Time Management with Kids

Skill	Time Management with Kids
Definition:	When someone brings up essential skills for independent living, time management might not be at the top of your list. It’s probably not one you would think of until your to-do list has gotten out of control. But learning how to manage your time wisely is an essential life skill that most young adults don’t “leave the nest” doing well. Knowing how to manage your time wisely is essential to climbing the ladder of success. The more successful you get, the less time you have. We hope this information will equip you in mentoring young adult as they grow more independent and hopefully you’ll learn some useful tips too!
Purpose:	Time management skills are most often addressed as productivity. You’ve probably heard of some of the top experts in this field, like Tim Ferriss, Craig Jarrow, or David Allen. These guys are next level, high performance advisers to the most successful people in the business world, but a little intense for the beginner. ​For the purposes of this article I’ll articulate the definition of being good at time management as such: Being good at time management means organizing your time intentionally and prioritizing activities that efficiently advance you towards your goals and honor your values. ​Why Are Good Time Management Skills Important? Good time management is essential to success. And it’s not limited to success in the workplace. Success as a friend, parent, spouse, fitness, anything… requires good time management skills. Success in any endeavor requires giving it the proper amount of time at the right time.
Description:	Time management has always been a struggle with kids…and that was before they were home all day, every single day, with all of their “time sinks” at arm’s length. One the main challenges is that time for kids isn’t managed or tracked by clocks. Instead, it’s meals, school, homework, play, and other events that let them know what time it is and where they should be. With such a fragile system – and especially now as they are missing a few key markers – it’s no wonder some kids have trouble when it comes to spending too much time in one area (ahem, social media), and too little time in another (ahem, learning). Luckily, like with most things, a little practice and the right direction can straighten out the kinks. To misquote that great 21st-century British philosopher Mick Jagger, time is most definitely not on your side. Be it finding socks or finishing science projects, many parents take it as a given that children are simply time-challenged, and there’s little to be done about getting them to complete a task within a set schedule. But recent studies suggest that moms and dads would do well to approach time management as important and teachable as reading and writing.
Knowledge:	Time management tips for kids Here are 8 time management tips you can easily and immediately incorporate into your kids’ daily lives: 1. Start time management training when kids are young 2. Divide the day into digestible time chunks 3. Treat daily activities like gateways to subsequent activities 4. Introduce time limits; verbally and physically, short and long 5. Remind kids that time isn’t always the only determinant 6. Establish the link between time and activity 7. Talk about time management with your kids 8. Gamify time management!
Abilities:	Life is unpredictable, especially with kids. You may not be able to avoid chaos altogether, but with our essential time-saving tips, you can learn how to maximize the time you have and make the most of those precious minutes. 1. Assess your time. 2. Prioritize. 3. Think ahead. 4. Organize, organize, organize. 5. Pick your battles. 6. Multitask. 7. Ask for help. 8. Give everyone a job. 9. Post it. 10. Be ready to go. 11. Use the Internet. 12. Put everything in its place. 13. Consolidate. 14. Baskets are a Mom’s best friend. 15. Make extras.
Tips for teachers:	The Age-by-Age Guide to Teaching Kids Time Management Time Management Tips for Preschoolers For 3- and 4-year-olds, time is essentially divided into now, and not now. But that’s enough to help them figure out how to predict and plan what comes next. To reinforce that knowledge: Talk about the changing seasons. All those leaf prints (and later in the year, snowflakes) on display in almost every preschool classroom aren’t coincidental, says Stephanie Lampert, a pre-K teacher from Atlanta. The seasons are a primary vehicle for introducing the cyclical nature of time. “It’s an extremely abstract concept,” she says, “and preschoolers are extremely concrete thinkers. By observing a tree over the seasons, for example, kids can see the progression: The green leaves of summer turn red, then brown, and eventually fall off the tree before coming back to life again in the spring. This is a tangible representation of the passage of time that little ones can understand.” How does that help with time management? By observing the patterns in nature and in their daily lives, little kids intuitively grasp the concept of time — and how to create order. Reinforce those lessons by having your child sort family photos by seasons, for instance. Or point out patterns in nature when you go for a walk. Create a (picture) schedule. “As adults, we use apps and calendars to remind us what we should be doing and when. In the preschool world, we use pictures — like an apple for snacktime and a book for storytime,” says Ellen Dietrick, a Needham, MA, preschool director whose classrooms are dotted with visual cues to keep her young charges on track. So while these 3- and 4-year-olds can’t tell you the exact hour they have snacks, they know it comes after circle time and before the bathroom break. “It gives them a comforting sense of order and predictability,” Dietrick says. Since little kids love routines and repetition so much, create charts of your child’s morning and bedtime rituals. Then have your child check off the steps as he does them — an important lesson in breaking up a bigger chore into smaller, more manageable ones. Try these nine ways to make choretime fun, too. Practice waiting. “Time management, at its most basic level, is the ability to delay gratification,” a skill linked to better study habits and grades, among other things, says Dietrick. To strengthen time management, Dietrick devises situations that require her students to wait for something they want. “If they clamor for pajama day, for example, we schedule it for a week away, rather than the following day,” she explains. “We mark the days off on the calendar and build up the excitement as the event gets closer. This gives them a sense of what it feels like to postpone something — and a positive experience to associate with it.” Try something similar with outings and birthdays: Begin talking up that trip to the zoo a few days beforehand, for instance, or tell your child to keep a running birthday wish list. Even planting a bulb, watering it, and watching it slowly bloom teaches the art of patience. Set a bedtime. Ease your kids back into a consistent sleep routine one or two weeks before school starts. Kids ages 5–12 need 10–11 hours of sleep per day. Set a reasonable bedtime and stick to it. Turn your child’s routine into a checklist. This is the best thing you can do to reduce family stress during the week. During the school year most kids generally follow the same daily routine—take a shower, get dressed, etc. Instead of badgering your kids to get stuff done, work with them; create a personal checklist that includes personal care tasks and age-appropriate chores. Hold them accountable to finish their tasks. When you hear “but I didn’t know!” or “what should I do now?” send them to the chart. No more excuses. Have the kids create their own calendars. Work with your kids to add after school activities to a virtual or physical calendar to help them see what their days will look like, and make the mental shift back to school. The earlier your kids start learning about calendaring, the more independent they will become—and the less you’ll have to do for them (which is a good thing!). Put time on their side. While your kids probably know how to tell time, they may not understand why it’s important. Help them to develop a greater awareness of time by buying a watch and teaching them how to gauge the amount of time needed to complete routine tasks. Teach kids to plan. Leaving the house on time and prepared requires planning. Does your child need to pack homework or turn in a permission slip? Does she need sports gear for after school? What time does your child need to start getting ready so you can leave on time? Post a checklist including what they need to do, and what time to do it so everyone is accountable to get out the door on schedule. Establish set meal times. Perhaps it’s a throwback to the Cleaver household of 1959, but setting regular meal times for the entire family (e.g., 7 a.m. breakfast) will not only help your kids become more aware of time, but it helps ensure time spent together as a family. Establish rules for electronics (goodnight, iPad!). We all know that it’s not good to be glued to screens 24/7. Many parents establish the “what, when, and how much” as it relates to screen time, but it’s also a great idea to set a concrete “bedtime” for technology, when all screens are turned off for the night. Yes, parents, too. Designate a study zone. Kids need a designated study area where they can do homework without being distracted. Do you have a plan for the papers that come home from school? Some you’ll need to keep while others can be “filed” in the recycling bin. Figure out how you will manage the paper flow. Let your kids voice concerns. Give your kids the opportunity to voice what concerns they have about going back to school. New teacher expectations, rules or a new school can cause anxiety. Once they’ve shared their concerns, brainstorm solutions. Having an action plan can help allay fears and smooth the transition for everyone. Be a coach, not a manager. With the return of school comes added responsibilities and more opportunities for parent-child conflict. Consider making a mental shift—from your kids’ manager to their coach. As a manager, you nag your kids to get things done because you feel responsible for the outcome. That’s when everyone digs in their heels and the power struggle ensues. As a coach, you instead act as a caring outsider providing guidance and support. You empower your kids with facts and then step back and allow them to make choices—good or bad—for themselves. It’s liberating for everyone and builds kids’ self-confidence for the long term.
Sources / resources	Videos, readings…  https://finallyfamilyhomes.org/2020/01/30/time-management-101/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIufnMrJjt6QIVVLTVCh3IVQR8EAAYASAAEgL6evD_BwE https://www.parents.com/parenting/moms/healthy-mom/time-management-tips/ https://www.scholastic.com/parents/family-life/parent-child/teach-kids-to-manage-time.html https://www.idtech.com/blog/time-management-for-kids https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/time-management-for-kids/ YOUTUBE VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcIIX5G5hjU https://youtu.be/F5JI_6nsgaM https://youtu.be/KBH4c55NnIY https://youtu.be/TvwJIZZh7Us