Don’t worry! We will cover time management strategies and everything in between to debunk and paint a clear picture about time management in kids and how parents can help them in reaching their time management goals.
First of all, before we move ahead, let us try to understand, what is time management and why is it important?
What is time management for kids?
It is the ability to know how to manage time from an early age. Time management for kids is a very important aspect to look into especially during their growing years. Mastering this skill will eventually set them up for success.
A skill that helps individuals be more disciplined with planning and controlling time towards any task helps generate optimum results with the highest efficiency.
Because…
Pew Research shows that 60% of students say that spending too much time on their screens is a major problem. As we can see there’s no clear distinction between leisure time and productivity. That’s why time management is so important.
Time Management Tips for Kids
Don't overbook your children's schedules.
One of the most common mistakes parents make is trying to ensure that their children engage in every after-school activity. We end up overscheduling the whole family to the point where our week is jam-packed.
Don't overbook your children for the sake of the entire family. Instead of properly learning how to manage their time, they experience a constant state of go, go, go, which leaves them yearning for a few minutes of leisure. Overscheduling gets their and your clocks out of whack. Avoid it as much as possible so that you may all improve your time management skills.
Demonstrate to your children how to manage time.
Even children who can tell the time do not always know how to measure it. Set a timer during a block of time when they're meant to be doing a task to assist them. Keep a clock nearby and offer them a vocal countdown as the minutes pass so they can get a sense of how long these chunks are. You're not aiming to instill in your children the habit of keeping time. Your goal is to simply assist them to grasp the concept of an hour,
Time Management Tips for Children in Grades K to 2
Explaining kids with examples
Make the repercussions of your actions apparent. Those outcomes can occur organically (for example, if she doesn't study her spelling words, she won't perform well on the test); other times, an adult must create the consequences. Carper uses a pie-like visual timer on her Smartboard to help her first-graders understand how much time is left to accomplish a task. One-quarter of the "pie" turns green when she sets it for 15 minutes, for example. The slice gets smaller as the seconds pass, and when only five minutes are remaining, it turns red. She argues that seeing time slip away might help children pace themselves.
Make a timetable
Create charts of your child's morning and nighttime habits because little children thrive on patterns and repetition. While these 3- and 4-year-olds can't tell you what time snacks are served, they know it's after circle time and before the restroom break. "It provides them a sense of comforting order and regularity," explains Dietrick.
Instill the habit of planning in your children
Make it a habit to wait. "At its most fundamental level, time management is the ability to delay gratification," says Dietrick, a skill connected to better study habits and grades, among other things. Dietrick creates situations in which her students must wait for something they desire to improve their time management skills. As the occasion approaches, we mark the days off the calendar and build up the enthusiasm." This offers them a sense of what it's like to put things off — and a pleasant memory to go along with it."
Time Management for Children in Grades 3 to 5
Work on their time estimation skills
"You need a clear sense of how long things take to construct a realistic timetable," says Marcia Grosswald, an upper-elementary resource teacher in Summit, NJ. Grosswald teaches this important ability by having her kids plan their after-school activities for a few minutes after the day.
Consider rewarding your kids!
Yes, you can give your children incentives for good time management, and these incentives can be powerful motivators. Rewards can be given on a daily or weekly basis, and you should decide on them as a family. Make your prizes as unique as possible. You can certainly choose to reward your children with time spent playing a video game. Make it a family award even better. Following that study regimen for a week may equal a family movie night. The goal is to turn those time management bonuses into quality time spent with your family.
Set goals and prioritize
When the kids are getting along so well, it's tempting to allow them a few more minutes of playtime. Or there are days when you want the kids to spend more time studying, even though your time management plan dictates that they begin getting ready for bed at 6:00 p.m.
Stay on task, especially if your children are only learning to manage their time. When the timer goes off, regardless of how invested they are in the present work, move on to the next item on your list. Even if it's only for a few minutes, deviating from the timetable might confuse children. Stick to your routine, especially in the early days and weeks after you've learned how to manage your time.
Other Helpful Tips for Kids
Ever heard of the four quadrants of action? No worries, this tip will help you to figure out what type of actions need prioritizing according to urgency and importance.
The Wikipedia page of the book First Things First proposed the Decision Matrix: Importance vs. Urgency.
In this, kids can learn the importance of time management and parents can guide them to identify their priorities.
The next thing is assigning tasks in those quadrants. Let’s practice with an example. The following are set of tasks carried out by an individual throughout the day.
Last date of electricity payment
Cooking dinner
Learning a new language
Work hours
Now, let us have some fun assigning them to their respective quadrant according to tip #1.
After you wake up and finish your morning routine, what is the next thing you will follow up with from the task mentioned above?
Quadrant I: Pay the electricity bill
Quadrant II: Work hours
Quadrant III: Cooking dinner
Quadrant IV: Learning a new language
As kids are impressionable and learn from watching their parents. So, inculcating such habits from an early age and help them to better manage their time for now as well for the future. Work is already half done when you know how to manage it.
Tasks assigned? Great! Now, let’s schedule them, meaning we will designate time blocks for each task. So, they don’t overlap or create confusion. This step gets easier because we have already divided them as per our need for action.
Parents can schedule for their kids and show them real-life results as to how easily one can achieve a lot in just 24 hours.
Last but not least, sync. After doing all the work, all the hard work is gone if you are not notified about it!
In this day and age, it’s super convenient to sync everything starting from the time you wake up till the time you go to bed.
Utilize it. This will keep you informed and you get your work done.
Time management is only fun when you get to enjoy it. Don’t overdo it because you’ll probably end up not making anything count at the end of the day. So, don’t stress, time management is a skill, habits build skills and habits require discipline. This is why it is best when you start as early as possible.
Just enjoy the process and you will be able to acquire it in no time and be a master of it.
Conclusion
I hope this sheds some light on how to go about acquiring time management as a skill for kids as well as parents.
“The earlier you start the better it gets.”
Tell us your experience on how you manage your time.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How do I teach my child time management?
One or two weeks before school starts, ease your children back into a regular sleep schedule. Make a checklist for your child's daily routine. Making a calendar is also one of the simplest ways to teach dates, times, and scheduling to young children.
What are the 7 time management skills?
These time management suggestions can help you organize your day and operate more efficiently.
- Determining the importance of urgent jobs
- Setting objectives
- Workflow auditing and improvement
- Notification filtering
- Setting realistic deadlines
- Keeping track of delegations
- Staffing schedules
Is time management important for kids?
Academic achievement depends on punctuality and time management in school. Students need to be able to manage their time well since it helps them prioritize their work. A student can organize his exam preparation and pass them well if he uses proper time management.
What are 5 time management strategies?
- Planning ahead of time to be prepared
- Prioritize your tasks.
- Understand the Role of Energy in Productivity
- Learn to Say No
- Overcome Procrastination.
