Time management skills, some students got it some don’t. Students that have never been in charge of their time have the worst time adjusting. Most exchange students have never had to balance school, sports, family time, and a social life plus have time to keep in touch with people back home, so they kind of suck at it.
The sports and homework/study balance seems to be the hardest adjustment. Especially on nights that they don’t even get home until 11pm and have a big test the next day. We recommend students keep a calendar of tests, quizzes, homework/project due dates with their sports schedule; this allows them to see… “oh I have a test on Thursday but an away game on Wednesday and I’ll out late, so I will study on Tuesday and just refresh on Wednesday”. I make it clear that I am not in charge of keeping their schedule. I will write games/events on the house calendar so I know when to pick them up but that is it, they are here to become more responsible and keeping track of what you need to take care of and where you need to be is apart of that.
Some students have trouble balancing social/internet time with homework, it usually ends up showing up with missing assignments. This is a big no no. If it becomes a problem and I have to talk to them about it more than once they are doing homework at the kitchen table (I do not have any little kid distractions) where I can monitor their time actually doing work versus playing on their phone/computer. They are here for school (that is why it is called High SCHOOL exchange) not to watch Tik-Tok or Netflix all day. It’s about helping them find a balance and sometimes you need to be a hard-ass about it.
Some students do well on their own, they take care of their work and sports and everything else just fine. Other students need extra help, sometimes sitting down and making a schedule helps. For example: get home from school, snack 10 minutes, homework 30 minutes, break 20 minutes, dinner 45 minutes, shower 20 minutes, extra homework or free time until bed. Depending on their after school activities this can change, but it can help. I had to work out a schedule for “home school” stuff when the schools closed (like everyone else) and they stuck to it for the 2 weeks before they were sent home.
A schedule, written down usually, helps those students that are at a loss for time management a lot. And it can be flexible. I generally let problems arise when it comes to this, let them show me what they can do and figure out and then help if they need it. And some don’t and as long as they are getting their stuff done and it doesn’t interfere with family time, they are free to schedule themselves. Hopefully, even those that need help will eventually be able to do it themselves without regular monitoring.
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