How many times have you scrounged around the house for a ruler so your child can finish his math homework? Or worse, how many times has your child announced—at 9 p.m.—that he needs posterboard—which you don’t have—for an assignment due tomorrow—which was assigned two weeks ago?

by Dawn E. Franzen, M.Ed.

The school year is well under way, but your student is still disorganized! If this sounds familiar, the following tips will help you set up a well-stocked, organized study environment for your child’s needs (and hopefully, avoid those frantic, late-night trips to Wal-Mart).

There are three basic rules for setting up a study environment your child will actually use. You need 1) a designated place to study; 2) supplies used only for school-related activities; 3) easy access to the study center and supplies.

A place to study

 Your child must know that there is a specific place where she will go every day to study and do homework. The ideal environment should be quiet and free from distractions.

If his bedroom is not an option, think about using the dining room or setting up a desk or table in the living room. Unless the basement is finished and has good lighting, try to make that last on your list of study places. Basements tend to be dark and dreary. Plus, your child will have to walk up the stairs if he needs help, which means your child will not walk up the stairs if he needs help.

No matter what your child tells you, she does not study better with the TV on! But some children do need some kind of background noise in order to study better. Quiet music (without lyrics and commercial interruptions) works well.

Go with your child to a store that has a music center that allows you to press a button and listen to an excerpt of some quiet, soothing music on CD (Target and Wal-Mart have such centers). Then let her pick out the one she likes best.

Another option for background noise is a simple desk-top fan. And believe it or not, having your child chew gum while she studies works, too!

The desk

I found a great student desk at a yard sale and presented it to our son the day he started kindergarten. It was wonderful—as a dumping ground for toys and clothes. I realized that Sam wanted to be close to me when he did his work, which was in the kitchen as I made dinner. So the kitchen table was his “desk” through third grade. I even put his real desk in storage during those years so I wouldn’t have to dust it.

But the summer before fourth grade, Sam wanted his desk back. He had become more independent, he had more homework and he needed a place to call his own.

All children are different; but by third or fourth grade, they need a desk. Check yard sales, discount stores and weekly sales ads from office supply stores for good deals.

Another option is a sturdy folding table. You can get them at reasonable prices in four- to eight-foot lengths at office supply stores. If you use a table, you will need something to take the place of desk drawers. At the discount store, purchase one or two stackable plastic units with drawers that will fit under the table. These units also come with casters so they can be rolled out.

Whatever you use as a desk, beware of one thing: size! School textbooks today are much bigger than I remember! By the time Sam wanted his student desk back, there wasn’t enough room for him to open his book and write in his notebook. The desk he has now is 45” long by 27” deep. That seems to work well (for now!).

High school-aged students will begin to need a filing system. They should hold on to their term papers and tests and will need a place for SAT/ACT information and college applications You can buy a portable plastic file box with a carrying handle that will hold hanging files.

Supplies

When setting up your child’s study center, keep this fact in mind: If they have to go get it, they won’t. That means you have to have everything in one place and label or color-code it so everyone knows it belongs in the study center (or your child’s room).

First, make a copy of each child’s school supply list and put it in a safe place (more on that later).

When you go shopping for school supplies, buy two of everything on the list. That way, you at least have at home everything the teacher wants at school.

If you have several children you can get by with just one of some things. But each child should have her own scissors, eraser, crayons, thick and thin markers, glue stick and ruler. If you have older kids, they should each have their own compass and protractor. If you have both older and younger kids, have plenty of loose-leaf paper in wide and college rule. Label everything with each child’s name.

During winter break, assume your kids are running low on supplies, especially glue sticks, paper, pencils and markers. Get the copies of the school supply lists you made in August from that safe place and go over them with each child.

Don’t ask this way, “Do you need____?” (They always say “no.”) Instead ask, “How many glue sticks do you have left?” “Which color markers are dried out?” That will give you a better idea of what you need to buy.

Now you need to organize your supplies in the study center. Four years ago I covered soup and vegetable cans with Contact paper for my son’s pencils, thin markers, fat markers, colored pencils, pens, ruler and scissors, and put them at the back of his desk so he could grab what he needed. He still uses them (and keeps them organized). This is a great project for your kids to do together. It also gives them “ownership” of their new study center.

Whatever you use to hold supplies, don’t use anything opaque or with a lid! Supplies need to be visible, easily accessible and within arm’s reach.

Other storage options, especially for refills, are over-the-door shoe hangers for small supplies and closet sweater storage hangers for paper—lined, drawing, construction, etc.

The study center will need a bulletin board, preferably hung on the wall above the desk at your child’s eye-level. This is a good place to hang a monthly calendar with spaces large enough to write due dates for tests and projects. Even if your child has an assignment book, seeing those due dates getting closer every time she sits down to study is a good motivator.

The bulletin board is also a good place for a cursive chart, grammar rules, and math formulas. The more often children see them, the better they’ll commit them to memory.

A world map and map of the U.S. are also important. You can purchase them at school supply stores. Also check discount and craft stores. Your children probably will need to memorize the states and their capitals at some point, as well as the seven continents and regions of the world.

A dry-erase board and markers allow your kids to write reminders to themselves, and for you to write notes to them. The board can be as small as a five-by-seven-inch that hangs on a bedroom door or a three-by-four-foot that hangs on a wall. If it is magnetic, is also can serve as a bulletin board (bring a magnet to the store so you can check before you buy).

A resource library is essential. First on the list is a dictionary. You will need a dictionary that is appropriate for your child’s age-level: a picture dictionary for kindergartners, an elementary dictionary for first through third or fourth graders, an intermediate dictionary for fifth through eighth graders, and a regular or collegiate dictionary for high school.

Other necessary resource books include a thesaurus, foreign language dictionary, Guinness Book of World Records, The Farmer’s Almanac and a U.S. Atlas.

Remember my rule about kids: “If they have to go get it, they won’t.” With that in mind, you will also need a pencil sharpener (electric is best), a stapler (our son uses a two-and-a-half-inch size that works great), staples, masking tape, a yardstick, a measuring tape, white-out, high-lighter markers, and a tape dispenser (it’s weighted and has less of a chance ‘walking away’). Refills are cheaper to buy in bulk, too.

Be ready for those school projects by having on hand construction paper, tacky glue, a low-temperature glue gun and glue sticks, graph paper, report covers, index cards (three-by-five and four-by-six), poster board, permanent markers, and a couple of science project display boards.

Finally, if you’re tired of dumping your cereal into a zip-bag because your child needs the box, or of putting all of your eggs in a bowl because she needs the carton, think about saving a couple of the following: the aforementioned cereal box and egg cartons, soup and vegetable cans, toilet paper and paper towel tubes, two-liter bottles, Pringles cans, a variety of magazines (nature, fashion, National Geographic), catalogs, the Sunday newspaper comics section, and a telephone book. Put it all in a box, label it, and store it in a far corner of the basement. You’ll be glad you did.

The computer

Some families have a computer for every member of the household. Others have only one to share.

I have always had the One Computer Philosophy: Put it where you can see what internet sites your kids are on, use the parental controls to block inappropriate pop-ups and websites, and keep the door to the computer room open.

But as our son enters seventh grade this year, my husband and I are going to buy him a lap top computer. My philosophy has changed because Sam’s needs have changed. He does a lot more computer work at school, and I am doing a lot more computer work at home.

If you have several children and they start fighting over computer time for schoolwork, you may need another computer or lap tops for the older kids. Just be sure you set rules for internet use and keep an eye (or two) on them.

My son’s teacher recommended that students bring a flash drive to school. For the uninitiated, this is a small unit that contains computer storage space. Students can plug it into the computer at school and save their work on it; then plug it into their home computer, open up their saved files, and continue to work at home. Check with your school to see if they allow students to bring flash drives. Also check with your school’s tech person to make sure you buy one that is compatible with your home computer.

Hopefully, this will help as you create a special place in which your child can study and learn. But remember: all children are not the same. You may have to tweak things here and there. But the end goal is the same: an environment in which your child will enjoy studying

Have homework, will travel

Ideally, your child comes home every day to the same place and you have the luxury of setting up a full-service study center. However, kids of divorced families may visit parents during the week or stay overnight at a relative’s house while you work. Others are in after-school programs or spend a lot of time in the car after school as you shuffle back and forth between piano lessons and soccer games. Here are some suggestions for those situations.

• All-nighters: Give a copy of your child’s school supply list (and this article!) to the adult in charge and ask him or her to have the supplies on hand. Alternatively, use one of your child’s old backpacks and fill it with supplies. Have her keep the backpack at the other house so she always has it available. Don’t forget to refill supplies as needed.

Ask the adult in charge if there is a place where your child can study when she is there. Having a special space, especially at a house other than her own, will help improve his study habits.

• Extracurriculars: If your child is in an after-school program, be it one day or every day of the school week, you can help him do his homework more effectively during that time. Pack an extra set of school supplies, including a six-inch ruler with metric markings, a dictionary and a small pencil sharpener in a sturdy zip-bag. Have him keep it in his backpack.

Most after-school programs have some school supplies on hand. But if your child has his own “study kit,” he won’t need to share or wait for someone else to finish using something he needs.

• The away game: If you spend a lot of time after school going places with kids in tow, pack a similar zip-bag of supplies for each child. Keep a small plastic storage box in the car with additional items: a thesaurus, lined paper, plain paper, markers, index cards and sticky notes.

 

Dawn Franzen, M.A.Ed, has taught in schools and for special programs, such as the Gifted Resource Council of St. Louis, Mo. She contributed many articles to St. Louis Parent newspaper. This is one of her most popular.