Teach Kids Time Management Skills
If any one asked me what would I learn from a child, my answer would be "to live that moment". Yes, kids live in present. They get completely involved in the task at hand.
Do you see children playing with fixtures and blocks or doll house or colouring or doing any craft activity, or even kids who are playing outdoor or in the garden, how engrossed they will be?
Untill the concept of time is not introduced in your children's life, they learn happily.
They enjoy the learning, the process. And then we bring in time, the task, the deadlines.
The things your kids enjoyed doing before are now a mundane chore which they hate doing.
Do you see children playing with fixtures and blocks or doll house or colouring or doing any craft activity, or even kids who are playing outdoor or in the garden, how engrossed they will be?
Untill the concept of time is not introduced in your children's life, they learn happily.
They enjoy the learning, the process. And then we bring in time, the task, the deadlines.
The things your kids enjoyed doing before are now a mundane chore which they hate doing.
But as they grow their responsibilities increase and this is where their organisational skill and discipline will help them.
Time management is all about bringing in this balance.
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| Picture 1 |
- The first step is to analyse.
As shown in the first picture, divide the time in four quarters. This makes easy for kids to understand the time span.
Let them observe the time required (in our case, the quarters required) to complete each activity.
- Make a list of all the daily chores.
This will help them understand their daily activities. I have shown a sector clock below. It is easy to make and you can add and shuffle activities as per your wish.
- Ask your kid which among them are important and which are trivial and why. Tell him to arrange it in the order of high importance.Then ask him which among them can be postponed and which cannot be.
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| Sector clock |
- Now let him decide with your help the sequence of the activities.
- Let him decide the number of quarters he would like to allot for particular activity.
As your kid grows and starts understanding time, gradually he can start scheduling in hours and minutes.
At this stage this much understanding is more than enough.
As your kid keeps doing this on daily basis he himself will become observant and know which activity consumes his time with no time left for the important one.
This can be a good tool to emphasize on hygiene and develop self discipline.
But remember, for kids play time and time just with themselves is more important.
I feel time management should be taught to cultivate self discipline, responsibility and know the priority and not to pull them in a rat race that we adults are into.
At this stage this much understanding is more than enough.
As your kid keeps doing this on daily basis he himself will become observant and know which activity consumes his time with no time left for the important one.
This can be a good tool to emphasize on hygiene and develop self discipline.
But remember, for kids play time and time just with themselves is more important.
I feel time management should be taught to cultivate self discipline, responsibility and know the priority and not to pull them in a rat race that we adults are into.
Simple games like "who would do this first" (use of stop watch) can make them competitive.
These simple things told above can lay a strong base for organised thinking and bring punctuality and discipline.
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