A: As the academic demands increase, the need for more organizational skills also increases. These organizational skills have to be taught and reinforced for your child to continue to use them. The skills he learns now, however, will be important to him for the rest of his life. Having a structured time and established place where your son works on his homework is a good start. Make sure his homework place is comfortable, well lit and free from distractions. Do not schedule this time right before a meal. If he is hungry he will not concentrate on his work. Children often rush through their work because they want to finish an assignment. The concept of checking their work to make sure it is right does not come naturally in most cases. Teach him how to check his own work as he does it. This also will help you understand how he is learning new concepts. After he checks his work, he can show it to you for review before getting ready to take it to school. It is common for children to complete the work at home and to forget to hand it in or realize they don't have it when they get to school. This can be very frustrating for children because they know they completed the work but will get poor marks for not turning it in. So, consider helping him organize his schoolwork at home. Have him put the homework into a special folder. If he uses a backpack, have him put the homework folder in his backpack as soon as he completes his work. Every morning he can double-check to make sure he has the homework folder with him before he leaves the house. Help your son become organized in other areas as well, such as keeping his room neat, and praise him when tries to do so on his own. This will encourage him to continue to learn organizational skills.

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