How To Teach Your Kids Time Management Skills

It is important that children learn time management skills, to organize their responsibilities every day and use their time wisely. Going to school, doing their homework and having time to play… they can do it all with a little organization and better time management.

The schedule of the parents determines the daily life of their children. When both parents work outside the home or when only one parent runs the household, a child’s life is usually filled with activities. Their time seems to be fully occupied.

However, just because kids switch from one activity to another doesn’t mean they know how to use their time wisely.

It is likely that even their parents do not know how to manage their own time well. Both children and adults should have time management skills.

Your kids need to learn the value of time

Your children will probably often hear you say “Time is money” or “I don’t have time”. If your kids are young, they probably don’t understand what you mean. Children have no sense of time, nor do they know how it affects people’s lives.

As they grow, they gradually begin to understand concepts such as: ‘today’, ‘tomorrow’, ‘now’ and ‘later’. Teaching them the value of time starts at the crack of dawn. There is a time to:

• to rise.
• to dress you.
• to have breakfast.
• to go to school.

Those first minutes of the day are the first great opportunity you have to teach your child to make good use of their time. When they get home from school later in the day, they should organize the time to:

• do their homework
• go to their extracurricular activities
• to play.

You can teach your child that there is time for every activity and that they can enjoy some well-deserved time off afterwards.

On the other hand, it is wrong to schedule all of a child’s time. And this is exactly what most parents do: overwhelm their children with activities.

Instead, children should learn that if they are responsible, they can enjoy free time that they can use to do whatever they want. That’s the greatest reward you can give them.

How to teach children time management skills

You probably already know that the example you set is crucial for your children. If you’re always in a rush to get your kid to school and you’re late to pick them up, then you’re not the best example of time management skills.

By organizing your daily agenda, your child can show that you are organizing the time you spend at work, at home and for quality time with the family.

You should also organize the time they spend on homework and studying.

• They should not do their homework right before bedtime.
• The projects that take days or the study time needed to prepare a test cannot be done at the last minute.

Helping your child to organize his responsibilities is therefore the best way to teach him time management skills.

You should also teach your children that the more effective they are at doing their homework and fulfilling other responsibilities, the more free time they will have.

The most important thing for children is their playtime. We can take advantage of this to teach them to appreciate the importance of being well organised.

Help kids learn time management skills and organize their time

Having free time to play is the greatest reward for a child who was able to manage his time well. Here are three key recommendations to help them make good use of their time.

Set up a reasonable schedule to teach children time management skills

Your child should have a schedule to learn to follow. It should include all activities, such as time to:

• play
• to study
• to watch TV
• to move
• surf the internet

Children like schedules and clarity. However , this does not mean that you should never be spontaneous or flexible.

Design and promote routines

Routines help organize time and create harmony. That is why it is good to teach your child routines.

• When your child gets out of bed, he should know to get ready for school.
• He has to do his homework before he can play.
• He has to clean up his toys before he grabs other toys.

• Before going to bed, children should prepare their backpacks for the next day and take a bath.

Divide roles and responsibilities

Some form of role play will enthuse and motivate children to fulfill their responsibilities. Your child needs to know that he is responsible for ‘something’ in the house.

If you have two or more children, you must assign certain roles and responsibilities to each child. For example, one can walk the dog and the other water the plants.

Final consideration

Teaching children time management skills is beneficial as it ensures that they always complete their tasks on time.

Moreover, effective time management enables them to fulfill all their responsibilities on time. In this way, they can then enjoy well-deserved rest and free time to play and amuse themselves.