2. The Challenge: Managing Time and Staying Organised

While some children are natural organizers, most children struggle with organization and time management – forgetting where things were put, misplacing books and stationery, failing to finish tasks on time, and so on. Developing good organizational habits at a young age can help children prepare for – and succeed in – life beyond schooling.

How Parents Can Help

Create an organized workspace – Set aside a place at home where your child can sit and study without interruption. Make sure that there is stationery, a calculator and his books etc. in that designated workspace. It also helps if the workspace is close to you, in case your child needs your help and support.

You can also hang a bulletin or a white board there Use containers and organisers to keep items of similar nature together. This way, the child knows where to look for something and also learns to return an item back into its container in order to avoid misplacing it.

Plan for long-term assignments – Deciding when to do tonight’s math assignment is one thing. Figuring out how and when to tackle an assignment that’s due three weeks from Today is quite another. The key with long-range projects is to break them down into smaller steps, and then break those tasks down into even smaller nightly assignments. It is important that as parents we talk our children through the process so that our children don’t feel alone.

Reading a book of 100 pages is probably something we used to, but for our child it could seem like a mountain to climb. In a case like this, if there is a test in two weeks, then create a schedule. Let him read only 10 pages a night and use the last 4 nights for revision or final notes.

Introduce checklists – Help your child get into the habit of using checklists and to-do lists to jot down important things such as homework, study tips, tings required for an upcoming project etc. This helps ensure they complete everything on that list and don’t miss anything out. They also get a sense of accomplishment when they finish tasks on time which helps them enhance their self-confidence.