How do you assign work to your kids?

[My4arrows]

I’m trying to keep my middle schooler for more independent work and responsibility to get the work done. I have been typing up a master plan for the week, it then prints off his daily assignments for the week. Then daily I’m going over the expectations and have him plan the order to complete the assignments. 
is this too much help?  As a past ms ps teacher I know it was verbally assigned and they needed to write it down. Is there more merit in this at this age 11/12?

How do you do it?

Edited February 16, 2021 by My4arrows

[eternallytired]

I have two that I'm transitioning into being more independent this year (5th and 6th).  I do something pretty similar.  I write out their independent assignments for the week and have them decide how to organize their time.  The first few weeks/months I'd prompt them to remember how much they needed to do before the week was over, since occasionally they'd take it easy at the beginning of the week and regret it at the end, but now they have a sense of how long each type of assignment will take, and they choose what they do each day (we have several Language Arts resources going at once, so not the same things every day) based on how long they have to work (if we have to be done for extracurriculars or if math took particularly long).  I do think eventually they'll need to know how to listen well enough to write down their own assignments, but I'll coach them on that when I start outsourcing classes in the next year or two.  For now, we're just working on time management.  (Honestly, in my 5th/6th grade classes the teachers usually had the assignments written on the board and would have a time when they'd tell the whole class, "Now take out your assignment book and copy this down," so it wasn't really any more independent than what I'm doing now.)

[wendyroo]

I started using Trello with my oldest last year (currently 6th, started using it in 5th).

Last year it was a very simple set-up: a list for each day of the week with the tasks that needed to be completed. I colored coded the task cards to show things like which ones were virtual class sessions that had to be done at a certain time, which needed my checking before they could be marked as done, which were done with me or a sibling and needed to be coordinated, etc. DS colored coded to show which were completed, which he needed help on, etc.

This worked well for about a year, but we started to have a few issues. DS was spending an inordinate amount of time transitioning between subjects. Also, now that he is earning high school credits for math and foreign language, I wanted to have a general idea of how much time he was spending on those subjects.

So now we are still using Trello, but in a different way. He has a daily block schedule much like you might see in a public school middle school. First period is Language Arts, then a break, then math, then snack, then Spanish (2 days a week) or Science and Piano (3 days a week), etc. His Trello board is now arranged by subject, so he has a Language Arts list and a math list, etc. So, he has to spend his entire Language Arts block working on tasks on his Languages Arts list (spelling sessions, grammar lessons, and completing his weekly writing assignments).

He and I spent a lot of time deciding what was a reasonable amount of work to assign in each subject area. So if he dawdles during the week, and he has tasks left undone on any of his subject lists, then he has to finish them up over the weekend.

This has been working well for the last couple months. I think it is the sort of schedule that could grow with him and serve him well for a long time to come. Obviously, by the time he gets to college he will have to figure out what "blocks" fit into each day, and what tasks need to get done during each block - be it class time, problem sets, study sessions, office hours, test prep, etc - but I think the structure of having times set aside for each subject, and lists of what needs to be done during those times, could really help with time management...which he needs all the help he can get with!!

[2_girls_mommy]

I just wrote the list on the whiteboard daily.  I never had time to type up detailed lists, lol! 

[caffeineandbooks]

21 hours ago, My4arrows said:

is this too much help?  As a past ms ps teacher I know it was verbally assigned and they needed to write it down. Is there more merit in this at this age 11/12?

It doesn't matter how it compares to various schools, it matters that it works for the two of you.  What you're doing sounds great.  When he is consistently achieving what you expect with this level of scaffolding, you can start to remove it bit by bit.  I have a calendar-obsessed fourth grader who loves to plan and write down exactly when things will happen and a much more drifty eighth grade afterschooler who likes to keep her options open 🙂  

As a next level step to independence, perhaps you might give him a page with subject headings and days already printed on it but he writes in the assignments, or perhaps he'll go straight to a blank page.

Later, you might give him a written list of what needs doing, but hand him a whole week's worth of work and a diary and help him break it down, helping him plan less school work on days with lots of extra curriculars for instance.  Further down this road, you might have him sit beside you while you come up with the list, so he hears your thinking process - "Now we want to finish this book before we take that trip in two weeks, and there are X pages left to read, so..."  Then you might hand him a single larger project and help him break down how long to plan for reading, hands on components, writing etc.  Even in high school kids are often getting help with this level, at least in the form of the teacher asking for rough drafts to be handed in a couple weeks before the final piece. 

Unless you have a compelling reason why he needs to get there earlier (you're returning to work or you have lots of youngers coming up behind him, for instance) it's totally fine for the transition to independence to last most of the way through high school - some kids are naturally organised, responsible and motivated, and some, well, aren't.

[Wheres Toto]

My kids each have a magnetic whiteboard on the doors to their rooms.  Each day I put up magnetic cards with their assignments for the day (one card for each assignment/subject).   They do an assignment and move it to the "Done" column.    I was giving them a whole week at a time and letting them decide when to do it but too many things weren't getting done so I switched to daily.   

I'm hoping to transition over the summer when I have more time (we school year round) to them filling in a student planner with their assignments for a week, separating them by day.  Probably working off a checklist that has individual assignments mapped out for the year.

My kids have ASD and anxiety, and ADHD and anxiety so I expect to need to give them a lot of support for longer.  

[freesia]

My kids have a plan book with a grid system. For my youngest, grade 6, I write in her assignments daily. Next year I will start giving her a weekly list of history reading and have her plan it out over the week. 

For my high schoolers I often give them syllabi for the subjects with the work assigned by week. They plan that into their grid planner. 

Sometimes I will have my youngest write her own assignment in the book, but it hasn’t mattered much one way or the other whether they write it themself. I think learning to work with a plan and learning to break larger assignments up is what is important however you work it out. 

[Shoes+Ships+SealingWax]

My DS is only in 2nd, but we switched to a workbox system this year & it’s working really well. He has a rolling cart with 10 drawers where I put his daily tasks. The tasks range from 5-45min in length & from easy to challenging. He is in control of selecting the order of assignments / activities, with natural consequences if he front-loads the easy stuff & leaves harder tasks for the end of the day. He caught on pretty quickly & generally does a great job balancing his days. 

Obviously as he gets older the tasks will change, but it’s working well as a gentle intro to time-management for now. Perhaps later (in middle / high school) we’ll switch over to each box being a day’s work, rather than a single task. 

Edited February 17, 2021 by Shoes+Ships+SealingWax

[My4arrows]

16 hours ago, caffeineandbooks said:

As a next level step to independence, perhaps you might give him a page with subject headings and days already printed on it but he writes in the assignments, or perhaps he'll go straight to a blank page

This is what I’m thinking 🤔 

16 hours ago, freesia said:

 

My kids have a plan book with a grid system. For my youngest, grade 6, I write in her assignments daily. Next year I will start giving her a weekly list of history reading and have her plan it out over the week. 

 

Hmm...this may be a good goal for 8th grade to prep him for. 

 

18 hours ago, 2_girls_mommy said:

 

I just wrote the list on the whiteboard daily.  I never had time to type up detailed lists, lol! 

 

Lol, it’s just my lesson plans for the week. I may a program so I can select the weekly assignments and then it generates an assignment sheet for each child to follow.  So it doesn’t take any more time for me than planning out our week. 
 

 

13 hours ago, Shoes+Ships+SealingWax said:

Obviously as he gets older the tasks will change, but it’s working well as a gentle intro to time-management for now. Perhaps later (in middle / high school) we’ll switch over to each box being a day’s work, rather than a single task. 

We did workboxes when they were that age too but he became more resistant to them as he got older. I’m not sure why. 

[PeterPan]

9 minutes ago, My4arrows said:

We did workboxes when they were that age too but he became more resistant to them as he got older. I’m not sure why. 

The next step up could be vertical dividers that you buy at the office supply. That way he can see what is coming next and rearrange but still has structure. https://www.amazon.com/SteelMaster-2646BLA-Vertical-Organizer-Sections/dp/B00006ICFN/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=metal+file+sorter&qid=1613573018&sr=8-3  Here's one like what I have. They come in different slot counts, widths of the slots, etc. I have several and like the flexibility.

https://www.lakeshorelearning.com/products/teaching-resources/bins-organizers/connect-store-book-bins/p/AA758X  Another alternative is book bins. I got something similar to these at Walmart last year during their back to school and LOVE them. They ones I got are deeper than a magazine bin, so they can hold notebooks, everything for the subject. I have some on a table going across to create ready access and I have some on a bookcase interspersed as dividers. For a teen, something where they can pick up one bin, have everything for the subject there, and transport it easily to where they want to work can work.

Both of those are physical organization structures for kids who want to see the plan visually. My dd used a typed out list and so she just needed her materials tidy. Later she just worked in her room or wherever, so she might have a bin that had all her materials in one place for the work she wanted to do in that location. (a bin in her room for the work she liked to do in her room) The typed out grid/table style list was a lot of work but it helped keep her on track. She didn't really have trouble transitioning to college with that, but by that point she was going over to apps. If you have a syllabus and are using apps, you just load everything in at the beginning of the semester.

I don't think personally I'd fret over the future and say that they need to do a task a certain way now. Writing out schedules might be a keeper for some people (include many professionals who ONLY USE PAPER for their scheduling), but many kids are going to go tech, tech, tech. So I think as long as it gets done the how doesn't matter. We aren't here to fight, only to succeed, kwim? And if they try something and it isn't working, they could go at it a different way later.

Fwiw, I think the more interesting question is the EF=executive function piece of it, whether they're waking up with a plan in their mind and the intention to do it. Remembering things from one day to the next is part of their EF, and we want to see some of that developing. It's why we do delayed projects, things with deadlines. So whether it's short term (I know and am thinking about my plan for tomorrow) or something they're trying to get done by the end of the week or the end of next week in steps, I think *that* is more important than whether it's tech or whiteboard or magnets or Trello or bins or whatever. They're all good. 

[My4arrows]

1 hour ago, PeterPan said:

Fwiw, I think the more interesting question is the EF=executive function piece of it, whether they're waking up with a plan in their mind and the intention to do it. Remembering things from one day to the next is part of their EF, and we want to see some of that developing. It's why we do delayed projects, things with deadlines. So

This is what I’m working with for this particular child. He wakes up thinking of how quickly he can finish the needed stuff so he can do his own projects. So trying to teach him methods to better organize his day and still get to his goal. Unfortunately I’ve been more focused on SN kiddos that he hasn’t gotten this attention and perhaps why I’m fretting he will fail. So I’m trying to implement what would work best for him yet also be age appropriate. We’ve tried the slotted bin instead of workboxes, the lakeshore type bins and so on. What I’m doing currently is working for him but I guess I’m just second guessing myself and it being age appropriate and preparing him for the future. 

[Loowit]

I have used a lot of different methods over the years.  When they were younger we did a subject at a time, and assign things as we went giving them time to work on it.  Later we went to white boards, each kid had their own that I would write down their assignments for the day on.

Eventually I started doing what I call the "binder of awesomeness" for each kid.  Basically a three ring binder with a sheet for each week of of the school year with their assignments broken down by day and subject.  However, my youngest doesn't like this so I will often just Skype him his assignments each day.  For a couple years since I started using this method, I have had to remind my middle child several times daily to check his binder.  Now he does it on his own, finally, during his senior year.

[PeterPan]

8 hours ago, My4arrows said:

What I’m doing currently is working for him but I guess I’m just second guessing myself and it being age appropriate and preparing him for the future. 

My dd is very ADHD, and at that age (5th gr) I think that was the year ds was born or little. She had structure for some things but it was the age where she could start to do open-ended tasks. You might see if there's some self-directed study you could get him to do, something he might engage with and hence go a bit longer. It might be part of what you're wanting to kick in. What did it for dd was the exploration prompts in the Beautiful Feet Geography guide. They would say something like research xyz and write what you learn about it, and for whatever reason it kind of clicked with her. 

I personally don't think it matters if he writes out his schedule in 5th or 6th, no. But a bit of a stretch would be good, something where he's telling himself what to do and doing it. It could be telling himself to do his chores, telling himself to stick with an open ended project, whatever. 

[Clemsondana]

When mine were in elementary, we had pocket folders or recipe boxes where I had an index card for each day with the subject on it.  It was specific - there might be 4 cards for spelling since we did it 4 days and 2 cards for grammar, 1 card for poetry, 3 cards for vocabulary, 3 cards for AoPS math, 1 card for LOF math, whatever covered what we actually did in the typical week.  The kids would sort them out by days so that they liked the distribution - one front-loaded the week so that M and T were busy and F was easy, while the other evenly distributed the work over the 4 non-co-op days.  Each day I wrote what they actually did (Lesson1 or pages 6-13) in a daily planner.

When they moved to middle school I started giving them the daily planner to write their work in.  We usually fall into a routine within the parameters I set.  If I want 1 vocab lesson done each week, then they can schedule it however they want (all in one day, broken into 3 days) as long as it's getting done.  I check to make sure that they are mostly on schedule and assign specifics as needed (You finished the chapter on Ancient Rome...I want you to write a paper about...) and we figure out how to work those into our schedule.  My check-in varies by kid and subject - I check math daily, some things are done orally, and I look every week or so to see where they are in taking notes from their history book, for instance.  

My older has moved to high school and it's a somewhat different world.  Kiddo writes down all work.  I made and printed a page that has room for a week's worth of notes - places to write pages or chapters for each subject and also to track hours for classes that are done by hours instead of content (like PE).  There are places to write down hours volunteered, hours spent on sports, books read, etc.  They know that the hours or books need to be completed for the credit to be earned, so they just move at a reasonable pace.  After the first few weeks, we (mostly they) get a good idea of how to divide up the work so that it gets done without being overwhelming.  

[caffeineandbooks]

5 hours ago, Clemsondana said:

When mine were in elementary, we had pocket folders or recipe boxes where I had an index card for each day with the subject on it.  It was specific - there might be 4 cards for spelling since we did it 4 days and 2 cards for grammar, 1 card for poetry, 3 cards for vocabulary, 3 cards for AoPS math, 1 card for LOF math, whatever covered what we actually did in the typical week.  The kids would sort them out by days so that they liked the distribution - one front-loaded the week so that M and T were busy and F was easy, while the other evenly distributed the work over the 4 non-co-op days.  Each day I wrote what they actually did (Lesson1 or pages 6-13) in a daily planner.

What a great hack!  I love how visual and kinaesthetic this is, and how it could help the parent and child negotiate together.  I have one who likes to leave things at the last minute, but seeing all the cards scheduled for Friday afternoon might prompt some reflection about how realistic that would be!

[My4arrows]

5 hours ago, Clemsondana said:

When mine were in elementary, we had pocket folders or recipe boxes where I had an index card for each day with the subject on it.  It was specific - there might be 4 cards for spelling since we did it 4 days and 2 cards for grammar, 1 card for poetry, 3 cards for vocabulary, 3 cards for AoPS math, 1 card for LOF math, whatever covered what we actually did in the typical week.  The kids would sort them out by days so that they liked the distribution - one front-loaded the week so that M and T were busy and F was easy, while the other evenly distributed the work over the 4 non-co-op days.  Each day I wrote what they actually did (Lesson1 or pages 6-13) in a daily planner.

I love this idea and I'm thinking of how I can modify this idea for next year to work for my learners!  Thanks for sharing!

[Ausmumof3]

I haven’t been for a while but the bullet journal filled out the night before has always been the most successful way when I have been doing it.

[Shoes+Ships+SealingWax]

57 minutes ago, caffeineandbooks said:

What a great hack!  I love how visual and kinaesthetic this is, and how it could help the parent and child negotiate together.  I have one who likes to leave things at the last minute, but seeing all the cards scheduled for Friday afternoon might prompt some reflection about how realistic that would be!

Mine is the same way - I love this idea! You could even make different color or sized cards to indicate if something would take closer to 15min, 30min, 60min, etc. 

[My4arrows]

1 hour ago, Shoes+Ships+SealingWax said:

Mine is the same way - I love this idea! You could even make different color or sized cards to indicate if something would take closer to 15min, 30min, 60min, etc. 

I like this idea for my younger ones!