Thanks for Thinking

We continue to talk about the power of "Thank You" and the expectation that it sets. 

One of my favorite artists has some great prints that I think go along with setting high expectations in the school room. 

You could take any of these and add a "Thank You"

Thanks for thinking!

Thanks for going with the flow!

And this one with the bird and french fry?

Well, that's for me. :)

It reminds me of In N Out Burger!

Oh and this one....

Well, it says it all, right?

 

Reading IS cool!! 

She has it in a girl AND boy!

I personally do not know this artist.  

This is not a paid advertisement. 

I just simply love her style!

Using Games for Wake Up Work

Another great idea for Wake Up Work.  

How fun to have the dominoes 

always set out and a worksheet. 

How about a bucket of Lego's in the school room?  

Same idea.  

They pull two out and do the math. 

Kids can be productive first thing in the morning and get into 'learning mode' while you finish up the dishes or tend to other children. 

Avoiding School Work

In our DEJA VU workshop, we addressed how to help kids who avoid their school work.

Because Avoiders are overwhelmed to begin with, going through the Daily Plan each morning or the night before is very important.  

 For an Avoider, you might even expand that idea with a flow chart or hourly schedule.  They need to see all the things that they DO have time for.   

Schedule breakfast, lunch and dinner and all other extracurricular activities. 

  

The principle is that they see where the time is spent and that it is doable.  Don’t use the schedule as something to beat them over the head with.  You don’t have to stress out if at 9am they’ve already missed something.  It’s not the hourly schedule that we’re trying to execute but the overall day to do all the things that need to be done and the activities that we want to do.  

Here is a great printable, hourly schedule
from iheartorganizing,
if you need a head start.  

Objectives

If students know what they are to learn, 

you increase the chances that they will learn.  

Focusing on objectives makes the difference in student achievement. 

Objectives help me teach and guide with the end in mind.

In every K12 lesson the objectives are written so clearly and succinctly that as a learning coach, I can see and understand the assignment with my student.   

Before each lesson, I go through and read the objectives with Emma.  Sometimes she reads them to me.   

This is one of our procedures.  

This helps us both become focused on what will be accomplished in the lesson.  

Reading through the objectives is a simple way of setting an expectation.   

The expectation is "Please describe the main achievements for the Han Dynasty."

I love working from the foundation 

of what the objectives are for each lesson.

Objectives state what the student is to accomplish.  

When given a task, it always feels better 

if I know what is expected of me.  

I can be successful if I know that I am responsible for learning.

I use the daily plan in the OLS 

to see what is on the agenda for the day. 

I then go through each lesson and write down the objectives.  

I like to see them all on one page.   

I look through the teacher guide or student guide to see what additional assignments there are besides the final lesson assessment.  

I spend about 20 minutes on Sunday and 

fill out the objectives and assignments for the week.  

Having an Objectives worksheet with me throughout the day means that I can ask lots of questions as I breeze in and out of my child's study area.  

"Any questions on the pH scale?"

"I haven't seen the Voyages of Zheng He worksheet yet."

"As soon as I see your Reading Guide filled out, you're welcome to go to Volleyball practice."

This is one way to start working on 

independent learning with a young student.

It's also helpful with the student who is already independently doing their school work.  

I can easily stay on top of where they should be and then lovingly guide them back on track when they forget.  ;)  

Knowing what the objectives are gives me a starting point 

to guide them to what they should be learning.  

Download the Objectives Worksheet Here.

 

Rules for Rules

Something we are often asked about is rules. 

We believe you should have as few rules as possible

and as many as you absolutely need.

As a learning coach I need to spend 
most of my time as a consultant and not a warden.  

So for home we have 3 simple rules.   

These 3 rules easily flow from school time to family time. 

When I see behaviors that are causing a problem, I will handle it with a few questions.

"Is this something you can work out with your sister?" 

"Do you need me to get involved or can you fix this on your own?"

"Hmmm, this doesn't look good to me.  

I'll have to do something about it.  I'll get back with you." 

We can practice problem solving with our children without a bunch of rules that we have to constantly enforce. If a child causes a problem, they can own it and fix it. 

 This way I can sit back and ask lots of questions.  

I don't have to police and keep track of who's breaking rules. 

I can look at it from a more positive aspect.  

"Is this causing a problem for anyone?"  

Here is a great breakdown of how to 

hand problems back to our children,

from Love and Logic. 

SEAH Workshops

{School Effectively at Home Workshops}

Adults are a primary influence on student success in any learning environment.

We currently offer 6 different Workshops covering a variety of attitudes and ideas for becoming an effective Learning Coach for your students. 

Topics include:

• Motivation and Control
• Maintaining the Integrity of Your Schooling Hours
• Relationship
• Boundaries and Discipline
• Kids That Cope
• Winning Attitudes

Each Workshop will cover attitudes and skills to build that important relationship with our child. 

There’s hard work ahead!   

 Schooling effectively at home is no accident, but having strategies in your pocket to manage what’s ahead will help you work through your days intentionally and with greater success!

Contact us if you'd like to schedule these online workshops for your Virtual Academy.

Start Early

Wake Up Work can start anytime, any age. 

I just came across some great

worksheets for younger kids. 

If you have small children that 

aren't officially in school yet, 

having something for them to get started 

on in the morning is a great procedure to begin.

These worksheets are perfect for your pre-schooler to Kindergarten aged children.

It's never too early to start kids thinking

"When I get up, I get to work!"

Wake Up Work

How soon can I get my student to work independently on their own???  
A common question.  
Since my main goal for bringing home my daughter was to raise an independent learner, I wanted to get her working and taking responsibility for her work as soon as possible.

One way I have encouraged this is through what I call Wake Up Work. Having a start up assignment always posted and in the same place, helps kids develop the routine of looking to begin on their own. Practice the procedure that when they are finished with breakfast, they will find what they should be working on first, posted in the same place everyday.  
With the K12 courses you can go straight to the OLS and see what is on the plan. Print out the daily plan, circle what subject you would like them to silently begin on their own. Post it in the same place everyday. 


Maybe you have a dry erase board in your school room 

and you post on there what each student should get to work on until you arrive. The key is to have the procedure be the same thing everyday. So if I'm 10, I know that when I'm done with breakfast, I'm supposed to be working on my skills update until Mom comes. Or I'm supposed to start writing my spelling words. Procedure is the same everyday, work doesn't have to be.  
 
Wake Up Work can also be a great place to encourage silent reading, journaling or creative writing. Right after breakfast the routine is to do a writing prompt. It's always posted in your special spot. Helps kids get in the mindset....I'm in learning mode.

I love this website for creative writing prompts.
Everyday there is something around the world happening on that date. It gives you a subject for everyday of the year!! Google "writing prompts" and you'll come up with plenty of ideas for all ages. If children are too young to read, then brother or sister can read it for them. Or their procedure would be to start coloring or work on site words, every day. What we are doing here is teaching responsibility for their learning. If you stumble in at 9:30am because the baby’s been sick and no one got any sleep last night, you’ve lost precious high energy time. If you have prepared for the following day with Wake Up Work…..odds are that kids who have practiced this routine will get to work on their own and you can stumble in at 9:30 and kids are already on task.

These "Wake Up Work" sheets are available here and here.

We school in our main living area so I like to decorate around learning. You can print these off, frame them in glass. Then with a dry erase marker, just write on the glass and wipe off for when you need to change. There are 2 Wake Up Work sheets available.

One with days of the week and one that's blank for names or maybe months!

Thanks For Being Awesome

We've been discussing in our School Effectively at Home Workshops how important those precious few hours a day are when energy and production level is high for both student and learning coach.

Effective learning coaches know that it takes just as much energy to be positive as it does to be negative. So let's spend our time being positive!!

Instead of nagging kids to listen or begging kids to get back to work, we can set the expectation that listening and working are always going on in our school room.


Have fun with it by making a few posters with statements that say,
"Thanks for being fun to be around!"
"Thanks for being kind."
"Thanks for picking up after yourself."
You might jot on a post-it note:
"Thanks for being an independent learner."
and then stick it to the computer screen.

Download Posters Here

Last year I found myself nagging my daughter about MY Cd Player. Every time I went to work in my area where I like to listen to my things.....my CD Player would be missing. She would cart it off to wherever she was at the time. She has a CD Player of her own. For whatever reasons, and yes she had many, she would take mine and I would have to go hunt it down every time I needed it. I spent a boatload of energy lecturing her, being annoyed and upset with her over something so trivial. Yet, I want my things where I expect them to be.
Can you imagine all of the lectures I gave her??

Finally, I decided to expend my energy differently.
With a simple post it note,
I have never had to go hunting for my CD Player since.
I also thought of,
"My CD Player needs to stay here.
Thanks for understanding."

My daughter and I have never discussed this.
I'm sure she read the note, rolled her eyes,
huffed and puffed and moved on with her business.
My 'stuff'' stayed put and I didn't have to
strain my vocal chords or expend any energy to accomplish that.

When you can apply a positive expectation.....
you increase the likelihood of receiving that positive behavior.

Zookeeper, Prison Warden or Learning Coach?

What is your job and how would you define it?

In the business world we use job descriptions to
provide clear expectations
and evaluate employee performance.
At home we want to know pretty much the same things!

The value of a job description is mostly for me.
My kids will either get it or not.
But I want to wake up each morning knowing
what I should and should not be doing.
I also want to lay my head down on my pillow
at night knowing that I did my job.

So what does my job as a learning coach look like?
I see it as giving my children the opportunity to learn.
So my description might look something like this:

• Provide an area in the house conducive to learning
• Have healthy snacks and lunch available
• Pay internet bill
• Keep the house cool in the summer and warm in the winter
• Stay up to date with my kmail and logging attendance
• Login to OLS/LMS and educate myself on today's assignments.
• Be ready to help and assist kids who are working harder than I am
• Keep some groovy tunes on hand when we all need to take a break
  

Knowing what to do is always a good place to start.
I have also found value in knowing what NOT
to put on my job description.
At my house, it looks something like this

The minute I tell myself that it is my job to
nag my kids out of bed,
beg them to start their lessons,
plead with them to finish up,
lecture them about all of the things
they will be missing out on.....whew!
I'm tired just typing those out.

Can you imagine how much you'll
hate your job after only a few days
if you allow those items to show up on your job description??

Kids will do their very best to convince you
that you should be concerned about their spelling words.
They will persuade you to be more invested
in their math minute than they are.
They might even hook you into
believing that YOU are the one in 5th grade!

I like to have a couple key phrases
in my back pocket when kids go fishing.

"Sweetie, I already learned to spell "embarrassed" in 5th grade. It's your turn."
and I walk away.....
"I'm happy to take kids to soccer practice when spelling words are passed off"
and I walk away.....
"Looks like you need to show your work in math. Feel free to have dinner when I've corrected those. "
and I walk away.....

When I have a clear definition of what I'm responsible for in regards to my child's education, I can walk away, save up lots of energy, be a fun learning coach and enjoy my children.
Everyone will have different expectations of themselves.
What's on your job description?

See how this learning coach worked through it: here