How to help your kids balance school and extracurricular activities

Can you believe it's back-to-school time already? How is it that the summer always flies by so quickly?! Regardless, you're in luck, because in this blog post you'll find tips and tricks that can make this school year a little bit easier. How? By helping your kids balance school and extracurricular activities.

It can be difficult for children to manage school work while also being committed to sports, clubs, and other extracurricular activities. With that said, teaching them good time management skills now will not only help them thrive in the present day, but it will also set them up for success later in life. Here are some ways you can help your kiddos practice time management and boost their efficiency. 

Set boundaries

Setting boundaries is a tactic that's great to implement into your children's lives early. In this case, setting boundaries will look something like only playing one sport every season or learning just one instrument every year.

I've seen kids who play a couple sports throughout the year, as well as be in multiple clubs, on top of being a full-time student. Though this works for some people, it isn't efficient, and it can cause burnout in your kids (and, quite frankly, in yourself, too). Where's the time for school work and rest?!

So, when registering for clubs and sports officially opens this year, be sure to set and stick to those boundaries so that your children can stay balanced!

Encourage communication

There's no foolproof way of balancing school and extracurricular activities when there's a lack of communication. I'm not only talking about communication between you and your kiddos, but also between the kids and their teachers/coaches/leaders. Effective communication will help in keeping up with due dates, managing hours needed for clubs and sports, etc. 

This helps your children learn efficient time management, of course. But it also encourages them to practice and improve their communication skills, which will serve them for years to come. 

Practice self-care

Let's not dismiss the fact that extracurricular activities can be A LOT on your kids. Making sure they practice self-care regularly is significant for your kids' mental, physical, and emotional health. 

Self-care can look different for all ages, and it will vary from kid to kid. Just like we adults have our different forms of self-care (i.e. bath, exercise, spa, gardening, etc.), kids will have their different forms, too (i.e. drawing, playing outside, nap time, etc.).

Speaking of our own self-care, this is a great opportunity to model it for your kids. When they see you doing something for yourself that relaxes you, they'll be encouraged to do it for themselves!

Optimize study time

Optimizing study time is crucial to boosting your kids' efficiency in the midst of a busy schedule. It's common to see young students neglecting study time due to a long list of other commitments, so here are two quick and easy ways to optimize that loaded schedule and add in some more time dedicated to schoolwork:

• Eliminating distractions is important when encouraging good study habits. This means TV remotes away, phones on "do not disturb," etc.
• Another tool is to break tasks down into smaller tasks. For example, say your kiddo has a big project coming up and they're anxious about the amount of time it'll take. In this situation, you and your child can break the big project down into smaller, more manageable tasks that will be done in a timely manner. Now the project doesn't seem so big and scary, and they can actually focus on needle movers instead of freezing up, not knowing where to start.

Find something that works for your kiddos and stick to it. More efficient studying leads to more time for relaxing, self-care, etc. 

Whether your children have one, two, or three plus extracurricular activities in school, it's super important to make sure they are balancing their time in order to stay on top of their schoolwork and protect their mental health. Try out some of these tips and report back which ones were most effective! And if you need a little extra professional help, consider a power hour. I work with kiddos, too, and would be happy to put together a game plan that is tailored to your children's needs. 

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