothly. It is a tool or implement for accomplishing a task. It is what makes the symphony of our life come together in an acceptable harmony. That harmony is the key to finding an organizational system that works for you and your children. Perhaps you have heard of the saying: marching to the beat of a different drummer. It comes from the writings of Henry David Thoreau. It aptly describes the fact that different personalities react to the rhythms of life differently. To take this one step further, different learning styles interpret the “logic beat” differently. What seems logical to one person may not make sense to another. That’s why you can read a book or an article on how to get organized, try it, and chalk up your failure to yet another desperate, unsuccessful attempt to organize your life. Whatever system you use, it must make sense to you. Most organizational approaches are designed by people who are concrete, sequential thinkers. They are people who focus on details and think in an orderly fashion – as in outlines, steps, and rules. Abstract, random thinkers, however, don’t think in terms of line-by-line sequences, steps, or routines. Ideas and images float through their thought processes in more of a “catch-of-the-day” pattern. What makes sense one day may not make sense the next! If that sounds like you or your children, don’t despair. Organization is not an unattainable goal. It will just take a bit more thought to hear your “logic beat.” 1. Think about the things that catch your eye or ear. What captures your attention? Jot those down. 2. Which areas tend to be the most trouble for you? Getting chores done? Following through on lesson plans? Letting things go so long that they pile up and become too big of a task? 3. Take what you wrote in step one and think about how you can use it to make the task in step two seem easier. Case in point. Perhaps your eye is drawn to color. Pictures stick in your head. Scheduling seems to be your biggest headache and your most frequent lapse. You’ve tried a variety of lesson plan books, but they have a nasty habit of getting buried under things and never filled in, let alone followed. Maybe you’ve even tried posting a chore chart or schedule on your refrigerator or bulletin board, only to have it lost in its blandness to the collage of other similarly posted items. What you need is a colorful, flexible way to keep information posted in front of your eyes. Here’s what worked for one homeschooling mom and consultant, Vicki Bentley. She found an 11x12-inch vinyl pocket chart (available at office supply stores). The particular model she found had five rows across and three vertical columns, and each pocket could hold a standard memo-cube-sized piece of paper. Each column was color-coded for a particular area of her life. As she thought of tasks that had to be done, she would jot them down on the appropriate card. When she completed the task, all she had to do was cross off the item on the card. Since the cards weren’t dated, there was no shuffling of tasks from day to day. When the card was full, she simply put a new one in the pocket. I recommended a similar system for a client. Since this mother was very visual, her eye would have dismissed a pocket filled with written notes only. So I had her find an icon to represent the major tasks she had trouble scheduling throughout the week. An icon is a small picture or symbol that reminds the person of the topic at hand. All icons related to household chores were posted on one colored card, homeschooling icons on another colored card, and so on. The specific details that went along with the task were written on the back of the card. She could then shuffle the cards around to fit the week ahead. The major problem for another client was organizing the children’s rooms. Every system she had designed herself hadn’t work. So I suggested she enlist each child in the process, having them decide the categories for each storage container and choosing the type of container system. Her son opted for stackable clear tubs while her daughter selected the colorful canvas bins inserted in an open shelving unit. The son’s bins were clearly labeled just in case it wasn’t obvious from the collection visible inside. Since the canvas bins had no place for a label, they posted a color-coded key on the side of the shelving unit. School-related items such as pens, stapler, index cards, ruler, and pocket-calculator went in the teal box. Hair-related items such as ribbons, barrettes, scrunchies, tie-backs, and headbands went in the yellow box. And so on. Now the mother’s only problem was to get the children to pick up their worn clothes and put them in the laundry hamper! For yet another client, our brainstorming session led her to get a three-tiered file holder to put on the wall next to her computer (the kind doctors use to hold the patient’s file outside an examination room). Each compartment corresponded to each of her three older children. When the children finished any assignments, the paperwork went in their tier. So did any flyers or notices from their varied activities. Each compartment also held a sheet protector that contained the student’s schedule on one side and the week’s assignment on the other. Since the mother’s primary sense is auditory, she learned to program her cell phone to alert her to her calendar and deadlines – with each area having a unique ring tone. The point here is to come up with an organizational system that makes sense to whoever is using it. Make it personal. And then write it down and stick it in the back of your own organizer – just in case your random thinker has forgotten how things go together! 1135 Words To view more 'Teaching Tips' Articles please 'Log In' and visit the 'Achives' page. |
