How Do You Eat An Elephant...One Bite At A Time. Helping Our Children To Tackle School Projects (& LIFE actually)

Well parents, its back to school time! OMG, I canNOT believe that summer is technically over but there is a blessing with each new day, right? Right! As homework, special projects, after school activities, etc. approach our children, starting out with a positive attitude really helps and we can lead by example.

Many times we ask our children, "How was your day?" And the response is not what we hope to hear. "Fine"..."OK"..."Good" are some of the average responses. Digging deeper may help sometimes but it may be best to designate a specific time and place to sit down with your child/children each day, regardless of their age(s) at a designated place (i.e. kitchen table) and ask specific questions like, "What projects do you have coming up?" or "What tests/quizzes are scheduled for this week. Then you can shock and amaze them by pulling out a trustee wall calendar and a few dry erase markers. This is the perfect time to talk to them about steps he/she can take to prevent being overwhelmed. Calendaring, etc. will help them to grasp and explore time management, as well as, breaking projects into small manageable segments.

Select a calendar that is reusable and one that has spaces large enough to write in. Depending upon how you wish to handle the documentation, you can have a different color marker per child or have a different color marker per event, i.e. tests in red, bookreports in blue, etc. Find out what the due dates are for each and show your child how to work on studying, reading, or gathering information a bit each day, creating benchmarks. Have them prepare a rough draft several days before the final and arrange for them to be ready before the actual due date if possible. Planning and preparing in segments takes the pressure off.  

This works for budgeting, housework, vacation planning, etc. and will keep you and yours from pulling your hair out. Lol.

Small steps lead to big accomplishments! 

Touch bases with them along the way and offer suggestions and encouragement but let them actually do the work. Put the calendar in a convenient place for all to see, keep the calendar updated and initiate a reward system for jobs done well! May you and yours have a year filled with blessings!