QUIZ: What is your kid's organizing style?

1 When your child is looking for his backpack, he asks...
(a) Did you see my backpack?"
(b) "Do you know where I put my backpack?"
(c) "Do you know when I last had my backpack?"

2 When your child is doing her homework, she...
(a) places all the items she’ll need for the assignment out in front of her
(b) clears off the area before she does her homework
(c) stacks her assignments in a certain order before or after completing them

3 Your child responds best to a teacher who…
(a) writes notes on the board
(b) makes her feel good about herself
(c) runs a very structured and orderly class

4 When your child is invited to a party, he…
(a) decides how much fun he thinks the party will be based on the design of the invitation
(b) thinks about what he will do at the party
(c) wonders how long the party will go on

5 You've noticed that your child likes to…
(a) look at pictures
(b) build with blocks or Legos
(c) play with electronics

6 When your child returns from a playdate, he describes…
(a) what the apartment looked like
(b) how he felt at the playdate
(c) detailed events of the playdate in the order in which they took place

7 Given a choice, your child would usually rather go to a…
(a) movie
(b) physical activity class such as gymnastics, dance or soccer
(c) techy trade show

8 When picking out a book at the library, your child looks for…
(a) the nicest cover
(b) a title that he feels good about
(c) a history or biography

QUIZ KEY

If you answered mostly…
a = visual organization style
b = spatial or "cozy" style
c = chronological or sequential style

VISUAL KIDS
• Think of missing items in relation to where 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 KIDS…
• Think of missing items in relation to where they last used them.
• Need to have all supplies within reach when doing schoolwork.
• 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 KIDS…
• Think of missing items in relation to when they last had them.
• 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 desk that may appear messy, but there is a certain order to the piles.
• Look at detail.
• Memorize best through repetition.
• Feel frazzled when their work area is not in "order."

Quiz and key excerpted from Organizing the Disorganized Child: Simple Strategies to Succeed in School by Martin L. Kutscher and Marcella Moran (HarperStudio).

Intro | Study strategies | Backpack basics | Sample schedule | Organizational supplies
Quiz: What is your kid’s organizing style?

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