First things First – do the important tasks first – the coaching – and all else follows. This is the first of two posts on how you can find the time, energy and space to help your child do well at school.
Although you have realised that if you coach your child in reading, writing, or Maths skills they will learn faster and easier at school, you might have also noticed that the coaching often gets cancelled or forgotten. Urgent appointments with others, extra work, tiredness, difficulties with family, urgent homework, illness, your other children’s needs and demands, or unexpected visitors, can take the coaching time and energy meant for your child.
Coaching your child regularly is not an urgent job that has to happen right this moment, but it is a very important one. Regular success at school will give them confidence and skills that will change their life. However, unless we plan carefully, we often get trapped by all the urgent tasks in our day, and never get to the crucial ‘not urgent but important’ coaching. Goal-setting is the first step in check out here for more idea on goal-setting
Prioritise the very important but not urgent task of coaching your child – and the urgent tasks will still get done. Steven Covey tells the story of a professor playing with stones, sand and water, and a jar, in his book ‘First things first’ (1994). He first placed all of the sand and small stones in a jar then tried to place the larger stones in, but they wouldn’t all fit. The sand and smaller stones had taken up all the room inside the jar and there was no room for the larger stones. He began again using the same amount of stones and sand, but he placed the large stones in the jar first, then trickled in all the smaller stones, then the sand, and then tipped lots of water on top as well. His message was quite simple. You will always find time for the urgent tasks, but if you don’t fit in the ‘not urgent but important tasks’ first – you won’t fit them in at all.
I will give you ideas in the next post on how to plan so that the ‘not urgent but important’ tasks get done first.
Check out my e-book on how your child can become an excellent student
Warmly,
Anne
Families as Coaches 