Organisation in year 7

[SendARavenToRiverRun]

DD has just started secondary. So far so good. We've bought most stationery but not graduated to folders/dividers etc.

I'm shopping at the weekend and could do with some advice on what to buy and how to organise it all.

No homework as yet and most will be online. She has a school planner.

How many folders? One for each subject? I'm thinking a homework box ( did this for primary). One box for supplies. One box for homework to be put in when it comes home. Any other ideas? It would be kept on the dining table/side as if it went to DDs desk it would never be seen again

I'm unreasonably stressed about this all. I feel I need to lead the way and set good habits. My parents never did which has always flummoxed me that they didn't seem that bothered if I did or didn't do homework/revise.
Any tips or ideas?
Many thanks

DS's last teacher gave me a good tip to colour code the timetable and then use the relevant colour for covering books etc. So as an example English is green all his books are covered in green paper (and then clear plastic I'm a fan of sticky back plastic) and he has a green folder/wallet for any homework etc. he has a folder for each subject.

In the Evening he packs his bag with the relevant folders and during the day he gets his books out of his school locker - because it's all colour coded he knows all green books go with him to English. DS has dsylexic dysgraphia so needs a bit of support with his organisation

Mine didn't get enough homework in year 7 to warrant a folder per subject. Most work was still done in exercise books at that stage. I kept a similar box system, expect mine wasn't just for homework, it was for anything school related that otherwise got dumped somewhere randomly!

Don't stress yet - let it run itself for a couple of weeks and once she has had all of her subjects 2 or 3 times it will become clearer as to what is needed.

I did find having some A3 coloured paper/card helpful, and I also bought a cheap guilotine for some of the endless "cutting and sticking" of worksheets.

It's up to your DD to organize her homework surely? The best system in the world won't work unless she buys into it. I'd chat to her about how she plans to organize herself - let her lead. Of course, you can suggest if she genuinely is clueless.

I got very stressed that my DS was leaving all his homework to the last minute rather than doing it in nice bite sized chunks through the week, but actually after one disaster he worked out for himself that this strategy only worked if your homework was reasonably spaced out and not too time consuming and didn't work if you left 3 hours of homework to do on a night that you had a 2 hour after school activity!! And he made allowances accordingly. How did she organise homework at primary?

I don't think you really need that kind of system as most of it is in exercise books and text books that she will have to remember to bring home on the correct days!!!

If I was you I would take a copy of her timetable and check her homework diary everyday. That way you can keep track of what she is doing and whether she is doing it! You can also remind her about things. Maybe get a little calendar at home where you can write homework deadlines in and then you can plan with her when she does it.

My son has just gone into year 8 and he is very organised so I don't really need to remind him about anything though I keep an eye on the homework diary. I imagine my youngest will be different!!!

not sure what you mean by folder.

My 2 have books from school. Much of their homework was in the book. If it was a loose peice of paper it was often stuck into the book.

Then they had a coloured plastic A4 wallet to carry any loose papers to and from school (eg a poster) the poster was always handed in without the wallet, so one wallet was enough.

none of the books were covered either. Interested to see how many schools expect kids to do this.

At DD1's school exercise books and text books stay at school, apart from French.

So we had

• 1 A4 plastic envelope wallet for French stuff
• 1 A4 plastic envelope wallet for transferring anything else to/from school

DD2 has just started. I am waiting to see if the system as to what comes home has changed. If not then we'll do the same for her.

Sit down and discuss it with her. We made the mistake of buying all sorts of files, folders and filing boxes for DD1 at the beginning of year 7. It didn't get used. She organises herself very efficiently using a combination of her schoolbag and a heap of exercise books on top of the piano. The fact the filling system wasn't being used stressed me out for a few months, but she's never actually missed a major deadline and I've learned to trust her (chaotic-looking) system.

DD2 has just started Year 7. She now has a designated spot on the piano - and we'll wait and see if she needs anything else!

I think the main thing is to keep on their case every evening and talk through what's happening each day, what books they need and where they have put them. A system will emerge.