ColorNote and Routines Part 2

In my last post I showed you how I created multiple checklists for my daily routine.

Over the years I have polished a chore rotation for my household.

Some of the room names have changed due to us moving things around but you get the idea.  I also have monthly chores that are added to the weekly list, creating 4 weeks worth of cleaning checklists.

Then in the same way I created checklists for my daily routine I created chore lists in ColorNote.

Over two screens on my tablet I have laid out my daily routine checklists as 2x2 widgets and added in my chore checklist also.

You can also see I have added in what I call Individual Morning Chores (IMC).  The blue widget is my chores list for that day.

On the next screen that continues the routines there are Individual Afternoon Chores (IAC) widgets for each person.  I also have a purple one for the month's big chores as you can see in this next screen shot.

  

Sadly June's chores haven't been done as diligently as I would like, but I wanted to show you how my screens look.

In my next post I will explain more on how I use these lists.

Best wishes

Jen

 

ColorNote and Routines Part 1

Here are my step by step instructions on how to turn text from a Word document into checklists in ColorNote for my tablet.

Like some other homeschooling mothers I have read Managers of Their Homes by Terri Maxwell.   From that I gleaned the idea of having a regular routine to my days.  I have also arranged my household chores in a similar way to FlyLady with a monthly rotation of the bigger jobs, and a weekly and daily routine of chores.

With ColorNote I have been able to create all the lists I need to keep this system running.

First of all I create my schedule in Word.  It comes out looking something like this.

Once I have polished it and am happy that it all "works", I copy the file across to my tablet.  It is important that each task has those square brackets with one space between them and then a space in front of the text before each item.  You will see why in the next step.

I use Polaris to open up the Word file.  I then select the contents of a cell and copy them to the clipboard.

After opening up ColorNote I use the add option and create a text note.  Yes, it does sound odd, when I want to create a checklist but it works.  In the new text note I paste my text copied from the clipboard.  It comes out as text with no carriage returns.

By selecting just before each opening bracket I insert returns to create a vertical list.

Before saving it I send to ColorNote and it automatically changes my text list to a check list.  I change the colour to suit my system, put in an appropriate title and save.

It will then switch me back to my text note, which I can discard.


My system of labelling is to put the stage number and then the day/s it applies to.  For instance you will see above in the Word file that Monday's stage 1 is different to Tuesday and Wednesday - no homework - so I will label it "1 Mon" but Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are all the same so I label the note for them as "1 T W R F".  I use R for Thursday because I have become used to how Homeschool Tracker uses R for scheduling across different days and it makes a lot of sense when I am trying to make titles short so they are visible on the widget.

More to come...

Best wishes
Jen

Using ColorNote on My Tablet

I have a Samsung Tablet 7.7, only the older version, but I find it to be my second brain.  I would be lost without it.  The 3 most important apps I have installed are Cozi, a calendar app that my DH can use on his iPad also; Out of Milk, for my grocery lists sorted by store with price history, and ColorNote, a list making app.

I love ColorNote.  It has checklists and text notes.  They can be colour coded and can even have a reminder set for them in the calendar section of CN.

My notes are colour coded for the zones I use for housekeeping, for my routines, for projects and other minor list types.  I mostly use checklists and love how they can be reused by "unchecking all" or "checking all".  I also like to edit them and move items up and down so that I have the higher priority items higher in the list.

I can even send my lists to my son in an email and he can send them on to his ColorNote app on his phone.

The notes are easy to "stick" onto your pages for viewing by adding a 1x1 or a 2x2 widget to the page.  I usually use them  in the larger size because they can be stretched for best viewing but they can also just be put on as a simple sticky note with a title showing.

A typical "page" in my tablet.  Note the large notes and the smaller ones also.

In this screen shot I have 2 types of ColorNote widgets.The smaller grey ones to the right (6 of them) are the 1x1 widgets with only a note title and a number for the tasks still left to be done for that checklist.  The lower right widget was a 2x2 widget that I have stretched and is only text.  The other 2 large notes are checklists and you can see that I have some marked off on the grey note.  By clicking on the note I can then edit the items, uncheck all, check all or sort by status.  Awesome, huh?!

I am just updating my schedule for next term and will tell you how I go about creating that in my tablet for easy use.  Once I have that done I can show you some more screen shots of my daily routines and my household routines.

Stay tuned!

Best wishes
Jen

PS Yes I have EverNote too but I find it's task lists are very limited for re-using or moving items around in.

Thinking about Science

Has anyone else ever considered why science is typically taught the way it is?

In my opinion scientific inquiry is not fully learned if the student is taught the science before they get to do a hands-on experiment and think about what has occurred.  After all would the science book lie?   

Scientists of old would observe the world around them, make guesses at why things happened, and then do an experiment to try to prove their theory.  If it didn't work then they would try a new idea.

How can we expect our students to come up with new thoughts if we feed them everything before they get to the experiment?

Science in our household is going to be a mess of experiments, with theories abounding (and messes I guess!) and then information about the known facts shared in small snippets as I see them trying to come up with theories of their own.

So, have you thought about science?

Best wishes
Jen

Quick Quip

Three things you should never try to "raise" without giving your full attention to them.

Bread

Vegetables

and

Children!

Yup,
shortest written post ever on this blog.

Best wishes
Jen 

Having a Refreshing Personal Space

I have been reflecting on having a refreshing personal space to just take time to reflect and refresh each day.  A variety of books that I have been reading recently cover this although I couldn't exactly say which ones today.  You know how it is, read so many sources with similar ideas, you don't know where you read it first.

Anyway, I share my bedroom with 2 little children.  Umm, back that up!  You may need a quick explanation of our house.

My dh is very overweight and uses a CPAP machine.  Due to his weight causing a very large dip in the bed and the noise of his machine I am unable to sleep in his bed.  Not something either of us are happy with!  In the other 2 bedrooms in the house we have a set of bunks for the older pair of boys and then in my room a set of bunks for the younger pair of boys and a single bed for me.

While I have made sure my bedlinen is pretty and that the higher up surfaces are uncluttered the bedtime books and a few stray toys keep creeping out from their homes under the boys' bed to cover the floor.  Not exactly refreshing!

Instead my "refresh" space is the room where our fireplace is.  I have a 2 seater lounge with a pretty lamp for reading to the boys or on my own opposite the fire place and I will shortly have a desk in the corner for me to do my "important work" of thinking and planning.  I love this space because it is fairly central to the rest of the house.  In the past if I have made my refresh space too out of the way I can find myself hiding there all day long.  For me I need to be out in public space because children who can read clocks or see screens will naturally keep me accountable.  lol

I have also made a few little places of "peace" around my house, surfaces that contain things that make me smile that no one is allowed to clutter up.  Even if the rest of my house is dusty, toy cluttered and messy these little places help me to feel it is not all lost.

I hope this gives you some ideas about creating a space for yourself.

Best wishes
Jen