Archive for the ‘College Tips’ Category
Managing Children and Studies
Thursday, December 11th, 2008
It’s difficult enough balancing kids with housework, so the thought of successfully pursuing an online degree may seem impossible. However, taking online education courses can actually be quite manageable for parents. If you think that children are always in the way of your education troubles, think again. It’s all a matter of proper children management. There are actually many ways in which having children could help you achieve online degree success. One of them is assigning them important roles in the house. Not only will you be able to concentrate on your studies, you’ll get to cut yourself some home chore slack.
Plan a dinner and shopping list. Give your kids dinner duty and have them peruse a cookbook or kid-safe recipe Web site. Have them stick Post-it® notes on or print out favorite recipes. Then have them vote on one entrée, one side dish and one dessert. Next, have your kids read through the required ingredients for the winning recipes and make a grocery list for needed items. Plan a night to cook together as a family.
- Increase the Fun: Ask a restaurant for paper chef hats for your kids to wear. After the dinner is cooked, have your children “play restaurant” and serve you.
Free choice chore duty. Kids like exercising some control over their choices. Have them be “Inspectors” and walk around the house with a clipboard, noting chores that need to be done. Then, have your kids hold a meeting and each choose two chores. After they complete the chores, let them inspect each other’s performance.
Tags: online class, online degree, online educationPosted in College Tips, distance learning, online courses, online degree, online programs | No Comments »
Activities to Keep Kids Away While You Study
Thursday, December 11th, 2008
Getting one step ahead closer to your online degree is always a benefit of distance learning students. Here are some activities to keep kids away while you study.
Decorate a canvas pocket organizer. Pocketed canvas organizers that hang on doors can be a great way to harness those straying shoes, small toys or other items. Have your kids decide what the organizer will be used for and where it will hang. Then, give them fabric markers or paint to decorate the organizer using bedroom colors, favorite cartoon characters and anything else they can think of. After the organizer is thoroughly dry, have your kids place items in the pockets.
Holiday preparations and thank-you notes. Do birthday or holiday gifts need wrapping? Set out the supplies on the floor or table and put your children in charge of wrapping and decorating gifts. Remind them to stick nametags on the gifts! Recipients will love seeing that your kids did the wrapping all by themselves.
Trim and water plants. Kids will love being gardeners for a day. Show them how to use small clippers to trim bushes and snip off dead leaves and flowers. Have them put on bathing suits and use a hose or watering cans to water the garden. If your green thumb is the indoor variety, show kids how to water the plants in a controlled way. If you have plants with large, waxy leaves, have your kids”dust” off the leaves using damp paper towels.
Involve young children.Even young toddlers can grab a dust cloth and copy older siblings as they clean. Of course, everything including the dog may get dusted, but that’s okay. As long as your kids are focused and cooperative, they are getting the job done.
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Kids in Helping You Study
Thursday, December 11th, 2008
In addition to everyday tasks (dusting, sweeping, picking up toys), there are many fun and often forgotten jobs that will make your house sparkle and get you closer to earning an online degree. What are they exactly? Have your kids do the following chores while you are doing your school work:
Clean mirrors and windows. Cleaning windows and mirrors with a gentle spray cleaner such as Windex® is a fun way to keep kids busy. As long as the cleaner is nontoxic, kids can spray it independently and wipe smudged surfaces clean.
- Bonus tip: These cleaners can also be used to clean appliance surfaces, such as dishwashers and refrigerators.
- Increase the Fun: Buy markers specially made for writing on windows. Let your kids draw pictures on the windows and then clean them.
Organize the pantry. If your pantry houses old pasta, vintage gravy packets and an antique peanut butter jar, you’re not alone. But you can set your kids loose on tidying up this unruly space. First, make a simple sheet of instructions. Otherwise, your children will have a million unanswered questions when you’re trying to concentrate. The instructions can be as simple as:
- Take everything out of the pantry and put it on the kitchen table.
- Wipe out the pantry with a damp sponge.
- Throw away all open pasta packages that are nearly empty.
- Group the pantry items by type (soup, pasta, JELL-O®, etc.)
- Line up the items back on the shelves.
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Overcoming First Day Online Jitters
Wednesday, December 10th, 2008
Doing new things can be unnerving at times. Even if you are enrolled in online education at the comfort of your own home and time, you can be easily agitated by the thought of it. The first day of online class is not as stressful as it seems. In reality, you should be confident because it actually is easy as long as you are prepared. Here are some advice that could help you overcome your first day online jitters.
Post your introduction and find a friend. Most online courses start by having the students write a short self introduction and posting it on the discussion or bulletin board. It takes time to get acquainted, so take advantage of it. Find someone in the class who you find interesting and send them a private e-mail using their school e-mail address. Let them know you like their posting and why. Keep it short and simple. (Hint: having a friend in an online class is important — you can compare notes, share thoughts and understandings of assignments, and be a little less alone in class.)
Take a deep breath! The first online learning experience can be a little intimidating for anyone, but once you get the hang of it, you will do fine. Colleges and universities spend lots of time and money developing online courses and the Web site — much more than they do for classroom-based courses —just so online students will have a great experience. Remember to ask questions, enjoy the experience and most of all, remember to relax and breathe! (Hint: deep breathing is a way to relax your body.)
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Online Course - a New Way of Learning
Wednesday, December 10th, 2008
So you are embarking on a different way of learning — an online course. Good for you! But before anything else, you have to be sure that you are ready for what is ahead of you. Although studying online seems pretty easy, it should not be underestimated. Some preparations have to be made.
You must learn the layout of your online classroom. Check out the course Web site by logging into your course (or a demo course if your course is not available) and familiarize yourself with the space. Think of the space as a classroom. Click on all the links, check out the discussion board, the assignments page, the e-mail system, and anything else you can access just as if you were checking out the physical space of a classroom. Every online course is built in a course management system (WebCT, Blackboard, Angel, Desire2Learn, Sakai, etc. - some schools have proprietary systems). It is to your advantage to learn how to navigate the course before you begin class. (Hint: nothing adds to frustration more than having to learn how to do something or where to find something when you face a deadline.)
Try and scope out the course. Find the syllabus and read it. This will give you an idea of what you are going to study, how much reading there will be, what kind of assignments you will be doing, and generally acquaint you with the professor’s expectations. (Hint: knowing what to expect will help keep you focused and not overwhelmed.)
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