3 Easy Ways to Teach Time Management to Kids

1. Turn your child’s routine into a checklist. 

1. 1. If they’re younger, make the checklist age-appropriate (fun, bubbly, animal, NASA, Albert Einstein quotes, etc). 
   2. Have them co-manage the checklist and review it daily as that gets them in the habit to own the process.  
   3. At the end of the week celebrate what you achieved, and work on what you didn’t, the idea is to keep the process flowing over time – it’s not perfection, but consistency is how you win the game.

2. Establish rules for electronics. 

1. 1. Help them get in the habit to focus on one thing and master it, before they jump to anything else – especially mobile devices. 
   2. Set rules for when they can use mobile devices for anything other than school work – this is setting them up for success because in the workplace if they’re texting their friends during business meetings, you know what will happen.

3. Be a coach, not a micro-manager. 

1. 1. Kids are trying to learn new things and they’re trying to focus, so coach them, don’t micro-manage them. 
   2. Being a coach will help them know it’s ok to make a mistake, and that it’s also ok to think big about ideas. 
   3. Displaying this attribute will allow them to take ownership in their work and feel accountable for whatever they need to achieve, learn, create, build, etc. 

• LessonTrek: Freemium Online Lesson Planner
• What an Online Planner Can Do For Your Homeschool

Author:

Jason Pessemier is a U.S. Navy veteran and grew up as an Air Force brat having lived around the world. He served as an Aviation Electrical Engineer and after he was honorably discharged he used the G.I. Bill to earn follow-on college degrees as well as a Master’s degree from Bob Jones University. He built a fast-growing software company and co-founded a second one along with some friends who were homeschool parents. He has been working full time at Microsoft while growing Lessontrek organically.   

The post 3 Easy Ways to Teach Time Management to Kids first appeared on True Aim.

Are you ready to start 2017 fresh? Here are some tips to organize your homeschool in 2017!

Eliminate Excess

The first thing I want you to do is take a close look at what is working, and what is not working in your homeschool. Many homeschoolers start the year with too much on their plates. If you have designed your own curriculum by piecemealing subjects together it’s likely that you have some overlap in what the kids are studying. Look at your lesson plans and see if there is *anything* you can eliminate. Are you discussing grammar in both your writing and reading curriculum? Well, cross out the excess lessons.

Your curriculum is not in charge of your homeschool. You are. It’s okay to not follow it exactly, or choose to skip lessons here or there.

Make a Plan

Writing down your goals will help you accomplish your goals. Some people like to sit down on Sundays and plan out their week, and others like to write things down each day. Find a method that works for you and stick with it.

I created a planner for myself this year that included all the the things a mom really needs- to-do lists, shopping lists, chore routines, meal planning, scheduling, homeschooling and more. I’ve found that I needed something flexible that would allow me to change the layout of my planner as my needs change, so I created many different versions of it.

Get a copy for yourself – the key to productivity and mental peace really is writing down the things you need to do so you can stop worrying about them and start checking them off!

Set Limits

I learned a couple of years ago that setting a timer can save my day. When I sit the kids down to do a lesson, we set a timer for 20 minutes or so. The kids know that while the timer is ticking, it’s time to focus, and if they do that, when the timer beeps, it will be time for a break. If they have been working hard, and the timer beeps before we finish the lesson, that’s okay. I find a place to stop, and we set it aside for tomorrow.

The goal for me is to reward focus and productivity, and prevent time from running away from me. After all, there is SO much I need to cram into our days- I can’t let a runaway math lesson crush my child’s spirit and prevent me from doing important things like feeding the kids dinner.

Set Aside Time for You

The other trick to being productive and less overwhelmed is taking time for yourself. Yes, You. I tend to get tired and cranky in the afternoons. I am an introvert, and I need time to myself to recharge. Right around 2 each day, I send the kids up to their rooms to read, or outside to play and I put on my headphones and relax. Sometimes I read a book, or watch a TV show, or just play around on Pinterest. Every once in awhile I use a meditation app and take a power nap.

It also helps to make sure you are going to bed and getting up around the same time each day. I use an app on my phone to remind me that it’s getting close to time to go to bed (because Mama needs her 8 hours!) and an alarm that gets me up at the same time each morning. A well rested mom is a relaxed mom- so if you are not getting your sleep each night, find a way to make that happen STAT. Everything else will be waiting for you in the morning.

Get the Ultimate Mom Planner on Sale Now- it’s flexible, undated and has room for all of the things a busy Mom can’t forget.

The post Organizing Your Homeschool – 5 Tips for the New Year first appeared on True Aim.

Benefits of an Online Lesson Planner

Web-based, digital lesson planners are excellent productivity tools for homeschool moms and teachers because they help you manage your daily, weekly, and yearly lessons all in one easy-to-use program. You can login from any computer and your entire curriculum will be there. Digital lesson planners like Lessontrek give you flexibility to create, manage, and work from one screen which helps you focus on what matters most; teaching your students.

The freedom you gain from not having to spend hours and hours writing in your own lesson plans is priceless. Let’s not forget that the space (and trees) you save is of equal importance. You never have to worry about losing an online version, spilling something on them, or having to spend a lot of money to recover them from a broken computer.

Lessontrek

I use Lessontrek as my online lesson planner because it is so affordable and easy to use. The tool has drag and drop features that makes it easier than any other tool to reschedule your week.  It took me just minutes to learn how to use Lessontrek and plan out my first week. My whole year was planned out in less than an hour thanks to the copy and paste features!

Still attached to having a paper copy? With Lessontrek, you can print off all lesson plans for records and student accessibility. Try it for FREE with a trial account.

Want even more?

Lessontrek has been building new features for its customers and wants to include Shared Subjects, Attendance Tracking, Grade Reports, and many other useful features that improve the functionality. They need to hire a small team of software programmers to help make this program even better!

Have you ever heard of Crowdfunding? Lessontrek is lowering their one year subscription price for the first 10,000 customers to $15 for the first year. They want to make this tool for everyone so they plan to use the proceeds to hire programmers in order to quickly add all the new features listed above, and other features customers want to see in the program. All new features are included in your $15 price!

If you want the most amazing lesson planner on the market, sign up with this great price while you still can!

Discount Code must be applied to the Yearly subscription plan, the code is below: 15BM offer ends 12/31/16

The post What an Online Lesson Planner can do for your Homeschool first appeared on True Aim.