How to teach a first grader to keep order

In part, such situations are related to the fact that that part of the brain that is responsible for organization has not yet “matured”.Part of the reason is that it is difficult for a child to cope with the huge number of new cases and rules that have befallen him.

The task of a parent is to make the transition from preschool life to a new world of school less stressful.

Find and neutralize

You should start by playing obviously difficult situations to understand what skills your child lacks, how to organize the environment, to facilitate its main tasks.
For example, you know that your child is a leisurely dreamer who can easily play while you have to dress and go outside. Overcome this will help the most detailed schedule.

We need to understand why a stop occurs in one of these steps. For example, you found out that a child is too long dressed. Upon closer examination, it turns out that the reason is that things are not in their places, if you look closer, things are not put in their places, because they have no convenient or understandable places for the child.

It seems to have a wardrobe, shelves, but not adapted to the growth of the child. Hang up additional hooks, put boxes to which the child will reach - and the problem will be solved.

Implement order rules

The next most popular problem point - cleaning the room. If, before school, you more or less coped with this moment, then with the beginning of the school year, the debris in the drawers of the bedside tables, under the bed and on the shelves of the closet become critical.

The thing is that the child has more cases compared to the preschool period: in addition to school, there are homework, clubs and sections. There is less time for cleaning, and finding the right thing is more difficult.

• In the case of cleaning, the algorithm is surprisingly simple:
• Free the children's room from unnecessary things( they always exist!), Because it is impossible to organize chaos.
• Highlight the remaining things, a place that is understandable and convenient to the child.
• Fix the rules for maintaining order.

Let us dwell on the last paragraph, because the main thing in this approach is “maintenance”, and not restoring order.

Get rid of the child from the permanent general cleaning in the room( which even an adult can ruin the mood), introducing instead a micro-cleaning system. For example, they were going to have dinner - they put the toys in place, they were going to go for a walk - first, clean up the desk, etc.

By the way, the cause of discord is often the discrepancy between the concepts of “clean room” in a child and parents. To avoid disagreements, agree in advance exactly how the cleaned room should look: clean horizontal surfaces, things are in place, no deposits in the drawers and debris under the bed. A good way is to have time to photograph a perfectly cleaned room and use the photo as a sample.

Developing the skills of

Organization is not an innate quality, but a skill that can be acquired and enhanced. The main thing is not to think that the child will be able to develop this skill on his own. You create an environment, look, correct, and when the child is ready, give some area under his responsibility. In reverse order this does not work.

For example, many parents complain of a wild mess in school bags when broken pencils coexist with apple cores and notebooks for homework.

What can be done in this situation?

First, see how convenient the portfolio is: are there dividers, additional pockets, folders for notebooks. You can put a separate plastic cup, where the child can safely put the remains of a sandwich and not be afraid to dirty something. First graders often do not have time to eat and the problem of what to do with an open package is relevant for them.

The second point is to teach the child to immediately fold things neatly. For practicing the skill fit bag sports, for a walk, on the road. The more the child has the experience of consciously organizing his things, the easier it will be for him at school( and in life too)