As your child gets older, everything can start adding up: school, homework, projects, sports, clubs, music lessons. Suddenly, there aren’t enough hours in the day, and parents often are left wondering how to help their child prioritize everything so nothing slips through the cracks.
What parents need to keep in mind, said licensed psychologist Suzanne Collins, who works with children and families at Little Psychological Services in Florence, is that school comes first.
“School work trumps everything else,” Collins said. “You have to set expectations for your child at the beginning of each school year so he or she knows what’s expected grade-wise. If he or she is not reaching these expectations, you may need to look at whether he or she should continue to participate in the extracurricular activities.”
Collins said she sometimes sees parents who are more concerned about their child’s football practices, for instance, and are OK with schoolwork being turned in late.
“Parents are a really big part of it,” she said. “I tell them that they need to set the expectations now (before a kid is in high school) because once they get to high school, most schools have their own requirements for kids to maintain a certain grade. I say, ‘School’s not the bad guy, but they’re going to enforce this if you don’t.’”
The best way parents can help their kids make schoolwork a priority, Collins said, is by teaching them good time management skills.
“As kids get older, they’re going to have bigger and longer-term projects,” she said. “Help them learn how to break those projects down now so they can do it by themselves the next time.”
