Now on to Junior High and High School!

The concept behind the Independent Work List is that it helps a student become, well, independent. In that way, the chart/list/planner should grow with the child—more independence/less neediness.

More responsibility/less spoon feeding from Mom.

These will be in no true order–just some things that I want to re-emphasize from the younger ages as well as things that pertain only to olders.

1. Consider the document or chart that works best for your age child now.

Most kids in junior high and high school no longer want cutsie charts. Once you decide you want a genuine paper document, then you have to decide how you want it filled in:

a.  As he goes, he lists what he does each day, sort of a daily school journal.

b. You write in a planner each week for him for the following week (page
number, number of pages, lesson number, etc.).

c. You have a standard daily Independent Work List that you create in your
scheduling program or Excel—that you can customize when something
changes, etc. You print this off, put it on a clip board, and have him highlight
or mark off as he does things each day.

2. Consider if you are going to make his Independent Work List for him completely or if
you will have his input.

We liked to choose our high schoolers’ materials, schedules, lists, etc., with them, so that they have some input in the process–and to help model for them/teach them how to organize, prioritize, etc.

3. Still use some of the elements from the earlier suggestions (for younger kids) that are
universal, such as:

a. School is your child’s occupation. It is what he should be about during the
day.

b. Put the daily tasks in sections according to time of day or importance–and also in order according to when they should be done.

c. Have a system that works for you every day. Have his list on a clip board that he carries with him/keeps in his school area. Have him highlight as he does things. Have him leave it on your desk when he is done, etc.

d. Develop a “no exceptions” approach to daily independent work. A student doesn’t go to basketball, girls group, youth group, etc., until his daily independent work list is done.

4. Have blanks on the chart to add in any work from outside classes, music lessons, Bible quizzing, etc.

5. Put things that are not dailies where ever they go. This was always a little bit difficult for me.

a. Do twice weeklies go on Tuesday and Thursday (but Thursday is our lesson and
errand day…)?

b. Do three times weeklies always go M-W-F, even though Wednesday is our “cottage class day” and extras do not get done on that day?

c. This might take a while to get in the groove, but it is worth it to tweak things and make it work.

6. For junior high kids, consider that you might need smaller chunks (maybe two math
sessions at 30 minutes a day, etc.).

Again, you know your student and your family situation, so do whatever works best for you.

7. Consider if you want this Independent Work List to be his total chart/list for all aspects of his day at older ages:

a. Do you want to put his devotions, music practice, and outside work on there
too?

b. Do you want it to contain meetings/tutoring sessions with you?

c. Do you want it to also be his chore list?

8. There are some definite advantages to a junior high or high schooler having his day right in front of him in one spread sheet. However, this can also get overwhelming to some kids.

9. If you are using a “time” planner in which the time slots for each subject are written in, you might want to include times in which he meets with you, does chores, does lab with a sister, etc., so that he can see the big picture for how time fits together.

10. Consider switching to a start time/finish time approach and having him total up his time spent on school if he is having a lot of trouble with time management.

Seeing how much time actually got spent on important things and how much time got wasted can be invaluable in teaching older kids independence.

I hope that these posts have been a help to you. I can’t tell you how worth it, it is to implement independent lists!

LINKS

For a downloadable product with a dozen charts to use with various ages, check the store here!

Video: Independent Work Lists

Audio: Independent Work Lists

Audio: Using Your Planner to Get More Done

Audio: Overcoming Parenting Obstacles

Video: Using Consequence Pies

The post Independent Work Lists for Junior High and High School appeared first on Character Ink.

Click here to download the printable Sample Checklist Challenge!

This video has Donna Reish, author of the Checklist Challenge method, teaching how to use the Checklist Challenge. The Checklist Challenge is included in nearly every writing project in every Character Ink Press book (including Character Quality Language Arts; Meaningful Composition; Write On, Mowgli; and Write On, Peter Pan). This sample one may be tweaked and used over and over again in classrooms, homeschools, and co-ops.

The Checklist Challenge has the following characteristics/benefits:

(1) Each task is given separately (i.e. not just a big master list with no explanation). The tasks are explained and samples are provided.

(2) The checklist has check boxes (one per paragraph) for each essay/report/story that you can customize to a certain project. It is clear that a paper has four paragraphs, so most of the task should be done four times—once per paragraph.

(3) The tasks are skills learned in grammar. Once a child learns how to use quotations, he should practice them immediately by putting them in his writing. The Checklist Challenge marries grammar and writing in a way that other programs do not.

(4) Coding instructions are given so that a student can be taught to code his additions and revisions for easy teacher-grading.

And so much more.

Subscribe to us on YouTube!

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The post Video: How to Complete the Checklist Challenge–Level I appeared first on Character Ink.

Once you have determined that you do need the structure for your student that Independent Work Lists provide for your school, there are many questions to answer and decisions to make. And these decisions will be different according to ages.

Here are some tips for using Independent Work Lists With Elementary Children:

1. Either make it on a chart that the child uses wipe and write markers and mount it
somewhere–or make it in Excel (or your favorite record keeping program) and place it
on a thin clip boards.

Trust me: loose papers never make it back to mom at the end of the day. (Spoken from true
experiences–plural–you would think I would have learned this the first time or two! )

2. Put things in the order of importance on the chart–in the order that you want them
done.

3. And/or put things in sections.

I used to have mine in order and sections–the first so many items needed done before the child
met with Mom or before the child had a morning snack or before lunch chores, or whatever.

Never underestimate the value of teaching children time management, prioritizing, etc. via
these daily checklists.

4. For things that you are uncertain of/change-ables, put time or generic wording, such as
“30 minutes of uninterrupted CQLA work” or “All Meaningful Composition assignments
from previous meeting with Mom,” etc.

5. Be sure to include drill work, silent reading, etc.–all the extras that you want him to do
each day.

(I even put the things that they would often do as I read aloud on this list in the section marked
“During Read-Aloud”–such as coloring in educational coloring book, penmanship page, building
something with Legos, etc.)

6. Be sure there is a time in which it is turned in each day.

If your child’s independent list is on a clip board, he can simply put the clip board on your desk
at the end of the day–all checked off and ready for the next day.

7. The Independent Work Checklist is, in part, to help keep the child moving as you are working with other kids, walking your college kids through a difficulty on the phone, or helping Grandma with something.

In other words, you want to teach your student to get up and start on the list
right away–and to go back to the list any time he is not meeting with you or doing chores, etc. (I
even put things like “Read to Jonathan for 15 minutes” and “30 minutes of morning devotional
book and journaling” on the list–everything the child does (outside of chores) was listed on this
chart.

I would love to answer questions about these daily charts. Leave your questions below—or email me, and I will get you some answers!

LINKS

For a downloadable product with a dozen charts to use with various ages, check the store here!

Video: Independent Work Lists

Audio: Independent Work Lists

Audio: Using Your Planner to Get More Done

Audio: Overcoming Parenting Obstacles

Video: Using Consequence Pies

The post How to Use Independent Work Lists for Elementary Children appeared first on Character Ink.

One of the problems that we hear about over and over again when we are out speaking is that
of students not completing everything that you want them to in any given day. AND keeping
kids on task.

Our solution: Independent Work Lists!

Independent work lists, or Daily Duties as I affectionately call them, can literally change the way
your school day goes.

The “did you do your math yet?” and the “why aren’t you practicing piano right now?” days can
be behind you if you implement and follow through with Independent Work Lists for your
children (and for you…see The Simplified Planner).

I discovered Independent Work Lists over twenty-five years ago when I had three young
students who seemed to need me all the time—along with a preschooler and a baby!

Something had to give.

I had already had success with morning routine charts and chore charts. Why couldn’t we apply
the same concept to the kids’ daily school work? A checklist that kept kids on task when I was
tied up elsewhere? Yes!

I just can’t stress enough the benefits of the Independent Work Lists–for Mom and for the
student. It takes away gray areas of parenting (something crucial that we teach in our parenting
seminars). A chart helps the child become an independent learner. It teaches many character
qualities–perseverance, prioritizing, resourcefulness, responsibility, diligence, timeliness, and
much more.

Yeah, I am pretty crazy about my twenty-five years of Independent Work Lists!

Click on the picture below to download these work lists!

General Tips

There are a lot of decisions to make in developing your children’s morning routine lists. Will it
have EVERYTHING on it or will it only have the child’s independent work on it? Will it have
chores, music practice, etc., or will it just have “school”?

What type of list will you use—a chart with pictures; a pocket approach (like for younger
children with chores); a chart on the wall; a printed sheet on a clipboard; a lesson planner (like
teachers use)? Does it matter for different ages?

In this e-book/download, I hope to answer some of these questions as well as give you sample
charts that you can print off and use with your students. But first let me answer some of those
questions based on the ages of your kids.

Here are some general tips and guidelines that I used for my kids’ Independent Work Lists
(followed later at this blog by a list of suggestions for Elementary kids and a list of suggestions for older kids).

(1) Explain to your child that this is his daily accountability list.

He is to get these things done each day.

Hint: We taught our children from their earliest recollection of school
that school is their occupation. It was what they were supposed to be about every day.

No questions asked. No exceptions (unless we parents wanted an exception for sickness
or family trips, etc.–in other words, the child doesn’t choose to do school or not do
school–ever).

(2) This is kind of another subject, but it fits here as well: A child should not go to basketball practice, Girl Scouts, youth group, or any other activity if he doesn’t do his school.

Period.

We have so many parents come up to us at conventions and say, “I just can’t get
my fifteen year old to finish his school each day, and he keeps getting further and
further behind.”

Then we ask, “Does he go to sports practice in the afternoon? Does he
go to youth group that night?’ etc. etc.

None of those things should ever happen if he
doesn’t do his school. School is non-optional.

(3) Do your part to be sure that charts are updated, printed, and ready.

I know from personal experience that if we are lax in this–they become lax real quick!

(4) Enlist your husband’s help to enforce the lists when necessary.

(5) Be sure that what you put on the list is truly independent (and this can change from
month to month as skills are increased).

(6) Use whatever method works for your family.

Some people like the list for each block of time. Some like the list for each subject area. Some people like to have kids report in
every once in a while; others do fine reporting in before “signing off” for the day.

(7) Speaking of signing off for the day from school, be sure that everything is done before
this happens.

(Do not let the child determine he’s signing off without getting signed off
by you.)

Follow us over the next week or so as I give specific tips for elementary children and specific tips for older children—and Independent Work Lists!

LINKS

For a downloadable product with a dozen charts to use with various ages, check the store here!

Video: Independent Work Lists

Audio: Independent Work Lists

Audio: Using Your Planner to Get More Done

Audio: Overcoming Parenting Obstacles

Video: Using Consequence Pies

Save

The post Introducing Independent Work Lists for Students! appeared first on Character Ink.

This week’s Wondering Wednesday answers readers’ questions about how to implement Independent Work Lists for children, especially junior high and high school by using daily check lists. (See the podcast episodes that introduces the concepts of Daily Duties and talks about using charts and lists, work order, teaching independence, and more in last week’s Wondering Wednesday podcast episode here.)

“In this video, Donna Reish, author of fifty+ curriculum books and co-author of Raising Kids With Character parenting seminar and blog, explains to parents how to use charts, checklists, and lesson plans to implement Daily Duties (daily independent lists for school) in your homeschool. Donna uses sheets from her download, Daily Duties: Independent Check Lists for Students, to explain the various ways to divide and implement Daily Duties, such as by time blocks, by subject areas, by order of importance, and by days. She also includes teaching on how to take a child from fully dependent on a chart (or you!) to independent as he grows up. You do not need to have the Daily Duties e-book to benefit from this teaching!”

So there you have it…our first Wondering Wednesday video. Let me know what you think!

Love and hope,
Donna

Subscribe to us on YouTube!

Click here or on the picture below to get this download 🙂

LINKS

The Simplified Planner
Age Appropriate Chore Posters
Consequence Pies e-book
Podcast: How Do I Turn My Day from Chaos to Control? From Rowdy to Routine?
Podcast: Foundations for Becoming an Efficiency Expert in Your Home
Five Homeschooling Problems and Solutions
Ten Ways to Stay Close During Intense Training Times

Save

The post Video: Using Check Lists for Student’s Independent Work appeared first on Character Ink.

Listen to the podcast here!

TWO CHOICES in “CLEP-ping”

(1) ALL (or nearly all) of a degree earned through CLEPs
(2) CLEP in lieu of taking courses in your degree (to save time and money)

ALL CLEP (or Nearly All) Considerations

1. Super great study skills/tester
2. Doesn’t mind having a less “distinguished degree”
3. Is getting a less specialized degree (more liberal arts/humanities/social
work/history/psychology, communications, etc.)
4. Can save TONS of money (especially over living on campus and getting a degree)

NOTE: While one consideration is a great testing/outstanding study skills, oftentimes the students who have those skills do not enjoy CLEPping as they love to go to school, take classes, etc.

ALL CLEP (or Nearly All) STEPS

1. Research degrees available thoroughly (Thomas Edison College or College Plus Program)
2. Hone study skills
3. Make a plan (College Plus does this for you—week by week, test by test; Thomas Edison College has the degrees laid out, but you determine your study schedule/testing schedule)

CLEP Some Classes Considerations

1. The CLEPped class does not affect GPA
2. Great way to get some courses behind you (especially while still in high school)
3. Save some money (potentially one year of college?)
4. Have to really know where you’re headed for this to save time and money (otherwise you might CLEP a class that your college will not accept or that is not needed for your
degree, etc.)

CLEP Some Classes STEPS

1. Choose potential majors and list all courses each major requires (print these off from
the college you might attend)
2. Venn diagram or highlight the ones that merge
3. List all potential colleges
4. From the merged list of classes, see which classes are able to be CLEPped from
the colleges you are considering.

Sources

1. Accelerated Distance Learning by Brad Voeller (affiliate link)
2. Thomas Edison College—college that offers alternative degrees
through CLEP tests, DANTES, T-CEP, credit for experience, and/or portfolios
(all distance degrees)
3. College Plus—complete college testing program to earn a degree

Download these notes here!

The post Podcast Notes for “CLEP Testing for College Credit and/or a College Degree” appeared first on Character Ink.

Donna Reish, of Character Ink Press and Raising Kids With Character, brings you this episode about CLEP testing for college credit. Donna describes the two primary reasons for taking CLEP (College Level Equivalency Program) tests: (1) To test out of an entire degree (or most of it); (2) To earn college credit towards a degree that the student will be pursuing or is pursuing. She explains the steps her family has gone through to use the CLEP for both approaches (as some classes toward a nursing degree, for 3/4 of a degree, and for all of a degree except for two classes for which there were no tests available). She then details the steps you will want to go through to get the most out of this college testing option, focusing on how to decide if a student would be a good CLEP candidate, how to choose the exams to take, and how to prepare for the exams.

Download the podcast notes here.

Listen to previous podcasts here.

Do you have a question you would like answered in an upcoming podcast episode?  Email me here! -Donna

The post Podcast: CLEP Testing for College Credit and/or a College Degree appeared first on Character Ink.

Seventh Grade: Teach your student to apply his grammar learning to writing.

While my students often groan when they are told to mark the Checklist Challenge for that week’s homework assignment, they know (and I know) that it really does help. A student just told me this week that her sister had her scan and email her a copy of her Checklist Challenge to use in college—because she had used our CC for every writing project and knew how helpful it can be in revising writing…..

Click here to read more→

The post A Writing Tip for Seventh Grade appeared first on Character Ink.

Fifth Grade: Teach students that a paragraph is a unit of thought.

Paragraph division is a difficult concept for students, especially when you don’t teach a paragraph as a unit of thought early on. This week’s tip teaches my strategy for making sure that kids beginning with their very first paragraph understand that a paragraph is a unit of thought.

Read more here→

The post A Writing Tip for Fifth Grade appeared first on Character Ink.

Fifth Grade: Teach students that a paragraph is a unit of thought.

It is often in third, fourth, or fifth grade that students are expected to write more than one paragraph in a report, essay, or story. This is the point at which students start writing—and have no idea where to divide paragraphs (and sometimes where/when to end the paper!).

To combat this, from the beginning of multi-paragraph writing, when your student is outlining (and I hope he is outlining every time he writes!), have him outline paragraph-by-paragraph. It is much easier to determine where to put paragraph breaks as a student is outlining than it is when a student is writing.

Regardless of the type of outline you use for your fifth grade student, when you create an outlining space/lines, put a line at the top of each “paragraph” area that says

Paragraph # __________ Topic of Paragraph: ____________________________.

I do this in all of my books for every paper, whether I give the source (and they take a Sentence-by-Sentence Outline Over Given Material) or whether they find sources (for research report writing) or whether they are writing a story or essay with original thoughts. I tell them that this line means that they are “committing” to the contents of each paragraph. They can change their minds (and change the Topic of Paragraph line), but this gets them started.

This helps the student when he is outlining to know that when he changes “topics” or “aspects” of his paper, he should also change paragraphs. I have been using this approach in my books and with my students forever, and it really works. A student taught with this method will become especially adept at creating paragraph breaks in all of his writing.

Bonus: A student who learns to plan his paragraph breaks with this method will also become a stronger reader. Remember those questions on standardized tests that say things like “What would be a good title for this paragraph?” or “What is the main idea of this paragraph?” You guessed it! That is exactly what they are doing with their own material/information when they declare their “topic of paragraph” for each paragraph.

Note: Go here to see (and print/use) two week samples of my Meaningful Composition series. These samples have, for the most part, complete writing projects. Thus, you can try out many of the outlining methods that I have been describing in this series. Also, keep your eyes on my stores (Character Ink Store, Teachers Pay Teachers, CurrClick, and Teacher’s Notebook) as I put up various writing project downloads that are in my longer books.

The post A Writing Tip for Every Year: Fifth Grade appeared first on Character Ink.