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The school bells are ringing and the Summer has finally ended. The kids headed back to school this week but in my home not only do I have a fourth and eighth grader heading back to school. It’s also back to college for my oldest son. I’m excited that the schools that my younger kids attend all implanted BYOT which means Bring Your Own Technology to school a few years ago which means that on certain days they are allowed to bring in technology. This became a bit of a struggle after a while because the younger ones would clash and have the exact same days for BYOT which meant since we only had one laptop they would have to alternate days. Trust me that was a ton of boy drama with them arguing about who was next.
THE COLLEGE STUDENT
Then there’s my oldest son who struggled to get into college for over a year and when he was finally accepted his ACT scores were lower than the requirement so he had to take a few remedial classes. Yes this was indeed a wake up call for him but could have been avoided if he had simply managed his study & basketball training time wiser along with putting forth a little more effort. Once he started his classes he was allowed to also play on the college basketball time but this comes with stipulations. My oldest is truly enjoying the countless apps that he can utilize to keep him on schedule. It’s important for him to manage his time wisely during his sophomore year.
- All Basketball players must maintain a 2.5
- All Basketball players are required to attend study hall immediately after their final class.
- All Basketball players must commit to 10 hours a month community service.
Honestly as a parent all you want is for your kids to succeed and do great in school and I was a bit against him playing basketball. My preference would simply be for him to get his higher education but I will admit that I was very impressed with the tight ship that the school officials ran for all of their athletes. As school went on there was a desperate need for my college student to use the laptop as well so that lead to three kids using one laptop which ultimately meant that it was time for us to look into adding an additional one to our family.
THE PRE TEEN
The kids and I headed to our local Walmart to take a glance at the selection of computers that they had to offer. Since we’ve always been an HP Family why would we ever break the cycle? The education system is totally different from when I was in school especially with my little ones. They each have Google emails which they use to email assignments to their teachers. My youngest has developed a PowerPoint presentation addiction and he’s always creating one plus he spends his internet time on his schools website playing educational games.
See! So along with my youngest getting creative with his presentations I also have a college student who using mostly digital text books, writing research papers and a teenager who loves gaming and robotics. All of which will take place on a laptop. Upon our arrival to the Electronics Department we headed for the computer aisle to find that they had a great selection of NEW HP’s and best of all they are affordable! The HP Envy Notebook shined like a star as the perfect one for my families needs plus this beautifully thin designed HP Envy packs the power of a high-performance PC in a sleek portable body. Its more power in every millimeter!. Just check out the awesome specs:
- Processor: 6th generation Intel® Core ™ i7-6500U
- Memory: 8 GB LPDDR3 SDRAM (onboard)
- Graphics: Intel® HD Graphics 520
- Solid State Drive: 256 GB M.2 Solid State Drive
- Audio: State-of-the-art Audio by Bang & Olufsen with Dual Speakers that transforms your laptop into a soundstage
- Battery Life: Up to 7 Hours and 30 minutes
- Weight: 2.98lb
- Keyboard: Full-size island-style backlit keyboard
- Thin Is In: 12.99 super thin laptop with an all metal body and stunning edge-to-edge quad HD + Display
- One year of FREE cloud service: Get 25GB of FREE online cloud service with Dropbox
THE TEENAGER
My thirteen-year-old loves the convenience and flexibility of the HP Envy Notebook. The other day my son decided that he would sit on the steps and finish working on his latest robotics project while our puppy ran around the yard for his daily evening walk. The HP Envy is so thin that it can practically fit anywhere, especially in his book bag which makes transporting it carefree with the worries of bulkiness or taking up too much room in his bag.
THE WAHM
Then there’s me the WAHM! I often find that the only time that I can actually get major work down is late a t night when all of the kids are in the bed. Why? Because my days are often spent catching up on laundry, preparing meals, transporting the kids to gymnastics, robotics, Kuk Sool…you name it and I’m constantly on the go. I have found peace knowing that now the HP Envy is indeed the perfect laptop for the busy demands of my family and its ability to keep my schedule as well in order is top notch in my book. The scheduling apps have not only kept me on schedule but sync with my smart phones so when I am at an event I immediately receive an alert that its time to head to either pick up one of the kids or its time for a one-on-one consultant call with one of my clients. Hey! Even Mom’s need to work on their time management.
STEPS TO EFFECTIVE MANAGE TIME FOR STUDENTS OF ALL AGES
- Gather your class, basketball practice, work study and misc. schedules.
- Properly arranging the schedules in chronological order according to time frames and blocks will aid in effectively scheduling out your day.
- Consult with your advisor of teacher if there is a conflict in your class and work study schedule.
- Allocate time to regroup in between longer classes and practices.
Grab your HP Envy and get a jump start on effectively managing your time by utilizing the amazing apps below to create effective schedules during the hectic school year. 
Although he got off to a rocky start he has been focused on keeping his eye on the prize and with the help of a few amazing time management/scheduling apps and security options that we can utilize on the HP Envy he is sure to have a great year.
TIME MANAGEMENT, ORGANIZATION & ENTERTAINMENT APPS
We have put together our favorite Must Have Apps, Extensions and Websites that will help with either studying or organization. We are writing this post for high school students in general, but in reality, these apps and extensions will work for anyone that needs assistance with organizing and/or studying. There is even a quick tutorial at the end of this post showing you how we use one of our all time favorite programs to have a little fun during our down time.
- My Homework App: The myHomework app has the ability to sync across all devices and makes it super accessible to your students classes and assignments from any location at any time. My college student can input his schedule and not only does he have access, I can also take glances at his upcoming assignments. This app is great for my elementary and middle school child too because it will alert you with a reminder when assignments are due.
- Google Drive: Google allows my students to access their school assignments from home or when we are on the go. The secure cloud storage allows students to start a research assignment at school and continue at home by signing into their accounts. Google also allows you to share photos and files with family and friends. The great thing about Google is you can also sync your events, appointments and due dates to your calendar to receive alerts via smart phone or laptop.
- My Weekly Schedule: This amazing scheduling app is not only great for my son in college to use to keep up with his crazy basketball and school schedule it also serves a companion to me. I have found over the past few weeks that I have forgotten about a meeting or event due to my hectic schedule at times. My Weekly Schedule allows me to view the entire families schedule on Tile, the ability to save support for exams and task, and the ability to schedule in a few minutes for the kids to enjoy game time as a reward for outstanding work.
- Netflix: The kids have to take a break from school work and have a little me time with their favorite movie and that’s exactly what my oldest does every night when he comes home from basketball practice and class. The really cool thing about Netflix is that you can watch everywhere and its perfect for my family because we are always on the go. The kids are in love with the added fact that they can State-of-the-art Audio from Bang & Olufsen dual speakers.
- Security: Ensuring that your families information is secure is vital in today’s society. The HP Envy Notebook has a number of secure ways to sign on but the finger print detector is perhaps the best option for my entire family. My son can take the laptop to class and not worry about anyone getting access because the sign on is done by sliding your finger over the detector. The younger kids are also able to access the Notebook through this manner which makes it secure for them when taking the Notebook to school for BYOT.
Are you ready for the kids to head back to school? Which HP is your favorite and will you work this school year to effectively manage your time? Leave a comment below.
It’s Back To School Time. Did you purchase a HP Computer from Walmart for your College or High School Student? Be sure to head over to Walmart and leave an online review for fellow HP shoppers to read and help them select the best HP product for their lifestyle!