Before children have a developed sense of time, they are required to be on time. Pressured parents wind up nagging and shouting at their children to get dressed, eat breakfast, brush their teeth, and leave for school. This daily power struggle leads to chaotic school days, stressed parents and upset children.
Daily routines promote stability by letting children know what is going to happen next and what they are expected to accomplish. Los Gatos High School alumna and entrepreneur, Moschel Kadokura, knows this well as she instituted a time management system when her triplets (now college grads) were in kindergarten. Taking her homemade timing tool the next step, Kadokura patented, mass produced and first sold the On-Task On-Time for Kids system in 2007, when her fourth child entered third grade. It was an immediate hit with parents in her son’s elementary school.
Back-to-School Companion
On-Task On-Time for Kids is a portable time management system that guides children through the daily transition periods of sleep-to-school, school-to-home and from family time-to-bed. Removing the parent from the taskmaster role, the On-Task On-Time unit provides the visual cues to help a child overcome the challenge of focusing on his or her routine. Parents are freed from nagging while their children feel the confidence of completing routines on their own. Children begin building independence and self-esteem.
“Too often people believe good organization is something you either have or don’t,” says Alison Barnsley, professional organizer and owner of AAB Design in Mountain View, Calif. “But being organized is a process, not an end goal. Developing routines and good habits requires practice. I highly recommend On-Task On-Time for Kids to my clients with young children.” Barnsley, who has used On-Task On-Time with her own children, says the time management system also reminds parents to avoid doing everything for their children. “These are skills your child needs to master.”
How it works
The unique timer uses a step-by-step task structure that is tied to the visual passage of time. Through pictures and colors, an entire routine is laid out so that children can pinpoint what task they are completing, what has already been accomplished, and what is next to be done.
Since children are more likely to follow routines that they help create, parents and children create routines together. They place the colorful task stickers on a routine disk that is then mounted on the timing unit. As the routine disk moves, kids can see exactly what they should be doing by the task sticker that appears on the timer. The dashes on the stickers indicate minutes. After setting the timer themselves, children can carry it around the house while doing the tasks that are shown.
Three routine disks are included for division of morning, afternoon and evening tasks, and there are 52 task stickers to set up the routines. Blank stickers are provided for creating custom tasks, and dry erase markers are included for the whiteboard and reward chart.
To read what users of On-Task On-Time for Kids are saying or to see a demonstration, you can visit the Timely Matters, Inc. website: http://www.timelymatters.com. Also check out Kadokura’s parenting tips at https://www.facebook.com/OnTaskOnTimeForKids.
