Time management is a skill that if effectively mastered could lead to increased future success and less stress from tasks left undone. According to Great Schools website, girls tend to be naturally better at time management than boys. Proper time management skills could result in better academic performance. Therefore, teaching kids these tools can be valuable for them now and in the future.
Responsibility Chart
Children can develop a task chart notes Great Schools. It should include all the things they need to complete and when they need to finish them. This will help the child learn how much time it generally takes to accomplish certain tasks and it will ensure that they get everything done during the week. The child should cross out each task after it is completed.
Media Time
Children can spend a lot of time with the television, computer or video games. When children are engaged in these activities, time can pass by without them being aware of it. Media time should be scheduled at the beginning of each week. Parents can help children plan what they want to watch or play during the week, and then schedule that media time. Overload of media time might cause the child to leave homework assignments uncompleted or miss out on beneficial social events.
Homework
Children often take longer to complete homework assignments than is necessary because they do not take the steps to efficiently use their time. TeensHealth.org reports that fully understanding the homework assignment, working on homework during free time at school, doing homework in quiet places, focusing on the assignment and taking a 15 minute break every hour can help a child use her time wisely to complete her assignments and improve her time management.
Daily Lists
Making a daily list of what a child wants to accomplish can help motivate him to get it done. The child should create the list every morning, just as the day is getting started. Once the list is created, each item on the list should be placed in order of priority. This will help the child understand what order to complete the tasks. As the child completes his tasks on the list, he should cross them off.
Clocks
When children are not exposed to the concept of time, they will not understand how to effectively manage it. Parents can do this by placing clocks in their children's line of vision. Use timers to keep track of how long they have to accomplish various tasks, notes HelpGuide.org. This will help increase a child's awareness of time and how it passes.
