4 Tips To Teach Kids To Manage Time Better

How do help kids manage time better? How do you help them establish a routine so they follow it automatically? These tried and tested ways should help kids learn the process (and parents too!)
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Time management skills are one of the significant factors behind anyone’s success according to a study on time management and punctuality Issues among students at secondary school, Kedah. This is something we grownups figure out too late in life.

Therefore, it becomes really important to teach children these skills while they are still growing. Scroll down to read all about some useful steps you can follow to ensure your child learns all about time management in an easy way.

You may also like: Ancient ways of telling the time- KSP Radio special! 

1. Start small:

It’s a human tendency that we try to get a lot done in a short time span. Remember, growing children are like clay, the way you handle them, they will modify precisely in the same way. That’s why parenting is one of the most important things.

So, instead of trying to make your child learn everything from the very first day, you must focus on building his habit. And to develop a habit, you must start small.

For example- pick up a small activity like keeping books in the bag for school, filling water in the bottles, brushing their teeth, finishing the food, or getting ready in a certain amount of time. Remember to choose not more than 3-4 things in the starting when you are trying to teach your children time management skills.

You may also like: 8 tips for smoother school mornings 

2. Engage in fun activities:

Now, as you have already decided what those small activities are going to be, you need to think of some creative ideas. Nobody likes to do something which seems boring unless one is obliged to do so. Like in a job. You can have small competitions that who will finish brushing first, fill the bottle or eat food in 30 minutes?

A completion is really exciting for children, and they are more likely to participate in that. Keep the below two points in mind to make this competition effective:

Teach them the concept of time: 

Your children will not do anything if you just tell them: “do this on time” or “complete this in 30 minutes.” They might know how to see/tell the time, but they don’t understand what fifteen minutes, thirty minutes or one hour feels like. To help them in that use a timer or I’ll suggest buying/making an hourglass.

Announce a reward: 

 A competition will be no more than a mundane activity if there is no reward. A reward doesn’t necessarily have to be a huge thing, you can decide it to be as small as a bar of chocolate/ice-cream or doing something which they like along with them for more time.

For example- if you decide the activity to be eating on time. Now say: “There’s chocolate, if you finish this before the sand finishes in that hourglass (some hourglasses are for less than an hour too.), you will have that chocolate, else I’ll have it. Are you ready?”

You may also like: Why establishing a routine with your kids is important 

3. Prepare a timetable:

Once your children start catching up with these small activities, gather all the family members and make a ‘timetable’ individually. Use crayons and help them draw some of their favorite cartoon characters too. This will make it sound exciting to your children.

Help them include wake up time, brushing their teeth, meal times, packing their bag, homework time and of course- play time! 

4. Reflect what you teach:

While you want your children to learn these habits, they will learn more from people around them. So, if you commit to doing something at certain times, keep your promise and never extend anything even if you feel like they should spend some more time on something. It’s more important to show, what you want to teach them than to teach it verbally.

It may sound tough to teach your children time management skills, but it is super easy if you follow the steps mentioned above. Never be too harsh on them if they learn slowly. After all, they are children and must enjoy their childhood.

You may also like: Here's how you can help kids stick to their routine

Image source: imagesbazaar.com

 

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