Category Archives: Education

A parent’s first duty is to their child. The education blog shares important information on how to be an active participant in your child’s education from preschool to graduate school.

How To Help Your Kids Be Ready For School

HealthyChildren.org has plenty of good ideas that can help your child get used to the transition from summer vacation and into the brand new school year. Here are some helpful ways to help your child look forward to going to school. Develop a healthy sleep routine Help your child adjust to earlier bedtimes. Set a consistent bedtime for your child and stick with it every night. Getting enough sleep is critical for kids to stay healthy and be successful in school. Not getting enough sleep is linked with lower academic achievement, as well as higher rates of absenteeism and tardiness. … Continue reading →

Parents Are Spending Less On Back-To-School Shopping

It’s that time of year again! The summer vacation is almost over, and it is time for parents to do some back-to-school shopping. As you might imagine, parents are handling this in a variety of ways. Dallas Morning News (via MSN) reported this is the last weekend to check out prices before Texas sales tax weekend Aug. 11-13. Many parents scope out the selection in advance of saving of up to 8.25% in sales taxes. In Texas, there’s little time left for back-to-school shopping for parents with students in some school districts. The first days of school in Mesquite, Garland, … Continue reading →

Some Kids Are Not Attending School

Some parents have noticed that their child, pre-teen or teenager have been avoiding going back to school. NPR posted an article titled: “3 years since the pandemic wrecked attendance, kids still aren’t showing up to school”. In other words, there are many parents out there who have kids that are unable to attend school.  According to NPR, Hedy Chang, the executive director of Attendance Works, says she hasn’t seen the kind of recovery she’d hoped for. “I think people had been a little bit under the false impression that when COVID became more endemic, that that would result in a … Continue reading →

California Offers Free Meals to Students

California is the first state to offer all public school students access to free nutritious meals this school year, thanks to the statewide Universal Meals Program. Good Morning America reported that the program comes at a crucial time, with food costs rising, inflation and an overall increase in children facing hunger since the pandemic.  The Universal Meals Program is designed to build on the foundations of the federal National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (BSP) and ensures all students are offered breakfast and lunch at school. The Universal Meals Program will cover all 6 million public school … Continue reading →

Prepare Your Kids For Going Back To School

Are your kids looking forward to going back to school? Are they nervous about what the new school year will bring? Here are some tips parents can use to help prepare their child for going back to school. Here are some Back to School tips from HealthyChildren.org: Find another child in the neighborhood your child can walk to school or ride with on the bus. Children are generally ready to start walking to school at 9 to 11 years of age. Make sure your child’s walk to school is a safe route with well-trained adult crossing guards at every intersection.  … Continue reading →

Summer Reading Programs for Kids – 2022

What will your kids be doing over summer vacation? One way for parents to keep their children practicing the skills they need for the next school year is to get them into a summer reading program.  Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Journal Every summer, Barnes & Noble has a summer reading program for kids who will be in grades 1-6 in the next school year. You can download the 2022 version of the reading journal. Here are the rules: Read any eight books this summer and record them in this Summer Reading Journal.  Tell us which part of the book is … Continue reading →

CDC Recommends COVID-19 Vaccines for Children and Teens

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone 12 years old or older should get a COVID-19 vaccination to help protect against COVID-19. Children 12 years and older are able to get the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine.The CDC recommends parents get a COVID-19 vaccine for their child as soon as they can. Here is some other useful information from the CDC: COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective. COVID-19 vaccines have been used under the most intensive safety monitoring in U.S. history, which includes studies in adolescents. Your child will need a second shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine … Continue reading →

CDC has a Plan for School Reopenings

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released an operational strategy for reopening schools. Their operational strategy presents recommendations based on the best-available evidence at the time of release (which was February 12, 2021). The operational strategy emphasizes mask wearing, social distancing, and other actions. The CDC adds that vaccination of teachers is important, but does not consider it to be a prerequisite for reopening. Parents need to know that the CDC cannot force schools to reopen. They are not calling for a mandate that all U.S. schools to reopen. The CDC’s Essential Elements of safe K-12 school operations … Continue reading →

Ancestry Provides Free Resources to Educators

Ancestry, a leading genealogy company, is providing free resources to educators and parents. The purpose of providing these tools is to make this school year a little easier. For the first time, Ancestry will provide K-12 teachers across the US a free 6-month World Explorer subscription to access billions of historical records, providing support in lesson development and project creation for the school year ahead. The subscription includes: Unlimited access to most records on Ancestry, including more than 3 billion international birth, marriage, death, census, military, church and other records Access to all public family trees on Ancestry Access to … Continue reading →

“Zooters” and Homeschool Pods

The new school year is starting, and it comes with incredibly difficulty choices for parents. Should you send your children to school, and potentially put them at risk for catching COVID-19? Do you have the means to become an unpaid teacher’s aide and guide your elementary school children through a virtual school day? Some parents are solving these problems with “Zooters” and homeschool pods. What is a “Zooter”? It is a word created by Elyssa Katz, who lives in Santa Monica, California. She is in the process of trademarking the word. She is also a mother of three, who understands … Continue reading →