Time Management And Scheduling
Do I need to manage my child's time?
As a good parent managing your child's time could be answered in this way. Yes, you need to manage your time but, you need to allow your child to maximize the control of his schedule as much as possible. You need to allow him; you need to empower him, to determine the time. You have to monitor that to make sure that he gets adequate sleep, adequate food, adequate activity, physical and mental. But you have to teach him how to manage that time. In many cases the younger the child is the more structure you're going to provide for that youngster. The older your child gets, the more the structure is there but, the youngster will fill in the detail. And you sort of question him about "Is he getting enough rest?” that sort of thing. You're looking at the data that comes in from report cards, for example, talking with his friends, so forth, you determine that the time is being well spent, and then everything is fine. If you find that there is a conflict, you need to talk with your child about that and also with his teacher and perhaps a school nurse also, get other people involved in that.
What might happen if I don't manage my child's time?
If you don't manage your child's time or teach your child how to manage his own time what happens is they get skewed into certain areas. It could be, for example, if they're interested in the computer they tend to put more time into that, isolating themselves from other activities. In a balance kind of setting that's not good. If they're interested in soccer, without managing their time well they'll put their energy's here and perhaps they might forget their academics. Basically, you need to make sure that your child has that balance but teach him about providing that balance for himself because ultimately that's what you'd want to do. You're setting him up for a success that way in teaching him how to manage his time.
How do I create a schedule for my child?
Basically, to create a schedule for your child that's really meaningful and supportive, you need to make sure that the child's time is balanced. Engage him in a conversation, depending on how old the child is, what his interests are, and then see if you can manage those interests to the best time available. He may be interested in soccer, he may be interested in baseball and other sports, and not interested in academics. So if you allow him to manage his time, he'll be doing these physical things and forget this. So keeping that balance in your mind would help him also address the academics and the need to, let's say, do his math homework even though he may not be highly interested in that. But that's a parental responsibility. Ultimately, he'll see the benefit for balancing. As a good parent, you have to train him to balance his time effectively.
Are there calendar programs I should use to plan my child's schedule?
There are. My suggestion is that you just use the old refrigerator door, or if you have a blackboard that's available in your kitchen or a central place in your house that you do something like that. Not that I'm opposed to technology, but often times the computer is isolated somewhat and to develop a really good schedule for your youngster you need involvement from the whole family. This way everybody can see each other's schedule so that you can begin to support each other in meeting those needs. So in today's times when our time is so tight because of work schedules and team schedules for your children it's really important that you share that schedule as a whole family where everybody can support. So my suggestion is: Use your refrigerator. That's key. Everybody likes to eat.
Should I consult with my child when making his schedule?
You have the experience of age and wisdom as a parent, your child does not. Your child understands what his needs are to some extent--his physical needs, his academic needs. Generally they're going to respond to their needs. You just have to make sure that it is appropriate. By consulting with your child, you're assuring that his activities would be appropriate to meet his needs and the needs of, let's say his academic achievement and all of those. That you're balancing all of those--his physical needs and academic needs together.
What should be the most important goals of my child's schedule?
The most important goals for your child would be to achieve his interests and meet his needs, both needs in terms of academic needs or physical needs. It doesn't matter. So he is doing what he wants to do, what he enjoys doing and he also is doing what he needs to do, for example, chores. He needs to have, regardless of what age, appropriate chores is fine to him. His schedule needs to allow him time to achieve those, to meet those resonsibilities. You should be providing that balance for your youngster.
Do I need to schedule "downtime" for my child?
In general, yes. The younger the child is, the more downtime would be appropriate. it's really hard to come up with a standardized rule for that because a lot depends on the developmental nature of the child, where he is, and also your child's temperament, whether he needs that. Some children need more rest (naps) during the afternoon than others, so it really depends on your youngster. Communicating with your youngster's teacher or the school nurse would be a really good way to get a handle on that if you're not sure as a parent.
