No one is born productive, people become productive along their lives. Now, it is clear that this statement could be different, and without any doubt, parents and teachers have a fundamental role in this matter. It is possible, in a playful way, to help kids to have a more productive future from early in life.
I have two boys, aged 5 and 11, both of who use a planner, but in the worst possible way.
No teacher has ever encouraged them to use it productively. What I have done and recommend to teachers/parents is the following:
1 – Take all the homework your child has to do and make him/her write it down on the planner (and not on the particular notebook for that subject – as this is how you will create the habit of distributing all the things that have to get done).
2 – Encourage your child to arrive home and show his/her parents all that has to be done.
3 – Teach him/her that when a lesson or activity is done, it must be scratched off the planner.
4 – In the following day, the teacher will look at all the kids’ planners and those who have scratched off all of the items, will get a “teacher’s special stamp” (of course, it changes as the child grows). In my case, I do this with my oldest son in a weekly basis (so he gains responsibility), now with my younger one, I do it daily.
5 – This also applies with studying for tests or working in group. You must encourage the child to always do the tasks ahead of time and not at the last minute (may be even rewarding him/her in some way).
It is our role as parents to help our children, but never use this as a tool to demand things from your child or in a boring matter; it has to be playful, light and that will give the child some type of positive return!
The subject is cool and I will write some more about it in future posts…
