How to Keep Track of Multiple Kids' Schedules
Keeping track of your own obligations and appointments is hard enough, but add in two, three or more children with a variety of social, school, and other activities, and it̵7;s enough to tax even the most organized parent. You can keep it all straight, though, with forethought, weekly planning, and a system the whole family can learn and remember to use. So even when the unexpected pops up, you̵7;ll be able to know the who, what, when and where of your whole family at a glance.
Instructions
Instructions
Review upcoming events and commitments and synchronize schedules once or twice a week as a family. This is a good time to discuss sports practices, extracurricular clubs or volunteering, homework assignments and project due dates, medical appointments, social or family events, pet care, chores and work-related duties. If you have teens who share driving responsibilities for younger siblings, this is also a good time to decide who will be doing any necessary driving for each event on the weekly family schedule. Decide which type of calendar works best for your family from the simple to the complex. You can even mix and match calendars to get the benefits from all formats. As long as your family has a master calendar each person can access, parents and kids can each choose the type of calendar that works best for their organizational style. Purchase printed calendars at office supply stores and most discount retailers. These are usually low-cost and are available in daily, weekly, monthly and yearly formats. If you use this method, each family member needs his own calendar, and the family should have a master calendar as well. Access your web-based email server̵7;s online calendar and share the password with the whole family if you need a lot of flexibility. Updates are instantaneous, and you can usually color-code by person or type of event. This method works best if everyone has easy online access and is old enough to safely be online. Use your phone̵7;s built-in calendar to store information. While this approach is convenient, it does have a couple of drawbacks: You need to make sure your phone is always charged to access the calendar, and changes won̵7;t appear on each family member̵7;s phone automatically but will have to be manually entered. Download or purchase a software program designed for tracking more complicated schedules or use one that may already be built into your computer̵7;s operating system. You can use the home computer for the master calendar and print what you need for portability. Some of these programs will even allow you to set alarms and sync your calendar with your phone.
