Tag Archives: school

Why Schools Stopped Having Valentine’s Day Parties

There are many reasons why the school your child, preteen, or teenager attends does not celebrate Valentine’s Day. This may come as a relief for young people who are uncomfortable with the idea of choosing a card to send to everyone in their class, or attending a school dance. Parents may be happy that they don’t have to spend money on cards or baked goods for a school party.  Of course, there will be some students who want to experience a classroom Valentine’s Day party or to have fun at a school dance. Some parents may want their child’s school … Continue reading →

How School Dress Codes Can Harm Your Daughter’s Education

Does the school your children attend have a dress code? Many of them do. Some schools opt for a specific, very limited, dress code. Others are a little less stringent. While a dress code might annoy your son, school dress codes can harm your daughter’s education. Here are some things for parents to watch out for. Ideally, a school dress code is designed to equalize students. Everyone has to wear the same type of uniform, with limited variations. (Typical variations include skirts for girls and pants for boys). Schools might choose to only allow clothing of specific colors. The goal … Continue reading →

Don’t Do Your Child’s Homework for Them

One of the biggest complaints of students of all ages is the amount of homework they are assigned. This is true for kindergarteners, college students, and everyone in between. Teachers expect that the students will do their own homework, perhaps with a little help from their parents. You don’t do your children’s homework for them, though, right? An article in The Telegraph reveals some surprising things about who is really doing the homework that teachers assign. The information comes from a poll of 2,000 parents who had children between the ages of 5 and 15. The research showed that in … Continue reading →

Shortening Summer Vacation

Know how to shut down an unruly kid in record time? Tell him that his school is shortening summer vacation. I’ve never seen a mouthy child go silent as quickly as I did last week while watching the evening news at our neighbor’s house.  Education leaders recently began serious talks about lengthening the academic year here. Of course, all my neighbor’s rowdy kid heard was:  “Next year, public school kids across the state could be dealing with a much shorter summer vacation.” The news reporter’s last three words nearly triggered an aneurysm in my neighbor’s kid. My child attends parochial … Continue reading →

100 Days

Today is the 100th day of school for my child.  To mark the occasion she and her classmates were asked to bring in 100 of their favorite items. Yes, the assignment that parents from coast-to-coast dread each year. It’s even more dreadful when your kid reminds you that she needs said items two hours before they’re due. So, you run around like a nutcase looking for 100 what to cram into a Ziploc bag? Cheerios, LEGOs, coffee beans… blood, sweat, tears? When all is said and done, hopefully you remember to snap a photo of your kid holding up his … Continue reading →

When Life Gets in the Way

Since I’ve been parenting alone it seems as if life gets in the way a lot. There are certain things that simply have to be done and sometimes those things get in the way of effective parenting. Tonight was one of those nights. As a busy full time student I normally try my hardest to work on homework during times when Logan is asleep or at his dad’s. Unfortunately, that is not always possible. Some nights the amount of work simply cannot be done without cutting into some mommy time. I had a big presentation for tomorrow. One that I … Continue reading →

Stuck in a Rut

There have been many times throughout my life that I have found myself feeling stagnant. I had goals and I was working hard, but I didn’t feel like it was moving forward in my life. There wasn’t anything I could do to speed up the process, which caused me to feel completely helpless to get my life exactly where I wanted it to be. This feeling of stagnation can often cause depression, especially when you can’t do anything about it. I felt like I was doing everything I could to move forward after my divorce, but without my education I … Continue reading →

Personal Day from School?

Do kids need to take personal days from school? I was watching “The View” the other day and they were talking about an episode on the sitcom, “The Middle.” The young boy asked his parents if he could take a personal day. Well that sparked a conversation between “The View” ladies about children being overscheduled. Actually, I tend to believe that there are times kids do need to take a personal day. I don’t have any hard-and-fast rules when it comes to this. But if one of my children has been working hard and doing well in school and hasn’t … Continue reading →

Readjusting Teen’s Sleep for the Start of School

Welcome back to reality…the days of sleeping in are over and let me tell you, this is not easy for teenagers. To make matters worse, where the high school used to start at 7:40 a.m., it is now starting at 7:30 a.m. Yes, those 10 minutes really do make a difference to a teen. I remember when my children were younger it was much easier to get them adjusted back to school hours. I put them to bed earlier and woke them up earlier. Now I don’t have the luxury of putting my children to bed. Sure, I can tell … Continue reading →

Mixed Feelings on First Day of School

Last week I had to register my children for school. I have such mixed feelings about the first day of school. I have some sadness in knowing that it’s the last year of high school for my oldest and the first year of high school for my daughter. But at the same time I am excited about what is to come. My daughter continues to have reluctant feelings about the whole thing. Her attitude hasn’t been the most positive but I have a good feeling about everything. I really do believe she is going to enjoy her high school…but I … Continue reading →