Imagine that you went to work this morning at the same time that your child went to school.
A Monday morning routine at your house, but this time something is different.
You feel relaxed. You didn’t raise your voice once this morning in an attempt to rush your child out of the house. The domino set that your daughter likes to play with during breakfast is put away in its box – not strewn all over the floor like most mornings. You get in your car, pull out of the garage, and are delighted to hear that your favorite radio program is actually still on the air.
This was the morning for my client Diane. A welcome respite in the rushed world of today’s parents….especially for parents whose children and teens never seemed to have grasped the concept of time. I want to share one of the tricks she is now using with her children in the morning – and at homework time, chore time, and bedtime in the house. It’s the same strategy my husband Brad and I are using for helping our daughter Siena manage the transitions in her busy life too. I introduced it to the teachers-to-be in my course at the University of Colorado as well, and am excited for them to use it in their classroom.
The Time Timer. Now, please understand, I do not get paid for product placement. I am not getting any money from this company. I just truly believe in it. And want to share this ingenious invention with you.
It’s a clock like no ordinary clock. Time passes visually, and not because a hand of the clock is moving toward something, but because a chunk of red is going away. Children, teens, even us adults who fall on the side of being “time optimists” benefit from this new timepiece. No longer is time an abstract concept that is so utterly difficult for many children and teens to grasp (especially for children and teens with ADHD). Time is concrete.
You can set the timer yourself – put the red where you want it to go. Or, like Diane, you can have your child estimate how much time it will take him to finish breakfast and get ready to get into the car, and then set the clock accordingly. You can set the timer for how long it should take your child to empty the dishwasher, or finish the first ten math problems of his homework assignment. You can play time-estimation games too. The Time Timer is a fabulous tool. I just wish more teachers (and parents) knew about it!
Oh yes…there’s now an IPhone App too!
