Year 9 organisation skills

[Blubell46]

Morning all,

Help please...my dd is in year 9 and is in a selective school. To date she managed to get by with minimal work but now I think she realises that she needs to put some work in.

Her marks this term are really low ( no work) whereas others have worked hard in her class and have excelled.

Some kids have tutors but this is not route we want to take, since we believe it is her organisation skills as well as too much socialising on WhatsApp.

I know when my ds was in Year 9 it was a tricky year, hormones and a jump up from previous years.

Just thinking if anyone else has gone through this...just want to help organise her life...since I think she feels it is getting out of control.

Thinking of getting her a large planner and we can plan together...get some structure in.

Some DC need more help with organising than others. Ignore anyone who says they 'should' be able to do it by now.

Can you start with a general structure for after school, eg
-> 4:30 Home, snack, social time
-> 4:30-6:00 NO PHONE, homework or other reading
etc

Then if she needs help prioritising work:

• she tells you what h/w is set each day and when it is due
• she tells you of upcoming tests
• you discuss how to revise for tests & help test her (very easy to con yourself that you are learning stuff when you aren't)

@TeenPlusTwenties thank you.

She comes home at 4:30'ish starving...She has her dinner early and chills for an hour and then starts work at 6pm or I should say tries to start her work!

Yesterday we agreed the phone should be taken away and bless her she did work and was in a happier mood for it..this morning she realised she didn't complete her maths and was over due on DT ( DT she completed in the morning)

I do think we need to go through all the homework...I am thinking of getting her a large planner and we work through it together.

Bless her, I think she thinks it is all going wrong with her work and with Christmas coming up- she was late getting her presents for her friends...I think she now realises it is getting worse and I just want to help her and get her confidence up as well as get rid of the phone...she only has WhatsApp but she has been on it slot of the time and depends on the chat to find out what homework rather than refer to her planner...hence me thinking no kore WhatsApp or is that too drastic?

Thank you for being kind and helping

DD1 has dyspraxia we did all messages & homework to go in planner, never try to remember them.
The routine after school went something like this until year 11:

• DD comes home, goes upstairs to drop her bag & get changed
• Comes downstairs, I ask what new homework
• Oh she says, can't remember, goes up to get planner ...

So it took her until y11 to think to either bring planner down with her, or look at it upstairs before coming down!

Social media can be great, and can also be a great time waster. I'd definitely have phone out of room when doing homework, far too tempting, in general I think that for many the downsides outweigh the benefit.

However, DD1 also found that reminders on her phone are excellent. So when she started doing that we had a new rule. Never 'clear' a reminder until either you have actually done the thing, or you have set a new reminder. (She was terrible for thinking oh I'll do it in a few minutes, and then forgetting). Also reminders sometimes need to be for a few days before for things like homework.

I suspect that if your DD is engaged and NT, just setting her up with a few systems, helping her run with them, and then positive re-enforcement may well be sufficient. A visual planner or 'to do' list will definitely help with that i would think.

@TeenPlusTwenties thank you for being supportive. I am looking on Amazon now for a planner 😁

I do remember my ds being a bit tricky in Yesr 9 but never this disorganised, each child is different and will need to adapt...he is now in Year 11!!

Thank you

In year 7 & 8, DD had a magnetic whiteboard that I wrote weekdays onto in sharpie, and white button magnets that have the names of each subject written on them.

When she got homework in that subject, the magnet went on the board against the day it was due. Once the homework was done, the magnet came off. It helped her prioritise what needed doing NOW vs what she wanted to do because she liked that subject, because she could easily see what was next due to be handed in.

She's stopped using it in year 9, but is much better with her planner than she used to be.

We had something very similar to Rue a visual reminder of what homework was outstanding and when it was due in.

It also meant we could see it too and as it was in his room he saw it all the time. We have a set homework slot and if no homework is actually due that time is spent expanding knowledge of something they need to improve. This can be as simple as watching a YouTube video on the book they are reading/studying in English or looking at crime and punishment in History.

I would help her into a routine. Mine prefer to get work done and out the way and have the rest the evening to chill.