How do you help a messy 5th grader keep track of papers, Google Classroom, and whatever is living in their backpack?
I know he's not lazy, but wow, the backpack situation is scary. Papers from 3 weeks ago, half a snack, library notices, and then he says he had no clue something was due. Color folders worked for about 4 days. What simple system works for a regular messy 10 year old?
We gave up on pretty systems. One folder for bring back, one folder for keep home. That is it. Every Thursday after dinner we dump the backpack together. It is not magical but at least I find the permission slips before the trip is over.
My son needed a checklist taped inside the backpack. Turn in folder, Chromebook, lunch box, water bottle. He still ignores it sometimes, but it is better than me yelling from the kitchen.
I think weekly clean out matters more than the system. Any system gets gross if nobody resets it. We do Friday snack and backpack dump, 10 minutes max.