35. No More Chutes & Ladders. Now It's Desks & Lockers

THE PROBLEM

The harsh reality is our school-aged children are away from us most of the day. When they were at home, their time was spent playing games, taking naps, reading for fun, and watching TV. But now that they are students, they've got responsibilities. They also have their own spaces outside the home that need to be at least somewhat organized and functional. And they've got to do it on their own! One of the problems I see is that desks in elementary schools are flat and small. In the older grades, lockers are tall and skinny, and students only have a few minutes between classes to grab what they need. So if your child has to tear his locker apart each time he changes classes, he's going to be late. As parents, we have to let go, but we can start our children off with some pointers on how to keep their desks and lockers organized enough to be functional.

THE STORY

Girls and boys certainly view their lockers differently. In my children's school district, the students' first experiences with having lockers occur in middle school. I asked a few students how their lockers were working out for them during that first semester of sixth grade. As expected, the tricky part seemed to be getting the lock open and figuring out when they could stop at their lockers to switch books. I also noticed that the girls took great pride in their lockers. “I put in a mirror, some pictures of Zac Efron, a whiteboard, and an extra hook for my lunch bag,” one girl described. “It's hard to fit everything in,” a boy responded. That same boy actually had to ask a teacher for help in extracting some bags from his locker after it had become so packed with books, gym bags, and sweatshirts that he couldn't pull anything out!

The best time to get a desk or locker organized is right at the beginning of the school year.

THE SOLUTION

The best time to get a desk or locker organized is right at the beginning of the school year. Here are a few questions and suggestions you can discuss with your child about how to maintain an organized desk and/or locker.

Questions to Ask Your Child During the First Week of School

• How big is your desk?
• What does your teacher expect you to keep in the desk?
• How big is your locker?
• How many sections does your locker have?
• What does your teacher expect you to keep in there?
• When can you go to your locker?
• How much time do you have to switch books between classes?
• When do you pass by your locker?

Answers to these questions will give you an idea of how your child has to organize his things while in school. If you have never been inside your child's school, you may want him to draw you a picture of the desk or locker so you really understand how much space he has to work with. Or find a day when you can go into school and actually see the locker or desk with your child.

Have a Plan for Locker Organizers

WHEN SETTING UP A LOCKER for the first time, let your child use the locker for a week in order to find out what he really needs to help him stay organized there. As with any organizing project, you don't want to make the mistake of buying the containers or accessories first and then trying to make them work in your space. Decide what you need first, then go shopping. Most home stores will have locker accessories on sale in August and September for back-to-school shopping. Here are a few Web sites that carry excellent locker accessories:

• www.organizeit.com has adjustable double shelves that you can place on the bottom of lockers to add extra shelves.

• www.stacksandstacks.com has hanging pockets made of fabric if your kids prefer that type of organizer.

• www.containerstore.com has magnetic mesh bins for small items if your child has a metal locker.

Suggestions to Give Your Child During the First Week of School

• Take your daily schedule of classes and arrange your books in that order.
• In your desk or locker, make sure the binding of your textbook is showing so you can easily read the subject.
• Keep folders, notebooks, and textbooks for each subject together.
• Clean out your desk and/or locker every Friday.

School Locker

Troubleshooting When Your Child Can't Find or Remember Items at School

Once you give your child suggestions on how to set up his locker and desk, you have to let it go. See how things are working for a while. If your student is keeping up with assignments and remembering what to bring to class and what to bring home, then you have no problem. However, if your child or your child's teacher gives you an indication that there is a problem with organization, you can offer some suggestions. Benjamin Franklin's adage “a place for everything and everything in its place” is a good rule of thumb. Help your child find a place for everything in his locker or desk.

Benjamin Franklin's adage “a place for everything and everything in its place” is a good rule of thumb. Help your child find a place for everything in his locker or desk.

Lockers. Here are some tweaks you can do to a standard locker to make it more accommodating:

• Put after-school gear in a drawstring bag to hang from a hook.
• For additional hooks, try strong magnetic hooks made for metal lockers.
• If books are falling from a high shelf, consider using the bottom of the locker. Use a store-bought “add-a-shelf” wire rack to add a level if necessary.
• Post the class schedule on the door to the locker.
• Hang a small whiteboard on the door for quick reminder notes.
• Lots of loose items causing clutter? Consolidate pens, pencils, and crayons in a box or pencil case. For girls, personal items can be placed in a cosmetic bag.
• Lunch getting squished? Put it on the highest shelf or hang it from a hook if the lunch bag has a handle.

Organizing a Desk

I KNOW A TEACHER who works with kindergarten-age children who have special learning needs. She has her students use a color-coded system to organize their desks. At the beginning of the year she tells her students what items will be kept in their desks. Each item is assigned a color, and the teacher gives each student colored stickers to put on their items. They place corresponding stickers inside the desk so the children can match up the colors to know what goes where. Desk styles vary by school, and this school uses desks that flip open from the top so the dots are easily seen. If some students are still confused, the teacher has each student place a stop sign that reads, “Stop! Where does this belong?” in the middle of the desk. This is a visual reminder for the children to keep up with the system. This is a very structured method and most children won't need this much direction, but it is a great solution for children who need structure and systems to follow.

Once your child's locker has all the necessities in place, you can allow him to put up any personal decorations that make the locker more “homey.”

Desks. Desks are usually the main storage spaces for elementary school children, so they can become overloaded or cluttered pretty easily. Here are some tips to share with your younger children on how to keep a neat and organized desk:

• Keep one pencil and eraser on top of the desk. All others belong in a pencil case or box inside the desk.
• Pile your books, folders, and notebooks in order of your classes inside the desk.
• If you cannot see all the way inside your desk, put accessories in the same spot every time so you can easily find them. For example, ruler on the left, crayons on the right.
• Never put loose papers in the desk. Always put them in a folder.

Ways Parents Can Check Up

If you have helped your child set up his locker and desk and you still believe there might be a problem, there are creative ways to sneak a peek at what's happening. If you are volunteering at school during the day, you can pop in your child's classroom when the kids are at lunch and the teacher is in the room. You can also do this during a parent–teacher meeting if the classrooms are open. If you do not often get to your child's school (which is typically when your kids are in middle or high school), offer to pick him up and meet at his locker. If he needs to bring in a huge project for school you can offer to take him in the morning. No need to be completely sneaky about the reason. In fact, you might offer before the holiday break to help your student clean out his locker or desk. Use these methods only if you have evidence that there is a problem — such as a note from a teacher or continually missing assignments. Don't check in just to be nosy or to make sure the children follow your level of organization. Remember, even if it looks messy to you, there is no problem if your child is able to find what he needs and bring the appropriate items to class.

School Desk

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Absolute of Organizing Your Family: If it isn't broken, don't fix it. In other words, focus on what's not working.

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Routines

Remember that routines not only bring comfort, they also lessen the chances that things will be forgotten. In elementary school the teachers are usually good at teaching the children routines for the school day. Ask your child about the routines he goes through when he first arrives at school and when he's getting ready to leave at the end of the school day. Because you know your child better than the teacher, you should know whether these classroom routines will work for him or not. If not, you can always make suggestions to improve the routine and make it custom fit for your child so he can succeed at school.

Only check up on your child's locker if you have evidence that there is a problem — such as a note from a teacher or continually missing assignments.

In addition to the classroom routines, you might also suggest to your child that he clean out his desk and locker every Friday while packing up to come home. By cleaning out any trash, tucking any loose papers in binders or folders, and bringing home any lunch items, extra coats, hats, and umbrellas on the weekend, your child can have a fresh start every Monday and have the clothing items and accessories he needs for the weekend. Remind your older children to mark this clean-out time in their schedules so they remember to do it.

If you, as a parent, have spaces that are overcrowded or cluttered at home (such as your desktop or kitchen counter), Friday is a good time for you to clean up those surfaces as well. Use my CPR method (see Chapters 20 and 25) to show your child a good example.

THREE STEPS TO ORGANIZED DESKS AND LOCKERS

1. Set up your school books in the order of your class schedule.
2. Decide on a place for everything and then stick to the system.
3. Clean out desks and lockers every Friday, so that parents will only have to step in if there is a problem with lost items or forgotten assignments.