Teach your kids to have time management skills
Just because your kids can tell time doesn’t mean they know how to manage time, that’s how you should teach them!
We live in a society where rush stress is common in all families. Younger children can also learn to manage time and these will be skills that will serve them for a lifetime. There are a few steps that will help you teach your children, regardless of their age, to begin to better manage time management.
Index
IT CAN BE FUN
Adults should stop living so stressed all the time, because even if they don’t realize it, it also stresses children. When there is too much stress, you just want to take your watch and throw it out the window. On the other hand, when learning time management is fun, everything changes. Use colored pencils for calendars, make it fun to look at the schedule of daily routines, for example with stickers on the days that are more special.
Time management can be a game for children, you can create a calendar to complete simple tasks at home, such as brushing your teeth or getting dressed. This mindset will help children begin to understand daily time management and will be of great help to them in the future. The more fun time management is, the easier it will be for children to understand the importance of time and how to manage that clock that never stops.
If you have never taught your children time management and they are already teenagers, it is never too late to teach these important skills. The sooner you start, the better for them and the better your day to day.
HOW TO MEASURE TIME
Even children who can tell time may not know how to measure time. You have to help your children to understand the time and you can do it with a timer that measures a block of time, for example when your child has to brush his teeth or make the afternoon. Have a clock nearby and allow the minutes to begin to pass and the children will begin to feel these time segments internally.
Remember that you are not trying to teach your children to live by the clock or measure every action in their life, it is not about that. The goal is simply to help children understand what an hour, 15 minutes, or even 5 minutes feels like. The next time you say, “We’re leaving in five minutes,” they’ll know that doesn’t mean they have time to play with their toys, watch TV, and clean their room first.
ESTABLISH A FAMILY CALENDAR
Family calendars are a good idea to structure the day so that children know what commitments they must keep. You can write down the daily activities to do at home and also those outside the home, such as extracurricular activities. The whole family should be involved in creating a calendar for everyone.
This will require banner paper to make a large calendar that can be drawn and painted on. Make it a family art activity so everyone can learn what commitments they have and what days they should do.
You can create a color code on the calendar so that each person has their own color for their schedule. This simple activity helps kids see all days of the week at once in one place so they can begin to understand what it takes to meet time management. Another benefit is that you can use this planning activity to make the most of your family time.
This option can also be done by creating a calendar for each member of the family and thus in addition to the banner, each member must have their own calendar and put it in the room. So you can put other more personal things. It can be divided into days or weeks.
DON’T OUTGROW THE KIDS
One of the most common mistakes parents can make is trying to ensure that children participate in many activities after school. They program too much to the point that they ended up living in constant stress. It is necessary not to overwhelm children with activities because they need to remain children, enjoy unstructured time and play.
Instead of learning about time management the right way, all they feel is a constant back and forth that makes them want a few minutes of downtime. Over-programming takes away their desire to do things right. Try to avoid it so that everyone can better handle time management.
A FREE TIME SCHEDULE
Although the structure is not bad in the day to have everything better planned, in reality it is also necessary to have some free time each day (all members of the family). There should be a block of time to do nothing, because it will be the best times for children to really learn what time management means. Playtime alone can be fun and more if it is unstructured, but it can and should also have a start and end time when children try to understand the basics of time management.
This also helps them learn that time management is not just about preparing to go somewhere or finishing a structured activity on time. Good time management also means that you have moments to play and moments to do nothing.
SET DAILY PRIORITIES
In addition to having fun tools for time management such as tablet applications, a fun and colorful clock or calendar, wristwatches … it is very important to teach children to set daily priorities.
First things first, second things second. It is that simple and it is an essential learning for the life of any person. Younger children may not understand what a priority is, but you can still teach them the concept.
Depending on age, most children don’t see the big picture of priorities. You will have to help them organize their time knowing what is most important to do during the day. For example, first you eat dinner and then you brush your teeth. Then they put on their pajamas and pack their backpack for the day after school.
Helping your children prioritize their day is something they can use throughout their lives and will help them accomplish the most important tasks on a daily and weekly basis, while also setting each one to complete long-term goals. Start small with daily priorities before moving on to weekly and monthly priorities. You will instantly set your children up for success and soon you will have children who are masters of time management.
Dr. Tabriella Perivolaris, Sara's mother and fan of fashion, beauty, motherhood, among others, about the female universe. Since 2018 she has been working as a copywriter, always bringing to her articles a little of her experience and experience as a mother and woman.