Thursday, April 26, 2012

Why didn't I think of this before?



I have been using an app called Cozi for more than a year. I had the brilliant idea yesterday to start having the kids use it too. We finished our Classical Conversations year on Monday so our school work greatly decreased - wahoo. We will continue to do school during the summer months but from here until August, when we start CC again, they can really get their work done in an hour or two hours a day. Now, some of my kids will want to get up before the sun and get everything done before breakfast. And others will be complaining at dinner that they still have work to do. Enter Cozi. I can log into our shared account on my ipad and give them each a "to do" list that they can check on their ipods when they wake up. So, if they happen to wake up before me, they don't have to wake me and ask what they need to do, they just start working.  The catch is that they can't have free time until their list is all checked off. If they want to take until dinner, so be it, but the entire day will be wasted. It is amazing how quickly they can get their work done when they want to!

Tonight, I'll get back on there and change things up for tomorrow. A lot of the things will stay the same from day to day (have a quiet time, do math, 30 minutes of silent reading, 15 minutes cleaning your room, etc) and some I'll have to change each day (clean bathrooms, mow, certain history and science projects we are doing, etc) but I think this just might work. If I can get them in the habit of doing this all summer, I'll use it for their lesson plans in the fall. And yes, I have a list for ME too. Laundry is already hanging outside and 32 oz of water have been consumed. I'm getting my list checked off too.

Have you every used something like this? Thoughts? Ideas? Worth a shot, I figure ;)

And yes, I realize I have been MIA (whole new format on here for posting since I left!). Had a little incident and decided to take a break from blogging for a bit but I'm back. Might not post personal stuff anymore but I miss reading about your lives and having a record of ours. I need to find a happy middle ground.