North Augusta Elementary

This month let’s look a little closer at Prioritizing / Habit 3: Put First Things First by Sean Covey from “The Seven Habits of Happy Kids.” Habit 3 is about recognizing what is important, prioritizing time, and organizing tasks. What are “first things?” First things are those things you, personally, find of most worth. If you put first things first, you are organizing and managing time and events according to the personal priorities you established in Habit 2, goal setting. “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” In order to have this skill, it is important to be able to say “No” to things we know we should not do at that time. For example, if your child is invited to play with a friend and they have not completed their homework, they should be reminded to put first things first meaning to work first and then play. This teaches children how to prioritize and delay gratification, a life skill that we need to have as an adult.

Next, Are some ways to apply Prioritizing or Habit 3 at home:

Books are a good way to explain how to put first things first. Some examples are as the following:

1. Froggy Gets Dress by Jonathan London

2. The little Red Hen by Paul Galdone

3. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

4. Alejandro’s Gift by Richard E. Albert

5. Jamaica’s Find by Juanita Havill

6. The Week Mom Unplugged the TV’s by Terry Wolfe Phelan

7. Irving Black’s Strange Snack by Roz Rosenbluth

8. Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan

Role playing as a family. Let your child pretend to be your teacher. Let’s imagine, you have a major science project due. However, instead you went swimming, golfing, or to the movies. Now explain to the teacher why your science project wasn’t in on time. Now you be the teacher and let your child explain how they played instead of doing their homework. Now role-play where you each did your work and studied before you played. Discuss the results and how it feels when we prepare. Attached is another fun activity for the family to do.