Encourage Independent Work with Mom Cards

Are your kids constantly interrupting you to ask you a simple question while you are trying to help another child with a lesson? Learn how to use and print out these free MOM Cards for them to use and watch how quickly they start working independently for longer periods of time.

If you have more than one child at home, then you know that they sometimes seem to need your attention all at the same time.

Maybe it’s a sibling rivalry thing?

My youngest was the worst about this–always interrupting if I try to have a conversation with one of his other siblings.

It’s like he craves being the center of attention at all times.

So, two years ago I pulled out the “MOM” cards that I’d used with my bigger kids when they were young, and remade them into three different (cute) styles.

Think of these Mom Cards like a “get out of jail free” card from Monopoly, only it’s for your child to interrupt what you are doing.

It sounds counter-intuitive, doesn’t it? To give your child a way to interrupt you without “getting in trouble” doesn’t sound like it would lead to greater independence with their schoolwork? But with gentle prompts, your children will start to learn both patience to wait for their turn with mom, and to rely more on themselves.

They probably don’t even realize how much they are relying on you to offer simple solutions, that they could fix on their own. Being able to solve problems on their own leads to true self-confidence, not the fake kind of confidence we try to give them when we lie to them about what a good job they did, when they know in their heart that they didn’t.

How to Use the Mom Help Cards

We use these “Mom, Help Me” cards in addition to our workboxes and visual schedule. (Find out more about those in this organizational strategies post.)

Secondly, you’ll need to schedule a time (or order of kids for helping) each child. We don’t go by a set clock schedule for our days, but rather a routine of chores and tasks that happen in a certain order–that way we’re never “behind”.

I like to go in order of youngest to oldest because the older ones should be able to do more independent work and should have more patience for waiting their turn.

To find out more about what to do with your little kids while you are helping your older kids, read this post on our sister site about Including Preschoolers (and Toddlers) in your Homeschool

These Help Cards are simply laminated cards that say “MOM, Help ME!” for your child to use if they absolutely can’t wait until their “Mom Time” to ask for help. Think of them like a “get out of jail free” card from Monopoly, only it’s for your child to interrupt what you are doing.

You can decide how many cards your child gets each day. I recommend starting with more than you think they will need and then reducing it down each week until they are down to only 1 or 2 cards per day.

When we first introduced the cards with each of my kids, they thought that they needed to use all the cards, almost immediately LOL Especially if they have ADHD or Trauma symptoms.

If I think that they don’t really need help with that particular question, I just ask them if it’s really something they want to “waste” their card on, and they usually decide that they can either wait, or didn’t really need help to begin with. Slowly, they will stop using the cards as much, and begin to rely more upon their own problem solving skills.

Note: If your kids struggle to transition to using fewer cards over several weeks, I recommend that you offer to “buy back” their unused cards at the end of the day or week to turn in for a reward, such as an extra movie night to help encourage them to use fewer cards.

Get your own Free “Mom, Help Me” Cards

Fill out the form below to get your own Free copy of the Help Me, MOM cards

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