How to Teach Kids to Manage Their Time

Make time visible

Sand timers, visual clocks and countdowns turn an abstract idea into something a child can watch.

Once time is visible, a child can start to feel how long things take instead of being told.

Plan backwards together

Rather than telling your child to be ready by eight, work backwards with them. We leave at eight, shoes take five minutes, so we start at ten to.

Doing this out loud teaches the skill. Doing it for them just makes you the calendar.

Let small deadlines have real weight

If homework is left until the last minute and the evening is miserable, that is information. Do not rescue it every time.

A few uncomfortable evenings teach more about planning than a year of reminders.

Separate planning from doing

Ask your child to say what they are going to do and when, before they start. It takes thirty seconds and builds the habit of thinking ahead.

Over time, they start doing it without being asked, which is the whole point.

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