Does your homeschooler have good time management skills?? How do you teach that?

[Amber]

How do you teach time management skills? ONe of our kids, now a teen, waits until the final hour to get something done. Then they burn the mid-night oil to get it done. I use to constantly remind them of something they needed to get done but last school year I backed off and thought it was time to let them feel the consequences of procrastination. And they did. It's an awful lot of stress.

We had this discussion tonight because they were suppose to complete something by the end of July and did not do it. So now tomorrow, they will work and work and work to get it done.

Is there some kind of book or something to help that you know of? Dh and I do not wait until the last minute to do things and we make it a point not to be late for an appointment or when meeting people. So I don't think it's coming from us. But, I think sometimes when kids go to school and they are on a more rigid schedule perhaps they develop better time management skills.

THanks,
Amber

[Peela]

Well to some extent I think there probably is a point to back off and let them work it out for themselves.
I have issues with my dd14 over this- the last two Mondays she hasnt been able to complete her normal, assigned schoolwork because she has a drama class in the afternoon, and she left her homework for that, till the last minutes. The first time, I told her off and just made her finish her schoolwork in the evening after drama. The 2nd time I really growled at her, and told her no, she couldnt do the drama homework- she had had plenty of time. Then I backed down, because I realised actually she hadn't had plenty of time since she now has a part time job, and she had been away on a Scout camp all weekend. So after she burst into tears and said she didnt want to be kicked into a lower class, I gave her ONE more chance (I am a sucker,but she is pretty responsible normaly).

This child does have time management problems- she loves to write- I give her a writing assignment and she will spend hours on it- at the expense of her other schoolwork. So now I give her a time limit and a page limit, and she can spend hours on writing her own creative writing in her own time- not writing for school.

I guess I try and keep in touch with all aspects of her world still (while I can), and keep a sense of order for her, and slowly try to teach her to keep it for herself. Now that she has work, and schoolwork, and chores at home, and many extra curricula activities, her life is extremely full and time management is becoming an issue. I intend to keep the priorities- homechores and schoolwork first, then paid work, then her extra curricula activities.

She has a big calendar on her desk now, with big squares to write in, and she writes things up there to remind herself. We tried a diary and she never looked at it, so the big calendar works better. I think that's the best idea we have come up with. And discussions about it. It bugs me when her time mismanagement affects the rest of the family, and thats what I try and minimise- I try and make sure the consequences affect her, not us.

[8FillTheHeart]

How old of a teen and how much guidance?

I give my kids deadlines. I break large projects into stepped due dates. This is the way it was done when I was in high school and I think that it helps them learn to "see" the process. For example, if a research paper needs to be written, I have a due date for thesis statement, note cards, outline, rough draft, and final copy, not simply a due date for the paper.

Now, if they procrastinate within those dates, I do NOT do anything to accommodate their procrastination. Every other responsibility remains the same. Nothing works more effectively than natural consequences of their own creation.