A phrase we often hear thrown around is “work-life balance”. This refers to having clear boundaries and expectations between our work life and home life. While this is important to maintain, another type of balance should be introduced into your family. School-life balance refers to balancing schoolwork and other life activities in children. Teaching school-life balance to children can help set them up for success as adults.
Having principles of school-life balance at home will help your children learn how to set boundaries for themselves. It also teaches them that both of these areas of life have value and should be respected. When your children have healthy school-life balances, they are more prepared for making good habits in adulthood. They will also learn critical management and prioritizing skills that will suit them throughout their lives. Here are a few essential tips to keep in mind when teaching your kids about school-life balance.
Teach Time Management Skills
Balance is about finding the right way to distribute tasks while still achieving the necessary goals of each day. One of the best ways to teach school-life ratio is to teach time management to your children. Let them know that school assignments need to be completed and develop a plan. Break down each task and find areas to add in breaks and time away from schoolwork.
Trying to complete all the schoolwork for the day in a single block can be extremely overwhelming for a child. By allowing breaks and time for play, you can help the process go more smoothly. And, when it’s time to focus, take away any distractions like a cell phone for kids or other technological distractions. Having that phone back after working becomes an incentive to complete school tasks.
Take Time to Prioritize Play
If children had their way, life would be all play and no work, including school assignments and homework. However, they must understand some responsibilities need to come first. And as a parent, you must know that you need to take time to prioritize play. After all, school-life balance requires a balance of both aspects, not just school.
When you teach your children that you can prioritize play and schoolwork, they learn to take time for themselves. That helps them as they grow to understand that having time off of work is essential. By prioritizing play after work is done, you can help them get through school work quickly. And you teach that joy has a critical place in life.
Find Stress Management Techniques
School and homework can be very stressful for children, especially when they feel pressure to succeed from parents and teachers. And, if a child is struggling with a subject or assignment, that stress is compounded. Being a taskmaster and a disciplinarian can sometimes make children feel like they aren’t succeeding and are disappointing you. Instead, try helping them find ways to reduce stress and manage their feelings.
There’s no way to avoid stress in life altogether, but there are ways to manage it when stressful situations arise. Stress management teaches children that they can get through it while they can’t avoid every stressful situation. You can instruct your kid’s skills like breathing techniques, positive affirmations, and talking through their feelings. These skills can apply to many problems both at school and in the future.
Allow Children to Have Their Interests
As a parent, you want your children to succeed in school to have more opportunities as an adult. However, it’s equally important to nurture your children’s interests and hobbies. Creative outlets give children things to look forward to and allow them to grow individually and personally. However, there is such a thing as too much of a good time.
Help your children prioritize their after-school activities like clubs, sports, lessons, and playtime. Too many activities can be just as overwhelming for children as too much homework. By picking the things they want to focus on, they can focus on interests that matter most to them. That also helps them have a manageable list of activities to balance with their school life.
Celebrate Success
One of the best ways to encourage your children to find school-life balance is by celebrating their successes. If school and homework have no fun elements, even after success, your children won’t be motivated. By observing the wins that your children have, they will want to try hard and continue winning at school. It also lets kids know that you value their effort and pride them.
Whether it’s as simple as a good grade on a worksheet or an A in the class, celebrating success makes children happy. Small and big moments can both be celebrated with your family. When praised for their achievements, children want to focus on school and balance it with play. That helps the lessons you instill about school-life balance to stick.
Life Skills for Now and the Future
School-life balance is an important skill set that lets children learn to prioritize and manage their time. It also shows them the value of separating different areas of their life and respecting the time for each room. And most importantly, school-life balance translates directly into work-life balance as they age. This allows your children to develop healthy management skills that they can use now and in the future. And as a parent, that’s a goal you should strive for every day.
