My oldest son is officially a teenager, and I couldn’t be prouder! He’s grown to be a hard-working, intelligent and caring teen that loves every sport he tries, rarely complains and helps out when I ask.
But, just like his mother, Zack has one fault that he can’t seem to overcome…he is hopelessly disorganized! I know full-well he inherited that trait from me, so I can’t help but be compassionate.
Still, I also know from experience how detrimental disorganization can be when it comes to schoolwork, especially during the high school years. I don’t want him to be stuck doing the same work twice because his first copy was lost.
That’s why this year, I’m going to be working with him to try to keep his schoolwork organized. And to help me do that, Order Out of Chaos sent me the best student planner I’ve ever seen, the Academic Planner, to review!
While some schools do provide students with a daily planner, the planners generally only have small squares for each day to record any homework or assignments. That’s a problem because kids have no way to add any out-of-school activities that might take up their time. A child may check their planner and realize they have a test the next day, but no time to study because of a sports game that night.
The OOOC Academic Planner, on the other hand, is designed to be the best academic planner for students, with a layout that lets kids visualize their entire week and the work they need to hand in for individual subjects at a glance. Each page features the days of the week at the top, and a place for recording each school subject on the side. Homework and tests are put in the appropriate column so kids know exactly what subject’s work needs to be completed on what day.
The bottom section of the page also includes a spot to record extra-curricular activities. For my sports-loving son, this feature is incredibly useful. He plays volleyball, basketball and badminton during the fall and winter, and takes part in lacrosse and track and field in the spring. Being able to mark down those commitments means he’ll be able to quickly see when he has blocks of free time to complete schoolwork.
Of course, one of the keys to making even the best student planner work well is actually recording events in it. And I know that’s one of the areas where Zack is going to struggle. For students like Zack, Order Out of Chaos also offers a fun accessory pack to help make recording tasks and events easier!
The accessories include monthly sticker tabs to quickly find each month in the planner, a detachable ruler bookmark that marks the current week and a set of fun and easy-to-use stickers to remember tests, homework, special events and more!
The stickers are the one thing that I’m hoping will make a difference for my son this year. Being able to just grab a sticker and put it in place on the appropriate day and subject may be all he needs. He has a great memory in general, so he likely won’t even have to add notes about exactly what work needs to be done!
To help naturally disorganized kids like Zack (and their frustrated parents), Order Out of Chaos also has tons of great free resources on their website. Print out worksheets and homework profiles, download an online tutorial video on using the Academic Planner or take part in a free webinar! And if you’re ready to buy the best student planner for your child, use coupon code PLANNER20 to save 20% off your purchase of an Academic Planner!
For parents and kids that need even more information, a variety of educational videos are also available to purchase, so that parents have all the tools they need to teach their children the valuable skill of time management.
Our school year is only a couple weeks away and I have high hopes that I’ll be able to enjoy fewer comments from teachers about Zack’s poor organization this year. With his Academic Planner, a little support from me and a bit of effort on his part, I know he’ll be able to excel as he learns the skills he’ll need for high school next year!
