Crumpled homework. Missed assignments. Falling grades. For many boys and their frustrated parents, these are facts of life. But they don't have to be. Top academic counselor Ana Homayoun has helped transform even the most disorganized, scattered and unfocused boys into successful and motivated students.
"That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week: Helping Disorganized and Distracted Boys Succeed in School and Life," Homayoun shows parents how to get disorganized boys focused, engaged, and thriving. While most girls have an easy time with organization, many boys need to be taught how to become organized, study effectively, and most importantly, how to visualize, embrace, and meet their goals.
The strategies Homayoun uses are effective because they are accessible, sensible, and easy to implement. This guide can show parents how to:
- Identify their son's disorganizational style
- Help him set academic and personal goals that are important to him
- Design and establish the correct "tools of the trade"
- Create successful places to study
- Teach him how to study and complete assignments without procrastination or all-nighters
- Challenge of Multi-tasking: Unlike thirty years ago, where students had one teacher for most of their classes, most sixth, seventh and eighth grade boys have six or seven different teachers all with different expectations and teaching methods - Research shows that the part of boys brains that deals with multi-tasking hasn't developed yet, so they struggle to find a way to manage it all. Boys are typically two to three years behind girls in hitting puberty, so they struggle to keep up in finding effective ways to manage their time and be organized.
- Technological distractions: More than ever before, text messaging, cell phones, instant messenger, Facebook - all create distractions that make it difficult for students to get assignments done efficiently and effectively
- Well-intentioned over-involvement of parents: Parents are involved with their children's schooling now more than ever, which is great in many respects because research shows that students who have involved parents tend to do better in school. But, some students come into my office super-disorganized, and in part its because their parents are so organized that they have never had to become more organized because their parents were always on top of everything when they were younger
- Create an organized study space, preferably outside the child's bedroom, where the student can do his or her work on a regular basis free of distractions
- Develop a routine study hall time each evening where there is no television on in the background, no cell phone, and no internet so kids can finish their homework
- Have a weekly re-group time - preferably on Sunday evenings - where kids go through their backpack, file away all their papers, make sure they have their supplies ready to go and planners filled out and are ready to start the week of in a great way
- Binder for each subject - preferably 1" to 1 1/2" and hard back
- 5 tab dividers
- Hole punch - professional, three hole punch for home and portable one for office
- Kitchen timer - to time homework and break times
- Planner - to write down assignments
For more information, visit www.thatcrumpledpaper.com
