This is one of several “Work Smarter” workshops your whole class needs to hear, or needs to put in your newsletter and/or blog. Some ideas I’ve collected from around the web:
1. Parents, set a good example. Kids learn what they see. So if you come in and throw the mail wherever, drop your coat over a chair, and toss your keys on the table, only to search in vain for them two hours later, it shouldn’t be any surprise that your daughter can’t find her shoes when it’s time to leave the house.
2. Color Code each subject AND activity. We suggest color-coding your child’s to-do list: Every school subject and every activity should have its own color, and these colors should be prominent on everything from the calendar to the folders and notebooks for school to the other organizing paraphernalia. So, for example, if soccer is blue, then the dates of games and practices are blue, and so is the bag where your child keeps shin guards, balls, and uniforms. If science is green, then projects due are in green on the calendar and homework goes into the green folder. With this method, kids can see what’s coming at them, and they find comfort in the order.
3. Don’t OverBook. Choose activities wisely. There’s no formula to know just how many activities a child should be involved in. But remember to take stock of your child’s cues. Overbooked kids are a real danger in a society where work is taking on more and more importance in adults’ lives, says Benjamin Hunnicutt, a professor of leisure studies at the University of Iowa. Kids are seeing that work is sapping the energy that used to go into family and community. As adults’ lives have become more scheduled and more frenetic, Hunnicutt fears that children are being expected to keep up with this pace earlier and earlier. “Certain things should be managed and organized, other things should not be,” says Frender. She suggests that you sit with your child and create a graph: days of the week running vertically, and an hour-by-hour look at the day running across the top. Fill in all the hours that are scheduled with things that have to be done: homework (Frender recommends a consistent time every day for five days a week), sports, music, family obligations, school time, mealtimes, everything. When the week is filled in, your kids will be able to see, in a physical way, where their time goes and where they have openings. You and they can then block out time for being with friends and other unstructured time.
4. Reward Expected Behavior For a While. If your third-grader comes home from school, looks at his calendar, and sees he’s supposed to be studying — and does study for five days in a row — reward him. And when it comes to rewards, Frender says, kids don’t really want our money. “The most important thing you can give kids is time,” she says. “Tell your kids, ‘We’ll go on that extra hike together,’ or ‘We’ll play an extra game of Monopoly.’”
5. Ask Directly What They Need Help With. Keep in mind that your child is learning a new task and he or she isn’t going to get it right away. Ask them what they need help with and they will tell you.”
6. Involve Your child in Selecting The Time Management Tools. Allow your children to select a fun clock or kitchen timer. This will help them monitor their own pace as they work and play.
7. Know the “Have-To’s” vs. the “Want To’s”. Have-To’s need to be a part of almost every day. Whether we like it or not, we all have to find time to get them done. These include family obligations, school, homework, sleep, eating, and hygiene. Want-To’s make our lives a little more fulfilling.: after-school activities, sports, the arts, and other hobbies, plus Chill Time.
8. Make short-term goals out of your hopes and dreams, and figure out the Want-To’s that will make it happen. If you hope to learn to play the guitar, what are your first 3 short-term goals?
9. How to talk so your parents will listen: Discussion questions for kids to bring up with adults:
- Do you ever feel like there isn’t enough time in the day to get everything done?
- What do you do when you feel this way?
- Can you help me plan out my days so I don’t waste time, or run out of time before I’ve met my responsibilities?
- Can we work together to make daily, weekly, and monthly schedules and planners?
- Can we work to set up quiet hours in the house so I can concentrate better on homework?
- If I’m always in a hurry, or am feeling too much time pressure, can we talk about dropping some things from my schedule?
- Can we try to find more free time so I can do whatever I feel like once in awhile?
