Book Review: Organizing the Disorganized Child

From Amazon.com

“You can imagine what my child′s room looked like: clothes on the floor, dresser draws open with clothes half hanging out of them, and toys spread all over the floor.”

“Jill is given an assignment on Monday that is due on Friday. The problem is that despite repeated nagging, she won′t start it until Thursday night.”

Organizing Ther Disorganized Child finally answers the parents′ question, “How can I help my child get organized without waging a battle?” This essential toolkit for parents and educators factors organizational styles into the equation, and offers effective strategies that deliver amazing long-term results.

Renowned ADHD expert Dr. Martin Kutscher and coach Marcella Moran explain the roots of our children′s organizational problems, and the parents′ role in fixing them. They outline different organizational styles used by different students. (Not all kids organize the same way!) Kutscher and Moran outline exactly what school materials to buy, and how to set up the study area. They provide a step-by-step plan for an organizational system including:

o Refining morning and nighttime routines
o Getting the correct work home
o Planning the work, and getting it back to where it belongs
o Tips for reading and note taking
o Study and test taking skills
o Learning how to ask the right questions

Organizing the Disorganized Child is an essential toolkit that belongs on every parent′s shelf.
Early Praise for Organizing the Disorganized Child

My Thoughts

I read this book looking for some simple and effective ideas to help my own child. I am a teacher at a middle school and therefore I have had these conversations with so many parents it is not even funny! Reading this book reminded me that we are teaching kids the right things with trying to get organized. The thing that stood out to me the most was that the authors were not trying to put into place one system. They had several ideas based on the type of child that you needed to work with. Most of this information seemed common sense to me, but I teach for a living so that is probably why. I did take away some key ideas to try with my son. My son is a typical boy. He just crams stuff in his bag and away he goes. We are constantly trying new ideas and this book has some good ones to try out.

I will be buying a copy of this book to have in my classroom. I think it will prove to be a valuable resource when meeting with parents and talking with kids. The ideas are simple. They are not a complete overhaul. In essence it is all about creating a routine that sticks. Another valuable tool to have as a parent, teacher, or anyone who works with children. There are even a few things for me to try myself!