As summer approaches, it is important for parents to take this opportunity to improve time management among their children. Bettering their time management now will prepare them for the fall when school starts. Lynn Meltzer, President of the Research Institute for Learning and Development, says that “[w]hen we teach children strategies for time management from an early age they internalize them, which sets them up for lifelong success,”. Time management tips vary with the child age group. The tips that I will be giving will be catered towards children ages 5-7. My tips will focus around some key steps for effective time management such as organizing both one’s stuff and time and setting goals.
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Create a schedule. As parents we feel that we must do everything for our children, especially at such a young age. Let your children create their own calendars and to-do lists. At the beginning, you can supervise them and help them in creating their calendar but ideally you want to allow your children to have more control over what they do daily. Some children at the age may prefer to represent tasks with pictures. For instance using a drawing of an apple to represent snack time. While other children at this age might feel more comfortable with writing in their tasks. The beginning of each week should consist of them updating their calendar with any new task. And children should complete a to-do list daily.
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Buy them a watch. I remember when I was around 6, I was given my first watch. Getting a watch at a young age, made me more aware of time as I got older. By having this device on their wrist, children are more conscious of how they use their time. And children learn how long it takes them to do certain tasks.
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Organize. Children need a space to call their own, such as their own desk. With a desk, comes responsibility; they must keep it clean and organized. Studies have shown that disorganization and messiness leads to more stress. As my father used to tell me: tidy desk, tidy mind. Ensure that your children are cleaning and organizing daily; organization is an ongoing process. Without organization, children won’t be able to manage their time. Because if they can’t find the things they need, how are they going to complete the tasks they have set up for themselves. A method to get your kids to organize their space is by using Deskalina, the desk fairy. This character was created by a 1st grade teacher, Staci Carper. If kids had a clean desk, then Deskalina would leave an encouraging note or prize for them as a reward. So if you are having difficulty with your kids cleaning their space you might want to create your own fictional character that will motivate them to organize.
I hope you try out these tips and that they work for your children. I understand that the pandemic has shifted everyone’s schedule and we now feel out of balance. But as we adjust to this unique time, let’s take advantage of the time we do have at home to improve on our own and our children’s skills. So that when things become normal aging we come out better.
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