10 Tips on How to use an Agenda
What is the read, write, read, write method for homework agendas or planners? Not every student knows how to use an agenda or planner. Or how to use an agenda well. Time management and organization are life skills that are important to teach students. Before a student can understand how to plan out projects, they must first know how to do the basics. Many of my tutoring clients tell me they do not need an agenda because they can just look at the list of assignments on a website, but this does not teach them time management skills, nor does it help them chunk large projects into manageable pieces. Neither are most students capable of keeping all that info “in my head” as their main strategy for remembering all their homework assignments, but I do hear that option quite a bit! I find that sometimes we expect students to automatically know how to use their agenda, and we mean more than just copying down the word “homework” in today’s calendar box. To help students, I created a printable with 10 tips on how to use an agenda for beginners and the easy-to-remember “read, write, read, write” method. For a simple…
Easy At Home Preschool Plan
What is your weekly plan for at home preschool? The internet is overflowing with amazing ideas for doing simple “school” at home preschool, but it can be overwhelming to sift through it all. If you’re looking for a starting point that’s simple, meaningful, and flexible, here’s a weekly plan you can begin today, plus a free printable planning sheet to help you organize your ideas. Real-Life Learning: My Approach With a degree in education, many people assumed I’d have my kids memorizing flashcards and reading novels before kindergarten. But instead of formal lessons, I leaned into play. I naturally wove in numbers, letters, and Bible verses into our daily routines while building a joyful foundation for lifelong learning and critical thinking. Letting learning unfold through play is a beautiful thing, but a little structure can go a long way. Just like you’d stock a homework corner with sharpened pencils and paper, having a few simple resources on hand helps parents, grandparents, and caregivers build learning moments into everyday life. The goal is to create plans that were simple, flexible, and joyful. Weekly Themes to Guide Your Week A great way to begin is by focusing on a Letter of the…
Smart Budgeting for Teens Who Struggle with Planning
What is the most important financial literacy skill teens need before becoming adults? Teaching smart budgeting for teens who struggle with planning requires tailored strategies that account for executive function challenges. By making financial concepts visual and concrete, simplifying choices to reduce overwhelm, and implementing consistent routines, parents can empower their teens. These financial skills are crucial for independence for any teen, but may be harder for some to learn than others. Patience and modeling will help make these skills part of everyday life for families. Here are 4 tips for budgeting for teens, including practical budgeting activities especially for neurodivergent youth. 1. Make it Visual Abstract concepts like “money” and “saving” can be very difficult for kids and teens with executive function challenges to grasp. They benefit from seeing and touching. Tip: Continue to use visual aids and physical money, but transition to digital tracking alongside physical. Emphasize how money moves and grows (or shrinks). Practical Activity: Digital + Physical Tracking Combination: Help them set up a simple spreadsheet or a beginner budgeting app (like Monarch or You Need A Budget – YNAB, or even a simple notes app) for tracking income and expenses. However, still have a physical…
4 Classroom Organization Tips
Need to tackle some clutter in the classroom or office? Keeping up with classroom organization is part of classroom management. Often we ignore a cluttered space because we do not feel we have time or energy to tackle a whole project. Part of my master strategy in Clean the Chaos: At Home involves sweeping out a space, sorting, and storing the items in a tidier or more useful way. This same strategy is useful in the office or classroom organization; bringing order to some chaos. Here are 4 classroom organization tips to help you tackle clutter in the classroom today. First, choose a drawer, cabinet, or corner and begin to clean the chaos in the classroom. Start small with classroom organization Ten minutes gives just enough time to empty a drawer, wipe it out, sort/toss/recycle/relocate/store the items back into the drawer in a more useful and neater way. Once you do a drawer or two, your motivation will build and you will find more pockets of time to continue the project. And the more you clean the chaos, the more useful the space becomes. Keep reading for ways to maintain your space once you have cleaned the clutter. This will…
4 Classroom Management Tips
How consistent are you in your classroom management? Classroom management is hard to learn from a textbook, even if you have read Harry Wong’s First Days of School. Until you are actually in a classroom, it is hard to know exactly how you will respond and react to certain situations no matter how prepared you are. Here are 4 classroom management tips to point you in the right direction to calm the chaos: in the classroom. Develop Your Classroom Management Learning classroom management is an essential skill for teachers and substitutes and will help calm the chaos in the classroom before it gets out of control. In college, I learned great ideas and tips for classroom management, but nothing truly prepares you for those first few minutes and days like actually being in the classroom. You do need to have some basic ideas of how you want your classroom or tutoring sessions to run, but also be flexible as you hone this skill. You will continue to hone your classroom management system over the years and in different settings. So many of my good ideas are a bit outside the box and came out of situations that needed a bit…
10 Necessities to Pack for the ER
What one item would you grab on the way to the hospital? Whether you get the phone call that a family member is headed to the hospital emergency room (ER) or awaken to discover an urgent situation, it can be overwhelming to think about all the immediate tasks, including what to pack for the ER. Clearly, the patient is the number one priority over grabbing a phone charger, but if you have time to pack a bag, here’s a list of 10 necessities to pack for the ER and a few niceties too. Necessities to Grab on the Way to the ER – If You Have Time Phone charger Hearing aid charger or extra batteries Phone Hearing aids, eyeglasses ID and insurance cards List of medications and allergies Emergency contact numbers Book or tablet Comfort items for kids or adults Puzzle books or coloring books If Overnight, Add: Extra underwear or change of clothes Bathroom bag with toothbrush, hairbrush, chapstick, etc. Bathrobe and slippers If possible, leave jewelry and valuables at home or with family POV: Your quiet morning has taken an unexpected turn. As a caregiver, you grab some clothes from your closet and wonder whether you will be…
Collecting Useful Tutoring Resources
Looking for tutoring resources to use with clients? Need online tutoring resources? Just getting started tutoring? Only have materials at one grade level? Want resources for summer learning or homeschooling? Don’t worry! I’ve got tutoring resources, freebies, and tips for organizing your resources. Invest in quality materials Whether you are just setting up your tutoring business or you are looking for more materials, invest in quality materials you can use for multiple clients. Investigate the internet for low-cost or free tutoring resources such as worksheets, printable reference sheets, online review games, and tutorials, but also be willing to invest in your business and your clients. Sometimes paid products can save you time and money and are worth the investment. Look at online market places like Teachers Pay Teachers or Etsy or use search engines like Pinterest. Did you know that TPT shops all list at least 1 free resource? Invent a reference system Invent a list of tutoring resources by subject or grade level for quick reference. Old school was a tall file cabinet. Now it’s a slide in your Google slide deck or a basket of supplies for your tutoring desk. However you store them, I suggest keeping…
4 Games for Multi-Step Direction Practice
How often are you frustrated that your child cannot remember all the things you asked them to do at bedtime or breakfast? Skills for Following Directions Multi-step direction practice can positively impact the skills needed to follow directions. Executive functioning development begins at a young age and continues into the 20’s and 30’s. Executive functioning skills, simply put, are the ones that work together to help people process and follow directions to complete simple and complex tasks in daily life. These skills include working memory, attention, planning, and time management. It is very normal for children to have difficulty remembering multi-step directions, especially if their attention is focused elsewhere including another task they are working on. There are a few activities you can do to make a game of improving a child’s ability to follow short verbal multi-step directions such as getting ready for bed or following the steps to complete an assignment in the classroom. Verbal Directions Some verbal directions are simple (hang up your coat and wash your hands) and some are more complex (for your homework agenda – your test is on the 19th and your book report is due the following Friday). Playing games to…
4 Strategies to Achieve Goals
Why is it so hard to achieve New Year’s Resolutions? I recently read this headline “Studies Show 91 Percent of Us Won’t Achieve Our New Year’s Resolutions. How to Be the 9 Percent That Do Four Strategies That the 9 Percent of Successful Goal-Achievers Do Consistently Well” and immediately wanted to read the productivity article on how to achieve goals. Not only have many people already given up on their goals, but it’s a chronic problem EVERY January. So how do those of us who set reasonable and realistic goals achieve them? If we want to declutter our house or change our eating habits this year, how do we set ourselves up for success? According to the article by INC, these are the four strategies to achieve goals. Set specific and challenging goals Set goals you want to pursue with relentless drive and passion Get a support system Focus on smaller goals to hit your big goal It makes sense. Make good goals. Be passionate about your goals. Get some accountability. Divide your big goals into smaller, achievable ones. Whether you made New Year’s Resolutions or not, you probably have some goals you’d like to accomplish in the next year…
6 Time Management Tips
What type of calendar or time management system do you use? Time management is much harder for some people than others, yet it is a very useful stress management tool and life skill. Here are 6 time management tips to help you plan and balance your time. Time Management Tips Use a calendar or agenda system to manage your time. Having some type of system other than your head is a very helpful habit. Block time for important things. Use your calendar to block time for more than just appointments. Block time for work, school, appointments, commitments, hobbies, self-care, fun, family, etc. Blocking time will help you easily see where you need to include more balance and where you can fit in the urgent things that arise. I am much less stressed if my week has a starting point. When urgent things pop up, and they do, I can look at my calendar to see where I have an empty block or time or what I can rearrange rather than feeling overwhelmed in choosing between the important and the urgent. Plan, then pivot. Finding balance may mean color-coding your commitments (easy to do on Google Calendar) so that you can…