How well would you say your teen is organized on a scale from 1 to 5, with 1 being the worst and 5 being the best?

I think one easy indicator could be the state of their room. A quick look will probably give you a pretty good answer.

Your teen will soon be off on their own, and much of the responsibility falls on us as parents to make sure they understand that our society still runs on schedules and time. Whether your teen goes straight into the workforce or on to higher education, they need to know how to manage their time, and organizational skills will come in handy.

Employers like it when employees get to work on time and complete their assigned tasks when asked. Most college professors do not care if a student is sick or had a special event the evening before an assignment was due. When a paper or an assignment is due, it is due!

We are the example!

How are you at being on time and organized?

There are many ways to help teach your teen the skills of organization and being on time. One of the best ways right now is through their schoolwork: setting deadlines and due dates for tests and assignments.

It is important to set deadlines for when assignments are due, such as reports, essays, a book read and ready to be discussed, a math or science unit completed, or material studied and ready for test day.

Set these important dates at the beginning of the semester or quarter. This will help keep you organized as well as help prepare your teen for college and real life.

It is also important to decide on the consequences of not meeting the deadlines.

Do you set deadlines in your homeschool?

Do you write out the due dates for major assignments and tests for your teen? How often? Weekly, monthly, quarterly?

What works best for you and your teen?

Write up a document, a contract

Whether your teen is compliant or strong-willed, I strongly suggest that before the year even begins, you write up a document where they can see the deadlines, if you have planned them out. If not, the rules and consequences for not completing or not being prepared for an assignment or test can definitely be written out before the school year begins.

Have both parents and your teen sign the document. This way, they know the dates, rules, and consequences from the beginning. No surprises!

The written document takes away the excuse of not knowing. This will help them take responsibility for their actions. It is always a good thing to let your children know what is expected of them. (Make sure you keep a copy in a safe place, and ask them to put theirs somewhere visible.)

The hardest part for most parents is that our children know us so well. They know our soft spots and how to use them. Beware! Don’t fall for their excuses. Stick with what was decided and the consequences of their actions.

Extenuating circumstances may arise that keep work from getting done. But if they plan to continue their education after high school and want to be great employees, they need to know that deadlines are real.

The main fixes: I removed the stray period and ellipses, changed “making deadlines” to “setting deadlines,” made “employee/task” agree in number, added the missing closing parenthesis, and smoothed a few run-on or awkward phrases while keeping your voice. I also changed “A visual” to “A quick look” since it reads more naturally.