New Year, New Habits for Success

posted by Karen Quinn, The Testing Mom - January 3rd, 2019

Do you find that you have good intentions to help get your children ready for the next test, but you lack organization and efficiency in your home and schedule? I totally understand! I struggle, too. That is why I love creating new habits for success in a brand, new year!

What time is better than the new year to try to begin some new habits in your family’s routine? That is the time when we all seem to be ready to experiment with our routines. As parents, we want to teach our kids to grab life by the horns–we want them to take advantage of every good opportunity they are given.

Evaluate where you are…

What is your current family routine?

What are your family’s weekly extra-curricular events?

What are your goals, as a family? Prioritize according to the overall goals of your family, as a whole.

What are your individual goals? Prioritize according to each person’s goals.

Identify the current stressors in your schedule and in your lives overall.

Identify the open spaces in your week–are they few and far between? Do you notice any patterns of openness?

What is always falling behind around the house? Laundry? Menu-planning? Organizing? Cleaning?

What are the time wasters in your week?

What are your current wins as a family? Individually?

Determine what add-ins you want to make and what needs to be subtracted…

Based on the above, what areas need work, so your goals may be met?

Plan a regular time every day to begin building for those dreams.

Example: So for test prep, schedule 30 minutes a day to do both the work of the prep and have a reward of playing a skill building game for the last 15 minutes.

Decide what areas are time wasters to create the space needed for growth. Let them go!

Where do you need to be more organized, so you can open up even more time as a family?

What extras do you need to add-in, so you can achieve your goals?

Example: One thing we have added in to our schedule is meal planning and curbside groceries. This has opened up a lot of brain space for what to cook every night.  Also, picking up the groceries has saved a couple of hours every week. We have actually saved money doing this, as well.

Get everyone on board with the changes…

Meet together as a family and discuss your family’s goals.  What new things do your kids want to try and learn? In what areas are they seeing a need for help at school–need a tutor for math or ELA? Will getting up earlier be a help or going to bed earlier? Is there an out-of-the-box answer for those stressors that will help diffuse the stress and turn a loss into a win?

Example: I found that at one point I was spending over three hours a day running carpool. So I got together with a friend and she ran the morning, while I ran the afternoon.  It worked wonderfully that year and opened up more space for me to have our home ready for the evening homework and meal time.  That little bit of prep time allowed our family to fall into a great routine with homework first, then outside play (weather-permitting) while I made dinner.

Begin immediately…

Don’t wait for next week! Start today. Even imperfect implementation is better than putting it off.  While you imperfectly implement your new schedule and routine, purchase any helps that you need–an egg timer? Organizing storage cubicles? Whiteboard? Cork board? Stickers for rewards?

In a month, re-evaluate!  Look at the routine you have created and see if it is indeed a positive addition for your family, so that your child’s goal to pass the test will be achieved.

If you find that you are still struggling, call us at 877-609-6203, and we will provide you with tools and opportunities–a membership with TestingMom.com? Offline resources, like flash cards or workbooks? Private tutoring? You can email, too–help@testingmom.com.  Our Student Success Team is just that.  They want to help you and your child achieve your goals for the tests to come, so that your child will be positioned for a fabulous future doing what he or she loves most!

Let us hear from you!  Tell us how we can help you achieve your goals! Let us do the heavy lifting for you.