Organizational Skills

Each year during conference time, parents often ask how they can help their child develop organizational skills. Not all gifted students struggle with organization, but many do. Are you all too familiar with your son or daughter’s organizational struggles at home? It may take some time and patience to unravel the problem and address it. The best way to find workable ideas on organization is by comparison. Here are some ideas to try:

• Sit down with your child and scan some of the study guides and strategies listed in the following resources to see if he or she thinks any are worthy of a try.
• Then set up an informal "scientific study" where your child selects one to implement for a few days (or a week, if older). 
• Keep a chart to rate the different options based on the success, ease of putting into effect, satisfaction, general enjoyment (or whatever other variables the two of you might dream up).
• This could also be a good opportunity for you to simultaneously try a few new strategies and also keep a public record of your ratings. Just think of the interesting discussions that could emerge.

Your child will find that there are many solution strategies. In fact, the more ideas and strategies one has in their organization "toolbox," the more successful he or she will be in handling different types of challenges. The underlying concept behind this type of real-world experimentation is the use of a child's natural curiosity to encourage self-motivation. Children who learn by searching for answers and ultimately deciding on a workable solution will be more likely to keep trying when faced with a new challenge.  If you find success using any of these strategies or have an “aha!” moment, I’d love to hear about it!

More Information

• Family Education has some ideas on Time Management for Gifted Kids as well as some suggested reading on Time and Perfectionism.
  
• Davidson Gifted has a large list of ideas that parents can do to help their children get organized. This is written with Twice Exceptional (2e) children in mind that work well for any student.
  
• Prufrock Press shared their ideas for Organizational Skills and Gifted Students.
  
• The University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota has an extensive list of study guides.
  
• Virginia Tech has a website designed for older students (but modifiable for younger children), where you'll find lots of ideas to try, including a self-quiz on "Where does time go?". 
  
• The Rhode Island Advisory Committee on Gifted and Talented Education has compiled a list of interesting Web sites that include a number of homework helpers.