A resource is something the family can use to meet a goal. Time, energy, skills and money are resources. They are limited, so they have to be managed.
The idea
Human resources are what people bring: time, energy, knowledge, skills and attitudes. Material resources are things and money: food, tools, furniture, savings, and community facilities such as a clinic or a market. A resource is useful, and it is limited. Using time on one task means that time is not available for another. Skills can grow. Money that is spent is gone until more comes in. Values are what the family holds as important. Goals are what it is trying to reach. Standards are the level of result it will accept. A goal with no resource behind it stays a wish.
The management process has four steps students are expected to keep in order. Planning decides the goal and the steps. Organising gathers the people, the tools and the time. Implementing does the work. Evaluating asks whether the goal was met and what to change next time. Decision making sits inside that process: see the choices, weigh them against the goal and the resources, choose, and live with the result. Work simplification saves energy. It means doing a task in fewer steps, keeping tools within reach, and not walking the same path twice. A budget is a plan for money: income on one side, planned spending on the other. An answer that says "manage your time" with no step has not used the process.
How to prepare for the Management in Living papers: the family, the house, a budget, and the test of practical work. Start practising on glearn.now with Kevin and Anna. WASSCE Management in Living tips
What earns the marks
Name the resource before you say how it is used. Time is not money, though both are limited. The four steps are planning, organising, implementing and evaluating. Do not stop at planning when the question asks for the process. A budget is a plan, not a wish list of prices. If you give an example, make it a household task: preparing a meal, cleaning, or getting children to school. Do not invent a wage or a price.
Practice questions
These are practice questions in the style of the paper, with a model answer and a mark scheme. They are not a promise of what your paper will ask.
1Question 1
4 marks
(a) State two human resources and one material resource. (3 marks)
(b) State one reason resources have to be managed. (1 mark)
Model answer
(a) Time and energy are human resources. Money is a material resource. Skills are another human resource. Tools and food are other material resources.
(b) Resources are limited, so using one on a task leaves less for the next task.
Mark scheme
One human resource, such as time, energy, skill or knowledge1 mark
A second human resource, different from the first1 mark
One material resource, such as money, tools, food or equipment1 mark
They are limited, or use of one reduces what is left1 mark
2Question 2
4 marks
List the four steps of the management process in order. (4 marks)
Model answer
Planning, organising, implementing and evaluating.
Mark scheme
Planning1 mark
Organising1 mark
Implementing1 mark
Evaluating, in that order1 mark
3Question 3
3 marks
Explain how a family can save energy when cleaning the house. (3 marks)
Model answer
Keep the tools in the room where they are used, finish one area before moving, and share the tasks so one person is not doing every job. Fewer repeated trips means less energy for the same result.
Mark scheme
A method, such as keeping tools close, ordering the work, or sharing tasks1 mark
A second method, different from the first1 mark
Why it saves energy, such as fewer repeated trips1 mark
Practise Management in Living with Anna
More questions on this topic are inside glearn, marked as you answer, with the reason written out. The first ones need no account.
Planning, organising, implementing and evaluating, in that order. Planning alone is not the whole process. Evaluating asks whether the goal was met.
Who marks a written Management in Living answer?+
On glearn.now, Anna marks WASSCE answers and Kevin marks BECE answers. You can start with no account. A written answer is marked point by point. All WASSCE Management in Living past questions