Time waits for none, and more so if your child is running behind tuitions and classes for extra-curricular activities throughout the day. S/he is too overwhelmed by deadlines of all sorts and ends up doubting their own abilities.
You can undo this scene by establishing a time management routine for your children. Go through the tips below to know how.
6 tips to manage time well for kids
- Fix a sleep routine
Everything falls apart if children don’t get a sound 8-10 hours-long sleep throughout the day. Ensure that children sleep for a long span of time at night and a brief power nap in the afternoon if they get tired.
- Monitor eating time
Children can be messy eaters. They want to play with food and often waste their meals and when they get back to study, they’re still undernourished. This causes fatigue and decrease in productivity as the day goes on.
Ensure that they chew their food correctly and finish eating without table talk. A 10-minute-rest after lunch or dinner prepares them for the next task.
- Check attention span while studying
Absent-mindedness is a real time killer. Children won’t realise how many hours they can waste by simply staring at their textbooks and thinking about something else.
Split their study time into 30 minute sessions during which children read up and explain what they understood after 30 minutes. This retains focus and utilises study time properly.
- Set short-term goals
Does your child love watching that cartoon during prime time? Does she want to play with her friends in your neighbourhood in the evening? Tell her that no one will disturb her fun time if she completes her task well beforehand. This prompts children to reach their short term goals throughout the day and manage time well.
- Assure uninterrupted rest after play
Often, parents having high expectations think playtime to be a liability than a recreational activity. Physical exhaustion, if not supported with enough rest, can cause health issues and tiredness.
Allow children to have a good half-an-hour of rest to re-energise and carry on with the day’s course.
- Reward for time management
For children, it’s no mean feat to be up and running for school and classes afterwards . Appreciate their effort to stay on time and take them out to their favourite amusement park or that nice ice-cream parlour every week to reward their performances.
These are some time-tested tips for children to follow easily and not feel burdened about ever. Time management is done best when the processes come automatically to your children. Everything that you can do to initiate them into learning about time, the importance of time, and how to manage time will help always.