New Product Updates

My new product development is now in full force.

On March 30, 2020, the following new product planning framework was shared with you on this blog. At that time, this is what I reported in a Who?, What?, Where?, When?, Why? and How? format.

• Who? – The Who is two-fold. The product is for the parent’s/guardian’s use in providing instruction for his/her elementary school-aged child. The product is also for the child, who will be directly benefited.
• What? – The product is a printable, digital list of template learning tools and worksheets, provided in PDF format. My daughter Toodlez and I will share in the artistic design of the worksheets as she will be using her freestyle artwork in combination with her art tablet and Adobe Illustrator to do her part. And, I’ll be using drag-and-drop assistance from Canva to do my part. (After all, I’ve never claimed I was a bona fide artist in any sense of the word.) I’m also looking at the benefits of making some fields and sections of several of the worksheets editable so that you can type in information before printing off the document. And, if you prefer to handwrite everything in, then you would just need to print off the document and handwrite your information in the appropriate areas. Some worksheets will be more of the organizational-type to allow for planning your instruction for your child. Other worksheets will be actual template learning tools that you can use to teach your child. The wonderful thing about this product is that it will be downloadable and you’ll have access to print as many copies of each document as you wish. You’ll have some cutting and possible pasting to do with some of the tools. And if you’re like me, artsy craftsy stuff is surprisingly therapeutic sometimes, so I tend to enjoy these “some assembly required” templates. Furthermore, you can have your child join in the fun and help you prepare those tools that may need a little finessing. Call it an “art” activity and make it part of their assignment for the day.
• Where? – I’ve decided to distribute this product through Etsy. However, I’ll have a bit of a learning curve here, since I’m not familiar with all the intricate details of Etsy at this particular moment in time. Nevertheless, I’ve identified this platform as the most appropriate place for me to offer this product, as Etsy is a marketplace site that caters to creative, handcrafted items. Of course, I’ll provide the link/information on how to access the product from the Etsy site, when the time comes.
• When? – The answer to this question is as soon as possible. Ideally, I’d like to have the packet of worksheets/learning tools ready next month, but I’m not putting an actual date to the product roll-out at this time. I’ve been there and done that, and I’ve found out that giving hard deadlines doesn’t quite work for my purposes. When I’ve given deadlines in times past, something always seemed to crop up and delay my best of intentions. However, I’ll be keeping WordPress followers of this blog as well as email followers up-to-speed on product progress and its availability just as soon as I have something concrete for you.
• Why? – I think this product will provide educational assistance to parents/guardians, teaching their children from home. I was already on a path of creating tools that adults could use to encourage reading and writing in their children; and the times have dictated the need for finding more and more ways to aid homeschool instruction. Plus, children are a focal point of my life and will always be an integral part of what I do on all of my Degrees of Maternity platforms.
• How? – I’ll present the “How” in a future blog post once my product planning has taken a real-life form and is out in the world, providing value to others.

Now, I didn’t want you to think that I hadn’t been working on my new product development goals and thought I’d share with you any general updates to my progress at this particular point.

The “Who?”

Well, the target audience hasn’t changed. So, that’s an easy response for that one. Moving on . . .

The “What?”

This part of the framework also remains pretty intact, with an addition or two. Instead of there being a packet of templates, my goal is to provide multiple products on the Etsy platform at the same time, starting with the grand opening of the online store. I won’t say much on this front, other than the fact there will be an ebook or two added to the product list as well as some possible “other” offerings. We’ll see. This section hasn’t been etched in stone yet.

The “Where?”

The platform I’m using hasn’t changed either. I still think that Etsy makes the most sense for distributing the product(s) I have in store for your use.

The “When?”

We are currently sitting at the end of April, so the as soon as possible roll-out date is still in effect, but the month of April is out of the picture at this point. And, that’s okay. It’s taken me up to NOW to truly nail down what I want to provide as product offerings. And honestly, I’ve been asking all of you questions to get a feel for what would be most beneficial for your use.

I haven’t received a wide response yet, but I’ve received some response and I’m very appreciative of those of you who have participated in the polls and other questions I’ve posed within these posts. I’ll continue to do so in hopes of receiving your feedback, which is so important to what I’m trying to accomplish with these new products. So, don’t be shy. Your voice matters. (Please read this post in its entirety, as I’ll be asking you some questions at the very end.)

To top off this section, I want to conclude by stating that May/June is a likely timeframe to launch the products. And, this “when” will be right in time for the summer break. Keep in mind that the products that I’m developing are not best used during schooltime only, but they will be applicable for your child’s learning pleasure all year-round. And the summer will actually be a great time to present them. You and your child will have come to the end of this really chaotic and confusing school year and will be looking for enrichment ideas and activities to keep your child educationally-motivated until the next who-knows-what-we’re-in-for school year.

The “Why?” and The “How”

They both remain the same.

The Questions

Some of you reading this post are writers and some are not, but all of us can probably relate to the fact that writing ain’t always easy. And if we can state this as adults, then we have to know that our children can struggle with writing (at times or all the time) as well.

In one of the polls I presented, I received feedback that getting a child to write was a challenge. And, I have that same challenge in my household with Little Man. He can most certainly write, but writing is one of his least favorite activities to do. So, let’s just say that writing is not the most sought after activity on his agenda and is considered more of a “have to do” (not “get to do”) task. Therefore, this topic is definitely one that hits home for more than just myself and is a topic worth exploring.

I don’t have a poll for you today, but I would love to receive responses to the following three questions:

1. Is writing something your child enjoys doing? Why or why not? (Ask him or her specifically. Don’t guess on this one.)
2. Do you consider your child to be more of an independent learner or a group learner?
3. Does your child prefer to read instructions and then follow them, see someone demonstrate instructions and then follow them, or create his or her own instructions by exploration?

Feel free to comment on this post or send me a message through my “Contact” page. I can’t wait to hear from you.