Teaching Your Kids to be Organized
Time management is essential to success – yes, even for schoolchildren. Planning, prioritizing, and scheduling are just some of the aspects of managing one’s time. Here are some ways to teach your schooling kids how to stay track and not get left behind.
1. Planning
- Create a to-do list, preferably on a reminder or assignment notebook for your child.
- On this notebook, train him to write test or recitation dates, due dates for projects, assignments, music or dance recitals, and community activities.
- Review the to-do list with your child the night before. Teach him to color-code or highlight entries on his planner. For example, you may use red for exam days and yellow for “bring-to-school” reminders.
- Help your child prepare for long-term projects by breaking the task into smaller bits of work spread over several days or weeks. Use visual planners like week- or mongh-long calendars.
2. Prioritizing
- Ask your child to write individual items from his to-do list on an index card or Post-it notes.
- Have him divide the index card into three columns: “Do Today,” “Do Soon,” and “Do Anytime.” Show your child that items with deadlines need to be prioritized, and should be written either in the “Do Today” or “Do Soon” columns, depending on its urgency and importance.
- Your child may not share your views about what are urgent and important to you. Discuss the difference and agree on the items that make the priority list.
- Post these cards in order of priority on a clipboard or a frame that stands up. Move the cards around or discard them as priorities change.
3. Scheduling
- Teach your child to estimate how long it will take him to finish an activity. Note the amount of time it actually took him to work on it and compare that with the estimated time of performance.
- Transfer the to-do list onto a planner or calendar; this will allow for easy scheduling of additional activities. Teach your child to regularly check the upcoming week or month in his planner or calendar.
- Block a fixed schedule for homework.
- A planner or calendar with indicated hours and days helps your child visualize the abstract concept of time.
- Hang an up-to-date monthly master calendar in your child’s room to serve as a graphic or visual organizer of things he needs to do.
4. Following the plan
- Post the to-do list in a conspicuous area.
-Monitor your child regularly, until these skills become automatic.
Keep in mind that time management strategies are similar to goal-setting. These skills are learned over a period of time so be patient with your kids.
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