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A Parent's Guide to Online Gaming, Part 1
The internet touches every aspect of your children's lives. Where you might look up an unknown word in a dictionary, your kids are more likely to use dictionary.com. Where you use the telephone, they use instant messenger. An even greater difference...
Private Schools For Your Children For Less Than $850 a Year Tuition
Joel Turtel, author of "Public Schools, Public Menace: How Public Schools Lie To Parents and Betray Our Children," says busy working parents can give their kids a quality, low-cost, private-school education at home using the Internet. Turtel says,...
Speaking on Behalf of Our Children: Stop Blaming the Victims
How many times have you flipped through the pages of a magazine or newspaper and seen images of children with captions like “Brats,” “Bullies,” or “Mean and Selfish”? Unfortunately, these are common occurrences in today’s media. For some child...
Talk Your Child Clever
Most parents can hardly wait for their baby to say its first word. This usually happens between the nine months and a year. From about two years, the child should be able to use simple phrases, and by three he should be able to use full...
The Best Travel Games
Car travel games are a tradition wherever families take vacations or long trips by automobile. Long drives are always more tolerable with some diversion or entertainment, and reading might not be the best choice, at least for the driver. Why not try...
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Spelling Success for Back to School
Back to school. Whether you approach this time of year with anticipation or dread, it’s about to happen. Your child will have new teachers and classes, different rules and expectations. Children and parents can easily be overwhelmed with excitement and anxiety. Below are six ways to send your child back to school with success.
S - Supplies – Most schools provide a list of essentials for each child to bring on the first day of class. Make sure your child has exactly what is requested, and save enough cash for those supply needs that crop up the first week of class. Stock up on all types of paper, writing utensils, art supplies, notebooks and folders during the back to school sales. Gather an assortment of calculators and reference books. There is nothing that gives confidence like the satisfaction of having just the right tool for the job. (Email us at supplies [AT} goaskmom.com for our comprehensive list of back to school supplies.)
C - Communication – While summer is still in session, visit the school and meet the secretary and principal. Limit yourself to brief introductions, but offer your support to help make a great school year. Leave your name, telephone and email so the school can contact you if they need help. The first week of school, write the teacher a letter introducing your child, and briefly listing strengths and weaknesses. Share important information such as family situation and medical needs. Finally, tell the teacher you would like to meet during the second month of school to strategize ways to work together for your child’s education.
H - Habits – Children usually crave routine. A couple of weeks before school, transition children to the schedule they will follow once the year begins. Send them to bed and have them get up earlier. Adjust mealtimes. Once school is in session,
quickly establish routines for homework and chore. Make it a habit to prepare the next day’s clothes, lunches, and school gear each evening.
O - Orientation – Familiarize your child with the all the places she will be during the school day. Follow the bus or car pool route. Arrange a visit to the school before it begins. Practice the route into the building. Find the bathrooms, the library, and the lunchroom. If your child is in middle or high school, let them walk their schedule until they feel comfortable. See if there are volunteer opportunities that will help your teen to feel more at home in the maze of corridors that line most campuses.
O - Organization – Buy into the adage “a place for everything, and everything in its place”. A two drawer file cabinet works well as a center to organize a child’s school/home communication, backpacks, shoes, and homework. Each afternoon, school gear and shoes go in. Before bed, add clothes, bookbag, notes and homework for the next day. In the morning, everything is in one spot, and makes it easier for the child to get dressed and ready.
L - Love – Insensitive classmates, missed buses, forgotten homework and misunderstood math can make school a traumatic place. Shield your child by expressing your love over and over again. Tell her you love her. Give him a hug. Hide a love note or symbol in an Algebra book. Offer your time, your understanding, and your prayers. With the teacher as your partner, wrapping your children in love is the best way to spell a successful beginning to the school year.
About the Author
Kayla Fay is the publisher of "Who Put the Ketchup in the Medicine Cabinet?" and "24 Hour Science Projects". She and her husband live in North Carolina with their four sons. Visit Kayla at http://www.goaskmom.com or http://www.24hourscienceprojects.com.
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