The Organized Student – Donna Goldberg & Jennifer Zwiebel

The Organized Student by Donna Goldberg and Jennifer Zwiebel provides open-eyed, compassionate, practical advice for kids and parents who’ve hit the limits of their patience, energy and resources around challenges of staying prepared for academic efforts. The authors are unconcerned with the “whys” of a child’s disorganization: those answers are best found with the help of diagnosticians and therapists. But the “hows”… OH YES.

There’s a huge number of sensible suggestions in this book, from how to approach potential arguments about a child’s need to get organized, to what to look for to use as simple paperwork storage, to how to assess a student’s concept of time and that impact on his/her/their performance. Importantly, Goldberg and Zwiebel’s definition of “student” is generous – these are methods which are as relevant in elementary school as in graduate school. I would argue their techniques can be adapted for all us ordinary working Joes and Janes. And despite the book’s 2005 publication date, it’s timeless. Although I admit I’d be curious to see v2…