Routines are important for children as they grow up. They allow children to learn what to expect during their day when they may be unable to handle change well. Routines can also make your entire family’s life run better. Learning how to create a smooth morning routine isn’t difficult, but it may take trial and error to get it working just the way you want it. Read the rest of this entry

School dances are common for high schools and even some middle schools. While the students are often responsible for deciding upon a theme and completely decorating the dance location, teachers and parents are often asked to chaperone. If you’ve never done so, here’s some tips on how to be a chaperone without keeping your child or teen from having fun. Read the rest of this entry

Do you remember when you were in school and there was one group of students that everyone wanted to be a part of? Those groups, also called cliques, may have thought they were cool when they made fun of anyone who wasn’t a part of them. And they’re still around today. Your own children or teens may be facing their own issues with cliques in school. Read the rest of this entry

The School Savvy Parent 365 Insider Tips to Help You Help Your Child

The School Savvy Parent

The School Savvy Parent is a 199 page paperback book that answers some of your questions about your child’s school experience. This guide, full of insightful and funny tips was written by teachers who are also parents, with 40 years of experience between them.

This book is a must have for anyone who has children in school. It is a compact guide full of tips on common sense issues that happen everyday.

It is clear and concise and covers a wide variety of issues. From beginning the school year, health and safety, talking with teachers, helping your children set goals, personal responsibilities and more, this book gives you tips that will make the school year less stressful. The anxiety of a new school year can cause headaches for not only the child but the parent too. But with this book those problems can be alleviated from the very beginning.

This book will give some examples of how to get your child to start a conversation about how their school day went. This will in turn help you to catch any problems that may be arising before they get out of hand. It also will help you to know when your child needs to be praised for the exceptional job they are doing.

It is also a wonderful guide for new teachers. It helps you to understand where a parent may be coming from and how to help them to help their children.

Although The School Savvy Parent won’t help with very serious issues you may have with your child, there is a handy reference guide within the book that refers to other books that may be helpful in these situations. Once the big problems are taken care of you can go back to this guide for your everyday school experiences.

Some parents may choose to use a tutor to help their children learn a skill or subject that is needed. If you’re lucky enough to find a local tutor, they can be a great help. However a local tutor may not always be available. Thankfully there are  alternative homework helpers online. Read the rest of this entry

Another summer has quickly passed us by. The kids have reluctantly gone back to school. It stands to reason that life should be a little less hectic, right? Unfortunately, that’s usually not the case. Between all of your daily ‘Mom obligations’, helping with homework and providing transportation to every extra-curricular activity under the sun, you probably have little time to devote to dinner planning.

Many times busy parents resort to hot dogs and macaroni and cheese, frozen pizza or frequent trips to a fast-food restaurant. That’s not healthy for you or the kids – not to mention its pretty rough on the family grocery budget.

Kitchen time savers

There are things you can do to cut down on time spent in the kitchen. Pick one day a week and prepare several freezer friendly meals. You can even go the extra mile and package them in individual serving size containers. Doing so will provide your family with a larger variety of entrée choices, on any given day.

Do you have friends that are intrigued with the idea of a one-day a week cooking spree or a meal planning service? Get together with 2 or 3 of them. Each of you decides on 2 main dishes you want to prepare. Buy enough ingredients to make the entrees for each family.

You need to plan ahead

One simple thing that you can do is keep an ample supply of fresh fruits, salad ingredients, soups and fresh sandwich fixings, on hand. Quick meals such as this are nutritious and don’t require a great deal of preparation time.

If you take on the task of meal planning and want to get in the habit of consistently putting together weekly menus yourself, you may be surprised at how much time it involves. Did you know that the typical family meal planner spends roughly 3 hours per week combing through cookbooks, choosing recipes and compiling a grocery list? That translates into 156 hours, per year. Yikes!

A menu service can help

You can say goodbye to last minute thrown together meals and eliminate the stress of dinner planning for your family by subscribing to a meal planning service. This type of service is very affordable, usually costing only a few cents per day. Menus are often designed to be family friendly and easily adaptable.

When you purchase a subscription to a service such as this, your membership will typically feature a weekly menu emailed right to your inbox. This includes seven main dish recipes, side dish suggestions and dessert ideas. As an added benefit, you receive a detailed shopping list, categorized by aisle, which makes your trip to the grocery store that much easier. Simply cross off items already in your pantry, add any other products you may be in need of and you’re off!

If you enjoy planning your own menu, you may want to consider a dinner planning service, in addition to your own choices. Why? It will still save you time, in the long run. Use the membership menu as a base. Then, search for recipes that will deliciously compliment that weekly plan.

Remember, nothing is more important than family time. Don’t let dinner planning get you down. Consider the suggestions we’ve made and you’ll spend less time
slaving over hot stove and more time with the people you love.

For a free weekly trial of a family friendly menu planning service, visit www.dinewithoutwhine.com .

All parents whose children take the bus to school want to ensure they will arrive safely. However, there can be times when safety becomes an issue, especially at bus stops. Here are some tips to guarantee your child will be safe not only walking to the bus stop but before and after the bus arrives.

* Children should be told not to run to catch any bus. Leaving early will avoid missing the bus and any chance of a child falling because they are in a hurry.
* Stay well away from the curb when standing at a bus stop.
* When walking to the bus stop with other children, do not play or run around in the street.
* All children under 12 should be accompanied by another adult or older sibling when walking to the bus stop. In addition, waiting with the child until they safely board the school bus is recommended.
* Children should be told not to talk to any strangers at the bus stop.
* Children should be warned that if anyone in a car stops and calls them over, they should run away screaming.
* Children who are approached by anyone for any reason should report the incident to the bus driver.
* Children should be told not to shove other kids onto the bus. Board the bus slowly and in a single file.
The fact that schools do not take responsibility until the moment the children boards the school bus is a major factor in ensuring the child is safe before arriving to school. In addition, in some states where children are picked up by school buses, care has to be taken to avoid any injury to the child.
Oftentimes buses stop in the middle of a street, double-park, or stop away from a child’s home. Children should be told to look both ways before boarding the bus in these instances since some school buses have the automated stop sign which signal other vehicles to stop, and others do not.

These school bus safety tips are just some ways in which children need to be made aware of situations which may occur when waiting for the school bus to arrive.

Wait To School Shop

The new school year will be here before you know it. You’re probably already thinking about the money you’ll have to spend on new clothes, school supplies, and miscellaneous fees. Some people start shopping as soon as the last day of the previous year. Others choose to wait to school shop. Which is the better choice? Read the rest of this entry

Do you remember when you were in school? You could hardly wait for the school year to end and summer vacation to begin. The closer a new school year came, the more you had back to school anxiety. Your children probably feel the same way as the new school year is drawing near. Read the rest of this entry

When we were kids, if we didn’t do our homework there were severe consequences. Today, with TV, video games, and other distractions available for kids to put off studying and completing homework assignments, encouraging study habits at the beginning of the school year can make all the difference in a child’s educational achievements.

Here are some tips which can motivate your child to implement good study habits for school.

* Designate an area or room where your child has a desk and chair.
* Ensure there is no TV, boom box, or other distractions in the room.
* Determine when homework should begin. If the child wishes to begin homework assignments upon arriving home, have a snack available for them until dinnertime.
* If the homework is not completed by then, they can continue after dinner, but only up to a certain time.
* Allowing a specified time for homework is also recommended.
* Taking ten minutes breaks in between homework assignments can alleviate the child becoming too tired to continue.
* Getting up and walking around the room or simply stretching can also alleviate leg and back pain.
* Ask family members to eliminate as much noise as possible during study time.
* If your child has a problem with a subject area, it is recommended that you offer assistance but not to engage in completing any homework assignment.
* Ensure the child has a good night’s sleep. Oftentimes children are so tired they come home and take a nap, thus they begin their homework at a late hour and the cycle continues the next day.

It is estimated that children today have to spend more time attending to homework and studying than the average person spends in an office. Whether your child attends elementary, middle, or high school, having the tools to achieve success begins with a set of rules and regulations for the entire family which can help your child maintain good study habits.

Children have a lot of pressure at school and are bombarded with assignments every day. Whatever can be done to alleviate any stress associated with homework and studying can only lead to good habits and a happy and healthy outlook.

Backpacks are a necessity for today’s students to carry books and school supplies. They come in many styles and colors, but some doctors are concerned about possible health issues with them. When it’s time to buy a backpack for your child you may want to consider these tips on how to choose a backpack for school. Read the rest of this entry

Many parents look forward to the beginning of a new school year. However, many parents also they dread the prospects of back-to-school shopping. Some parents are experts at the basics of back-to-school shopping while others struggle with it. You can use some of these tips for back-to-school shopping so you can get the job done without struggling. Read the rest of this entry