How to Raise Smart Kids Using Google Keep Notes
By: Ashima Narang
Tags: Google Keep, Notes, Kids, Smart

Ideas to Organize Knowledge and Resources for Parents

Photo by Standsome Worklifestyle on Unsplash

This article describes how parents can use Google Keep for creating notes and organizing ideas, ultimately developing a system they can use to raise smart kids.

Google Keep is a light-weight, simple-to-use note-taking app.

Why Organize What You Have Learned?

There is a great deal of information on the web. To discover, learn, and retain what’s worthy, one must read again and again, like a good student. Or, most of the research done would probably go down the drain.

One must organize one’s knowledge and preserve it carefully, like a precious treasure. It helps to develop a sophisticated yet simple system, so specifics can be retrieved from this treasure trove when needed. The more one uses this treasure, the richer one’s life becomes.

Getting Started

If you want to create notes on your computer using Google Keep, you will need a Google account.

To create a new note, follow these steps:

In your web browser, go to keep.google.com.

Sign in with your Google account.

Click Notes on the left panel on the screen.

Click inside the Take a note text box.

Add a title and start typing.

You can create a new note list, a new note with an image, or a drawing note using the web app.

Organizing Your Research with Google Keep

You can create notes to list websites you would like to get back to someday. Each topic can have a dedicated note for it. For example, you can create a note called ‘Remedies for colds and cough” and list all related links in that note. Similarly, you can create notes for learning Java, math resources for kids, books for kids, books for self, methods for delivering effective presentations, and many more.

Reading Recommendations for Kids

So why just a list of books? Some websites update their book recommendations from time to time. Interestingly, this is based on the child’s age, reading level, interests, etc.

For example, with two kids, Adny and Bek, Alisha needed to search for books at two reading levels. She found great resources on the web that recommend thematic lists, for example, “10 books to make your child love animals”.

Some websites grade a child’s reading and comprehension ability and recommend various books of the category, gradually increasing the level.

Keeping oneself informed can help parents make their kids fall in love with books.

Creating a List of Books for a New Phase

When Adny started learning swimming, he feared water. Reading books is a great way to ease your child into a new experience. Alisha made reading meaningful for Adny by collecting a list of books relevant to swimming. She created a list of related books that helped Adny tackle the fear of water and created excitement for the new sport.

Building a Great Vocabulary

Alisha started creating a list of ‘Five words this week’ list. For example, when Adny had just started, he learned what a lap is. He understood the difference between lap and length. His curiosity and interest piqued. This helped him become friends with water a lot sooner than she had expected.

Now, when he raved about his new-found love to his friends, he had new terms in his vocabulary. Well, he did show off a little, but his peers had a genuine regard for what the little one had learned.

After an effort of a couple of weeks, he managed to pull the skill off.

Collecting Art Resources for Kids

There are some elementary and easy art tutorials for kids on the internet. Alisha created a list of her favorite art channels. She made Wednesdays and Saturdays art days, ensures everything is available for the kids a day in advance. She regularly got her ideas from the five video resources she had on the list. She could choose what to draw and paint based on what the kids were learning in a particular week. During the ‘Rats week,’ they read books related to rats. Wednesdays were scheduled for drawing and painting rats, their habitat, etc. Saturdays were scheduled for ‘Rat craft,’ and Sundays for a ‘Rat movie.’

Saving Recipe Sites for Kids — Based on Chefs and Nutrients

We live in exciting times when recipes for such delectable dishes are a button-click away. It took Alisha some time to check out the recipes from a few video channels. Once shortlisted, she listed her favorite chefs and their web URLs to check updated content regularly.

Alisha created a lot of other notes. Equipped with the right tools, she never again had to roll with the punches. Google Keep gave her better control because of which she could manage her life better.

Learning Systematically

Organizing topics into buckets can slowly help you develop your knowledge. Busy parents get time to read in cabs or while waiting for their turn at the doctor’s clinic. You can get back to shortlisted URLs whenever you have time.

Systematic learning can help you save a lot of time. When you have all the information in one place, you do not have to go back to the drawing board every time you need to read about, for example, delivering effective presentations. All you may need to do is add on to the research you have already done! Choose a great article from your notes and start reading. That is so much better than mindless browsing!