What if the School PLANit System isn’t working?
Well, I’m not going to be gentle here. You, the parent, must get more involved. Some kids are more organizationally challenged than others. With my son, we had to go through his planner and folders every single night for more than six months straight. You may have to explain how to use the system again and again. But I promise you that once your child understands it and learns to use it, it will make him or her a more functional student and a more functional adult. Start with the following steps:
Use the initial boxes. This is a parent/teacher team solution. Teachers: Review the planner to make sure the assignment has been written down correctly, then initial it. If there is no homework, have the student write ‘nothing’ or ‘none’. Parents: Review the planner at night with your child, make sure the work is done, then initial it. Continue this until the child forms a habit of using the planner.
Master the Homework and Turn-In pockets. These pockets (found in the planner) need to be used correctly. Review them with your student and the teacher. Every subject’s homework goes into the Homework pocket. The Turn-in pocket should be empty by the end of the school day.
PURGE! Get rid of what isn’t needed in the folders. Once the student has been tested on a subject, the reference materials in the folders aren’t needed. If you can’t bring yourself to throw away the papers or if the teacher isn’t clear about what is no longer needed, start a set of home folders. Create a second set of folders exactly the same as the ones in the bag, then transfer older items to the home set.
Get everyone together. The student, the teacher and you review the system. Make adjustments so it works for the student. This isn’t about the parent or teacher, this is 100% about the child succeeding in school.