Managing at school: Getting your child to remember their backpack

Last year, my son needed constant reminders to bring his backpack with him. One day, I forgot to remind him, and we went to school without a backpack. Snacks were provided at that school, so the consequence of no back pack wasn’t to great. Daily reminders are usually not going to do the trick. One thing you can do is start to fade your reminders. You can start by asking “Do you have everything”. This is still a pretty direct cue. Next you can say something a little more indirect such as “Hmm, I think something is wrong”, and try to let them figure it out. Next you can try just blocking your child’s pathway to leave the house. Then you can let them figure out why you are blocking their pathway.

Another thing you can try is a checklist of items at the door to leave the house. You can use a dry erase board to check off each item on the list that they need to bring. Getting them to actually check items rather than just look at the list is usually more effective. Of course, they may need reminders to look at the list. You can expect this will still take a while for child to be fully independent, but it is worth a try.