October Parent Seminar:Organization
Last week, The Co-Creative Center held a free Parent Seminar on the executive functioning skill, organization. We discussed what organization means, how it impacts teens, and s few tips on how parents can support their teen with this skill.
Organization is how you keep track of your stuff. For teens, this can mean how you keep track of your materials for school (such as binders, papers, books, notebooks, locker, etc), your things for extracurricular activities (uniforms, equipment, papers, etc), and your room (where you put your things in your room). Lack of organization can lead to additional stress on the teen, parents, and teachers. Not knowing where you put a paper or assignment may mean spending more time looking for it, turning it in late, or not even turning it in at all.
During our parent seminar, we discussed three ways parents can support their teen’s organizational development. Although there’s no “easy answer”, as parents you can:
Pick one straight forward, easy, and regular thing to target for organization. This can be a simple binder check in the afternoons, putting away laundry correctly, or homework routine. Don’t try to do it all at once - just pick one thing to focus on.
Facilitate as needed: Once you pick the thing you’re going to work on, teach your teen and support them as needed without doing it for them. This might mean reminding them, walking them through the routine, or showing them how to do it. Then fade your facilitation as they become more independent with it!
Practice, practice, practice: Practice makes progress and it also makes muscle memory!
Good luck! You can do it!
