Teaching Your Kids to Use an Alarm Clock
Getting up in the morning can be difficult for kids, especially for those kids who would rather be playing than heading off to school in the morning. But teaching kids to use an alarm to start waking themselves up can be a good idea and some mornings it can really be a time saver for you.
One way to get them interested in the idea of using an alarm clock is to get them interested in watches and clocks in general. Have them look at kids watches and let them pick out one they really like. You can start asking them to help you watch the time and tell you when it is time to leave for school, or time for their favorite show or time to leave for a friend’s birthday party. Easing into these tasks can help them start to understand the importance of time and how to manage it.
Once they start to understand how to watch and manage time you can transition to an alarm clock. Here too it is important to get them an alarm clock that they will like. You want waking up to be a positive experience for them so you don’t have to fight them, in case they happen to be sleepy heads. Choose one that has a fun theme they will like, but also one that may have different alarm options. Some kids will wake up better to the radio, or their favorite song on cd. This can be an important part of the clock and how well it works for each kid.
If they aren’t interested in a traditional alarm clock they may prefer to use a watch that has an alarm feature. There are a lot of boys watches and girls watches that have this feature as well as an Indiglo light so they can see what time it is in the middle of the night. Some kids even use the watch light as a night-light to help them get to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
The most important thing is to find a method that will be fun, or at least interesting for them. The more fun you can make it the more successful it will be.
