Tag Archives: scheduling

Teaching Children Time Management

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I wanted to share an e-mail I received from a mom who is seeing fruit from her scheduling through the years. Her thoughts about teaching children time management versus financial management were very insightful.

Trusting in Jesus,
Teri

Time management is important!
Time management is important!

I had a quick thought I wanted to share with you regarding scheduling. (By the way, we have been CONSISTENTLY successfully running schedules now for over a year. We have taken off for a week break for a couple of times in between semesters, and everyone has always requested that we get back on as soon as possible! WIN!!!)

Here’s the thought:

I have concluded, after having older children now and seeing them function in the adult world, that teaching them to manage their TIME is even more important than teaching them to manage their money or budgeting. Why? Because you can always make more money, but NO ONE can make MORE TIME. We are all given the same amount of time as a gift, to spend wisely or to squander.

I am really starting to see the fruits of teaching my children scheduling throughout their lives. Even though we had a season of life where we fell off, the foundation I had already laid for them through our scheduling when they were younger, paid off. Thanks to your mentoring, I have been able to reel us all back in after that bumpy season, and now the youngers are finally benefiting.

It has also been refreshing to re-read some Titus2 materials and recharge my techniques now that managing my family has become a little more complicated due to various ages and needs.

I just thought you might like to know. Obviously, Titus2 is going to continue to help the next generation and beyond. We appreciate you, and your adherence to Scripture, very much!

Christi

“As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”
1 Peter 4:10

Handling Life, Pregnancy, and Little Ones

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I love it when it works out for you to hear directly from a sister-in-law. Here are Anna Marie’s thoughts on how she’s managed with three littles and morning sickness.

I love children! I have since I can remember. Years before Christopher and I began our relationship, I read Managers of Their Homes and thought that if the Lord ever blessed me with a family, I would want to implement the ideas shared in that book. Now, with three little ones and another on the way, I can tell you it has already helped us in numerous ways.

While I’ve enjoyed having a schedule to help me be sure to fit in the things which are most important to me, I appreciate it all the more when I’m dealing with morning sickness (though I don’t get as sick as many mommies I know!) and “pregnancy fog.” My activities are already laid out, and I know what to do next.

I want to share with you a few of my favorite elements of our schedule in hopes that it will be an encouragement to you if you already are scheduling, or maybe inspire you to start if you haven’t yet!

DSC_2202When Ruthanne was a baby, I would have her sitting on my lap while Joshua and I did our phonics flash cards. A side benefit that I didn’t really plan on is that at twenty months old she already knows most of the letter names and sounds!

DSC_2242Joshua loves to work puzzles, but I didn’t often find convenient times for him to do it until I gave him a fifteen minute time block to build puzzles while I get the girls down for their morning naps. He loves that time, and it also keeps him happily occupied with a constructive activity while I am busy elsewhere.

Reading stories has been one of my favorite things to do with little DSC_2259ones through the years. I put a story time on the schedule for right after naps, and it has been delightful to once again read old favorites—only now to my own little ones!

If you’ve thought about scheduling but are just hesitant to jump in, let me just say that one nice thing about a schedule is that you can tailor it to suit your own individual needs and family. Personally, I’m not naturally a super task-oriented person, and having a schedule has helped me keep some order and routine going when otherwise it would tend to fall apart.

Mom (or one of the girls) and I walk together most week day afternoons.
Mom (or one of the girls) and I walk together most week day afternoons.

Also, if you have any moms on your Christmas gift list who do not have Managers of Their Homes, I heartily recommend it as a wonderful gift that will keep on giving so long as they utilize its contents!

Love,
Anna Marie

“I will praise thee for ever, because thou
hast done it: and I will wait on thy name;
for it is good before thy saints.”
Psalm 52:9

Scheduling for Success as a Homeschool Mom

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“Successful, effective people are those who launch directly into their major tasks and then discipline themselves to work steadily and single-mindedly until those tasks are complete.” (Eat That Frog – 21 Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time)

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Aren’t little ones worth scheduling for? (Christopher took this picture of Ruthie on Monday.)

You know what? That’s the beauty of my schedule. It pre-determines my major tasks and carves out the necessary time to work through those jobs. It keeps my focus on my priorities.

Just like the business person wants to be successful in his vocation, we moms want to be successful and effective in the calling the Lord has placed on our lives when He gave us families. There is great satisfaction in accomplishing those special responsibilities the Lord puts into our lives.

If a businessman is effective with his time, he makes more money. If Mom is effective with her time, there are tangible fruits not only for her but also in the lives of her children, and that gives her joy. One result is wood, hay, and stubble. The other has eternal worth. You choose. Thousands of moms have proven scheduling with Managers of Their Homes works!

Trusting in Jesus,
Teri

“Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is” (1 Corinthians 3:13).

Overcome Your Procrastination

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“Your success in life and work will be determined by the kinds of habits that you develop over time. The habit of setting priorities, overcoming procrastination, and getting on with your most important task is a mental and physical skill. As such, this habit is learnable through practice and repetition, over and over again, until it locks into your subconscious mind and becomes a permanent part of your behavior. Once it becomes a habit, it becomes both automatic and easy to do.” (Eat That Frog – 21 Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time)
marys-sketch-blog-3For some moms, making the schedule is the easy part. They produce schedule after schedule, but they never manage to live those schedules. They put their priorities into their schedule, but they don’t move on to developing the habit of following it. As Brian Tracy says, it takes mental and physical skill to learn a new habit, and it is achievable through repetition.

We all had to work pretty hard when we first learned to ride a bike. Then with practice, it became second nature. Then even though the practice took effort, we found riding a bike enjoyable.

If you have to, force yourself to stick to your schedule until it becomes a habit. We think you will be highly pleased and love the peace and productivity that results. Remember, that is why you decided you needed a schedule. As soon as it is habit, it will simply flow without you having to continue forcing yourself to follow the schedule!

PS: By the way, now until September 15th, you can receive 1 month free of ScheduleBreeze. Just purchase your copy of Managers of Their Homes, choose auto-register, and then hop on ScheduleBreeze. But, hurry, the offer is about to end. Already have the book and have registered it? Jump over to ScheduleBreeze, and get started.

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
(Philippians 4:13)

Grandma’s Playtime

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When Abigail was about seven months old, she reached a stage where she cried around anyone except her mommy and daddy. Being my first grandchild, I was quite determined to win her acceptance. With Nathan and Melanie’s permission, I began going over to their house with a basket of enticing toys every day for just a few minutes. I would sit down on the living room floor with my basket of toys while Abigail was nearby on a blanket. It didn’t even take a week before she was playing with the toys and happy to have me there with her. That was the beginning of Grandma’s playtime.

Now I take a tub of toys and books over to Christopher and Anna Marie’s for a ½ hour playtime with Joshua (3) and Ruthanne (1) in the morning. We have a scheduled time (Anna Marie called it Family Activity on her schedule) for that each day to keep it consistent. Grandpa goes on Wednesday (I think that is Joshua’s favorite day!), Mary on Thursday, and me on Monday and Tuesday.

Trusting in Jesus,
Teri

They love to walk around pulling toys.
They love to walk around pulling toys.

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Ruthie is definitely into balls!
Ruthie is definitely into balls!
Happy trio!
Happy trio!

“Children’s children are the crown of old men; and
the glory of children are their fathers.”
Proverbs 17:6

Time Management Yields Peace

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“Time management is really life management, personal management. It is really taking control of the sequence of events. Time management is having control over what you do next.” (Eat That Frog – 21 Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time)

timemanagement-4

That sounds like a schedule to me. Are you managing your life by controlling what you do next? Do you first have purpose in your day, and then do you have the schedule to make sure that purpose happens?

I sometimes think that because we are moms at home, we don’t feel like we need to maximize our time in the same way a business person might. However, don’t you think that our little sphere with our children is eternally more important than the biggest business ever? Shouldn’t we manage it in the light of that reality?

Trusting in Jesus,
Teri

PS – Thank you, Mary, for sharing your talent.

timemanagement-5

“Redeeming the time, because the days are evil”
(Ephesians 5:16).