InFocus Financial Strategies

As Placer County moves into stage two of reopening the economy, we thought it prudent to let you know how this effects InFocus Financial Strategies. As of right now, most of our staff are still telecommuting. However, our business hours and processes remain unchanged. We are still here and able to serve you! When we do open our doors back up to in-office appointments, we vow to take every precaution to keep our guests safe. We clean all frequently touched surfaces around the clock, have enough space to socially distance, and are ordering masks for the staff. Wishing you all health and hope as we head into the weekend. Stay safe and we'll see you soon.

Nobody ever got on a roller coaster expecting a level ride.

Many of our clients are young, working professionals. Given the current situation, many are now faced with a new reality; working from home while also homeschooling their children. We took some tips on how to keep your kids on track with distance learning from Ann Dolin at Educational Connections Tutoring: 1) Make a broad plan. Bend and flex. During these times its often better for the home to have a routine as opposed to a strict schedule. Try to do the same task around... the same time every day, but keep the timing loose (example; do math and language arts between breakfast and lunch) 2) Preserve relationships. Focus on what your kids will remember. Do you want them to have a positive or negative experience? Take time to plan family activities and games every day. Now is likely not a great time for a lot of discipline. 3) It is all about timing. Productivity typically peaks around lunch time, slumps midafternoon, then starts to pick up again. What does this mean? The earlier they get challenging work done, the better. Save the creative/fun activities for the slump time. 4) Use props and visuals. Kids thrive on the use of visual and tactile tools. Use a timer to help keep them on track. A good rule of thumb is to spend the child’s age plus one minute on a task at one time. So, if your child is 9 years old, set the timer in 10-minute increments. Try to work your way to 25 minutes. Are you getting constantly interrupted while trying to work from home? Develop a red light, yellow light, green light system on your door. A red piece of construction paper means, please come back later, I am busy right now. 5) Set boundaries. This one is a given. Set time limits on cell phones and electronics. Keep them in a separate room if possible. 6) To do lists. Go over the game plan and to do list for the day, in the morning when you have their best attention. Set expectations for the day to eliminate surprises. 7) Lastly, and most importantly; dial back your parental expectations! Your job is not to recreate the school day. You are wearing many hats right now, parents; educator, provider and play mate. You are likely also under quite a bit of stress. Additionally, in some families, one or two of the providers may have lost their job or taken a pay cut. If there is anything that we can do to help ease your financial concerns, please don’t hesitate to ask! We are here to help.