This is the first of a series of posts related to a seminar I gave at the HERI Jax Homeschool Convention in July of 2016.

When I was asked to speak at the HERI Jax Homeschool Convention during the summer of 2016, I tried to think of a subject on which to speak that hadn’t been lectured to death, and also something in which I could contribute a unique perspective. I thought I should pull from my 16 years of experience tutoring middle and high school students. With a fairly even split of homeschool versus public/private school clients, and a healthy mix of middle and high school students, I knew I could address something that would be specifically targeted to that age demographic, but also certainly be useful for those already in that stage of life, or those who are only at the elementary level but trying to plan ahead.

It finally came to me that what parents at or entering this stage needed was some guidance on how to be prepared for high school. Not in an academic sense, but in terms of disciplines and basic skills that would, in large part, determine a student’s success at a higher level of learning. I narrowed my focus to 5 areas specifically, although undoubtedly their are others. Improvement in any one of these will make high school significantly easier (for parents AND students), and implementing all of them, even if not with 100% efficiency, will drastically reduce the stress, sleep deprivation, out-of-classroom instruction, and last-minute cramming that are both undesirable and unnecessary. These five areas are: time management, note-taking, math homework, comprehensive reading, and test preparation. This post will focus on just the first area.

Time Management

If you were sitting in the audience listening to this lecture, this is where I’d crack a joke about it not being a long section since I’m trying to manage my time! Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately?), dear reader, I have time to elaborate, and so I shall.

The success of students, whether in high school or college (and to some extent younger grades), often depends greatly on their ability to manage their time wisely. Homework, projects, exams, study sessions, work obligations, extra-curriculars, social time — if they can’t fit it all in, some areas will suffer, likely the ones they deem less important! I’ve seen mediocre students excel in class because they were on top of everything, while advanced students procrastinated and paid the price for rushed or incomplete work. This skill obviously plays into so many other areas of life, so it behooves students to practice this during their younger years. A few tips when it comes to teaching your student time-management:

1. Start now!

Time management is a skill, a discipline that must be learned. No one goes to bed as a disorganized, lazy, procrastinator and wakes up with every 15-minute window of their day planned out. So in recognizing this problem, the first step in building this habit is self-revealing: START NOW! You can’t wait until it matters for high school credits. By then, it is almost too late. Commit NOW to teach your students how to manage their time. Apply these steps in your own life first if necessary, for you must discipline yourself to teach them self-discipline. It is very difficult to teach something that you aren’t very good at.

2. Schedule everything

So, you’ve resolved to be purposeful in managing your time. How do you actually start? By putting it all down in a calendar. I prefer using Google Calendar. It syncs between all my devices, is color-coded based on the category, has a lot of flexibility with repeated appointments, and has some pro features that I depend on. That may be too high tech for beginners, so perhaps use a physical planner or simply print out something from the web. Be sure that you at least use a weekly view, since you’ll need to block things out by time slots, but the month-at-a-glance option is also extremely useful. Whatever method you choose, be sure that it’s something that you’ll have easy access to, and that you’ll use it. Start by putting in the non-negotiable events (classes, church, sports, etc.), and then fill in the blanks with things that make sense for that day and time. Chores, homework, meals, bedtime, playtime, social time, all of it! Be sure to account for drive time so you aren’t scheduling chores right after soccer practice! I recommend putting in all long-term commitments (that party in 2 weeks, piano recital next month, etc.) as far out as you have them, but only filling in the flexible stuff for a week so you can make adjustments between weeks to match reality.

3. Be reasonable with expectations

While this applies to everything you block out on your schedule, it isn’t usually a problem until you start planning how to allot time for homework and studying. As I prepared this information primarily for homeschoolers, I was reminded how often I’ve seen a mother schedule her student to spend 45-60 minutes for math everyday when they always need 90. You might not even know what is reasonable right now, so just guess and block it out. I’ll mention adjustments in the next section. If you’re like me, as you fill in your week with blocks for each subject, you’ll notice your heart rate increasing as your free time vanishes before your eyes. But you have to remember, you are doing this to reclaim your free time. I promise it will pay off.

4. Stick to it

When you first start using your schedule, you’ll find a lot of miscalculations and assumptions about how long things should take. This isn’t a problem if you overestimated, but if you underestimated and don’t stick to the schedule, the snowball effect will take over and make the entire effort futile. So, whenever possible, stick to what you put on the calendar. If only 1 hour is allotted for a particular event (homework, chores, even entertainment!), only spend an hour on it. You will have to finish that work during a free-time block. Revisit your schedule later to make adjustments as you learn what your needs are. This is obviously going to look different for every person’s situation, but if you can make it a few days or even a week without drastic changes, you’ll have a much better idea of how to fix your schedule for the following week. As you tweak your schedule, a few weeks should be enough to have a decent grasp of how much time everything will take and where to put it.

5. Relax

Unless you are reading this while you are behind the 8-ball, take a breath and remember you are learning a new skill, and that takes some time. If at first your schedule-making is a disaster, it’s not going to doom you or your student forever. It isn’t vitally important (yet) for you to do this perfectly every time. And if you happen to be one of those just realizing the importance of mastering your time in the middle of high school, you can still relax. The thousand-mile journey still starts with one step, and you can take that step now and worry about the other 1,000 miles once you get a grip on your schedule.

Conclusion

Hopefully this information inspires you to finally start using that valuable tool, the calendar, to control your time instead of it controlling you. Students who develop the discipline of time-management will always seem ahead of the game, and they will be able to juggle classes, work, family, church, sports, etc. with a little bit more breathing room than their peers. It is a simple yet important step in preparing for highschool life!

Stay tuned for part 2 of this series, which will cover the importance and rights and wrongs of note-taking! Also, please leave your tips on time management in the comments below!