Time Management

Help your child use time wisely and efficiently:

• Help your son or daughter to learn to identify when they need to study. Use of the study agenda may be helpful in this process to determine how far in advance study should begin. It is also important to help your child understand that study is not only necessary for tests and quizzes, but is needed when they do not understand topics covered in class.

• Get into the routine of things! Working with your child, help him or her develop a routine study schedule. Be sure to consider other commitments, such as sports and appointments, when planning study. Using a study organizer or schedule with days of the week and time intervals will help to plan study after school and on weekends.

• Depending on the complexity of each study task, help your child to estimate how much time studying will take. Plan study accordingly.

• Plan to study challenging or complex topics when they feel most awake and prepared. Break long study tasks into smaller components.

• Encourage your child to study in short intervals with frequent, short breaks. Taking such an approach will avoid fatigue and increase retention of study material.

• Be cautious that activities started during study breaks do not make it difficult to continue with priority number one: study. Play and social activities are important parts of the day, but should not be mixed with study if your child has a difficult time getting back to work. Brief breaks are important, but avoid encouraging activities that may be difficult to discontinue once started.

• Encourage your child to reflect on their study experiences. What has worked so far? Have they had enough time to study? What might work better next time? Reflecting on successes and weaknesses will help them to plan better in the future.

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