The way you organise your own day is often the way your child organises their day, so if you’re disorganised it’s very likely that your child will be as well. This can lead to chaos and frustration in your household, and make life as an adult just that little bit harder when they leave home! Here are four simple tips from a child care Five Dock to get your child organised from an early age.

Break Tasks into Smaller Manageable Activities:

Make getting ready for school a fun and rewarding experience by encouraging your children to break up their chores into manageable steps. For example, instead of asking them to make their bed every morning, ask them only to fluff their pillows and straighten out their sheets. Not only will they finish more quickly, but they’ll also feel good about having finished something on their own. This can be done for other activities too. Once they’ve taken care of these easy tasks, treat them with encouragement and praise.

Create Checklists for Your Child:

According to a child care Five Dock, planning is a process that starts with setting clear goals. To help encourage some level of organising in your child, encourage them to create weekly and monthly checklists. Having a list of things they need to do can provide structure and keep them focused. Keep up with their progress by reviewing each day’s progress together, checking off completed tasks and encouraging them as you go along. Your goal should be for all tasks on their checklist to be checked-off by bedtime each night.

Set Up a Homework Schedule:

Homework is a fact of life for most school-aged children. You’re going to want to set up a structured schedule that must be followed consistently. Try setting aside an hour a night—after dinner and before bedtime—to sit down with your child and do homework. (Or choose a time that’s convenient for the both of you.) Make sure your kids know ahead of time when it will be homework time, so they can plan accordingly. Don’t let them put off the assignments until after bedtime, or else they won’t be able to focus!

Teach Them How to Sort Their Stuff:

By assigning them tasks that involve sorting through their toys and clothes, you’ll allow them to think about what items they no longer need. By getting rid of old or broken toys, sports equipment, and extra clothing, you can teach kids about throwing things away and how good it feels to clean up after themselves. A day care Five Dock will also nurture other important skills for your child on a daily basis.

Children can be pretty disorganised, and this isn’t just due to the fact that they don’t know any better, it’s actually something that’s hardwired into their brains. Fortunately, when they adopt the tips mentioned above, things will only get better moving forward. A good childcare Five Dock will also take their best effort to develop good organisational skills in children.