Work with your children to help them recognize what they can accomplish in a given amount of time. Use the rule Age x 1 minute = amount of concentrated work time. (Example: 10 year olds= 10 minutes)
Give the child a designated task if they are 7 or younger. Let 8 year olds and older children pick the task they wish to use as an experiment. Ask them to:
1. Predict what they can get done in _____ minutes of concentrated work time.
2. Set the timer.
3. Allow time to work.
4. At the end of the time, talk about what was accomplished. Did it match the prediction?
5. Evaluate how well or poorly things were done.
6. Ask children to rate themselves on how well or poorly they used ____minutes of concentrated work time.
Rating System:
Superior--Accomplished much more than I predicted
Super--Accomplished more than I thought I would
Good--Know myself well and did what I thought I could
Poor--Didn't do as much as I thought I could
Try Again--I need to do this over again to see if I can use concentrated time better