Parents of Schoolgoers  Discussion Forum

Hi friends,
My son is 8 yrs old, who is very intelligent, emotional and caring too. But when it comes to study he is very slow writer, he takes his own gala time to complete his home work. So is the complaint i receive from his school too, he is intelligent but does not have time sense. He cannot fix his priorities. Will take his own time to get ready without bothering that he may miss his school bus. I am really worried.
Teri replied. Time management is an issue for many people, one that is actually taught to executives in corporations, so your son is not alone in this problem!

My sister and I had the same problem with our sons getting ready for school. They would plop down in front of the TV and forget to get ready. I solved this problem with my boys by setting a rule that the TV could be turned on only after they were completely ready for school. This meant completely dressed, bookbags ready, etc... even their coat, hats.. had to be sitting next to them before the TV was turned on. After I set this rule I never had to nag them again, if one of them was falling behind his brothers would promptly tell him to get moving so they could catch their favorite cartoon before school!

My sister was even more creative. She set the stove timer for 45 minutes. They get up at 7 am and had to be completely ready by 7:45 am. If they weren't ready then they would have a priveledge taken away after school. She said they often went in and checked the stove timer and each one was able to get ready on time.

One of them got ready immediately, another waited until he had just enough time, but still managed to get ready on time. Her third son got ready for the entire 45 minutes, but was also ready on time. So in their own way they learned to manage their time in the way they like to organize themselves.

Helping your son manage his time with assignments is a more difficult task. My two younger boys are meticulous about completing assignments, even if the teacher wants them to move onto something else. Seems they feel things are left unfinished they don't complete the entire project right now.

My other two sons could care less when they finish the assignment. I believe we are born with these qualities, so changing this behaviour is very difficult. Helping your child set up a time-schedule will help. Use the stove timer idea for homework. Set it to a reasonable time allotment for an assignment and when it goes off discuss with your son if he thinks he was on task, or working too slowly. Eventually he'll get a handle on how long his assignment should take and pick up the pace if necessary.

One thing I've learned from having 5 kids is that each one is different and it takes creative thinking to help them through their challenges. Also, I rarely give the same solution to more than one child, because what works for one doesn't necessarily work for the other.

Just some ideas,
Teri