What’s my Child’s organizing Style?

  1. When your child is looking for his backpack, he asks you
  2. ‘Did you see my backpack?’
  3. Do you know where I put my backpack?’
  4. Do you know when I last had my backpack?’
  5. When you child is doing her homework, she
  6. Puts all the items she’ll need for the homework out in front of her
  7. Clears off the area before she does her homework
  8. Stacks her homework assignments in a certain order before or after completing the assignments
  9. Your child responds best to a teacher who
  10. Writes the notes on the board
  11. Makes her feel good about herself
  12. Runs a very structured and orderly class
  13. When your child is invited to a party, he
  14. Decides how much fun he thinks the party will be based on the design of the invitation
  15. Thinks about what he will do at the party
  16. Wonders how long the party will be
  17. You have noticed that your child likes to
  18. Look at pictures
  19. Build with blocks or Legos
  20. Play with electronic devices
  21. When your child returns from a playdate, he
  22. Describes what his friend’s house looked like
  23. Describes how he felt at the playdate
  24. Describes detailed events of the playdate in the order that they took place
  25. Would your child rather go to a
  26. Movie
  27. Physical activity class such as gymnastics, dance, or soccer
  28. Computer trade show
  29. When picking out a book at the library, your child looks for
  30. The book with the nicest cover
  31. A title that he feels good about
  32. A book about history or a biography

If you answered mostly a, your child may be considered to have a visual organizational style. If your answered mostly b, your child may be considered to have a spatial/cozy organizational style. If you answered mostly c, your child may be considered to have a chronological/sequential organizing style.

From “Organizing the Disorganized Child” by Kutscher and Moran

Just what kind of an organizer are you anyway?

Visual Organizers

  • Think of missing items in relation to the place they last saw the item
  • Need to have all their items visible
  • Have a hard time finding items they cannot see
  • Respond well to color, pictures, and other visual cues
  • Feel disorganized when their work area is visually overloaded

Spatial/Cozy Organizers

  • Think of missing items in relation to the place they last used the item
  • Need to have all supplies within reach when doing school work
  • Need to have their work area cleaned off
  • Need a work area that “feels good” to them before they can start work
  • Like dance, music, and drama
  • Are sensitive to how they and others are feeling
  • Feel disorganized when their work area is a mess

Chronological/Sequential Organizers

  • Think of missing items in relation to the time they last had the item
  • Access information chronologically
  • Think with numbers
  • Remember dates, times of events, and the order of events
  • Can remember sequential steps in some sort of personal order
  • Keep stacks of paper on their desks that may appear messy but there is a certain order to the piles
  • Look at detail
  • Memorize best through repetition
  • Fee frazzled when their work area is not in “order”

NOTE: Many children have a combination of styles. No child fits neatly into one box. Experiment to see what works best for your child. These broad general styles are meant to help parents get started helping their child get organized. The rest is fine-tuning.