school daze

Do not be a victim to the morning madness of frantically running around looking for clean underwear, homework, permission slips, milk money and keys. Get organized now before school starts. Get a plan of action. Start thinking about where the kids are going to dump their stuff when they come home. Designate a basket or even a colored dishpan for each member.

All their stuff should go in there as soon as they get home. No need to go running around the house the next morning looking for things. Check out this website for the most adorable baskets and storage solutions!

Another great tip, is you may want to set the breakfast table the night before. This will be one less thing to worry about.
 Have a meal plan. With sport schedules and dance recitals, it’s easier to have a meal plan for the week. When you’re making your meal plan, check the calendar, see what the week looks like, and plan from that. You may want to check out MY FAV RECIPE SITE and get some simple meals for those busy days and nights of practice and games.


Also, start thinking about bedtime now! You do not want to wait till the night before school to implement the new bedtime. About a week or two before school starts, begin sending the kids to bed a little earlier each night. Wake them up a little earlier each day also. Get their internal clocks ready for school hours. This includes meals.
If your kids are used to eating lunch at noon and a snack at two, that might not be possible during school. Hold the kids off snacks until the time they would arrive home from school. This way they will get used to the “feeding schedule” and their tummies will not be growling during science class.
 Don’t forget that breakfast on school days should be healthy and well balanced. Research has shown that kids who don’t eat breakfast are less able to learn at school, get less iron (an important nutrient) in their diets, and are more likely to have a higher BMI (body mass index), which is a sign they may be overweight.
On the other hand, kids who eat breakfast do better in school, are more likely to participate in physical activities, and tend to eat healthier overall. So this school year don’t let your children run out the door on an empty stomach. Fuel up with a healthy breakfast!
Be excited about the new school year. Your children will follow your lead. So lead by example. Start pumping them up and getting them excited about the new things they will learn, the new friends they will make, the new sports they may try, etc. Get their attitude positive for learning and having fun in school. The lazy days of summer are nearing an end and the frantic daze of school is heading our way.

WEBSITES YOUR CHILDREN NEED TO SUCCEED

With school comes homework and problems that maybe Mom and Dad just have no idea about. Thank goodness for the internet. Today its so easy for parents and students to just surf the net for info that they need to succeed! Here are some great resources for your kids broken down into age groups.
PRESCHOOL and ELEMENTARY
I love this site! Here you can print out Number cards and play Number games, printouts to help with writing numbers, very cute site for the little ones. Its will keep them busy while their older siblings are doing their homework.
The Neatness Award

Encourage your student to stay organized. This
works like magic. Slip this and a treat (rice treat, lollipop…) into the neat desks of students.

These are printable numbers to hang up for your preschooler and K-3 kids!
How about a Name Plate for your child’s Homework Central Desk…very official!
Flash Cards free printables!
Flash Cards Addition
Flash Card Alphabet
Flash Card Colors
Flash Cards Division
Flash Cards Multiplication
Flash Card Numbers
Flash Cards High Frequency Word
Flash Cards Numbers and Number Words
Flash Card Phonograms
Flash Cards Shapes
Flash Cards 3D Shapes
Flash Cards Sight Words
Flash Cards Subtraction
Check out this site for 4,182 free printouts of activities, coloring pages and projects.
JUNIOR HIGH - Homework Help For Grades 7-8

• Infoplease Homework Central

MATH

• Math.com

ENGLISH

• BJ Pinchbeck’s Homework Helper: English

SOCIAL STUDIES

• The 50 States of the United States - A quick resource for fun facts about each of the nation’s 50 states, including when they achieved statehood

SCIENCE

• Amateur Science
• Mad Scientist Network - The mad scientists from Washington University Medical School in St. Louis will answer questions in 25 areas of science, from anatomy and chemistry to zoology.
• StarChild: A Learning Center for Young Astronomers - introduction to the solar system and space exploration for youngsters.

HIGH SCHOOL - Homework Help For Grades 9-12

• High School Ace - Academic resources for high school students .

MATH

• Math2.org - source for all your math needs- geometry, algebra, trigonometry, calculus, and more.
• Math Archives, The
• Math Homework Help - pre-algebra, algebra I & II, college algebra, geometry, trigonometry, pre-calculus, calculus

ENGLISH

• On-Line Books Page, The - 5000+ Listings
• Shakespearean Homework Helper, The

SOCIAL STUDIES

• 50 U.S, States - Capitals and Information Links
• Constitution of the United States, The
• THOMAS - U.S. Congress - Legislative Information

SCIENCE

• PUMAS - Practical Uses of Math and Science
• Scientific American: Ask the Experts - the experts at Scientific American are available to answer what you really want to know
• SciCentral - science and engineering resources
• WebElements - Periodic Table

getting ready for school

Summer is speeding by us. Before you know it, you will be putting the little ones on the bus for school. Are you ready? Have you been school shopping? Do the kids have enough socks, underwear and clothes? Are their drawers and closets all neat and ready for the new school year? No? Uh oh…time to get busy!

 You want your children to be well organized and prepared for school. Living in chaos is no way to start the school year. So grab your children, head into their rooms and start getting it together.

Start by getting rid of clothes that do not fit them. Then get rid of the clothes that they just do not wear anymore for whatever reason.
 Get in and organize the drawers. This will make it easy for them to get dressed in the mornings. Be sure to get into the habit of picking out clothes the night before.
 Clean out the closets.
 Organize the shoes, hang the pants, hang the shirts. Get rid of things that do not need to be in there.
Do they have a desk in their room?
Is this where homework and studying is done?
 Clean it out; set it up so it’s ready for a new school year. New pencils, new calendar, erasers, pencil sharpener, paper. Have the tools your kids need to succeed!!

It’s so much nicer to wake up and to live in a bedroom that is neat, clean and organized. What a way to start the day!!
 Waking up and stepping over clothes, toys, and papers is sure to put kids in the wrong state of mind to start their day. Let’s help our children to be organized, and teach them the skills by starting with the area that they live in and that they call their own.
So the challenge is to not only get your kids rooms ready for school, but to involve them in the process. To teach them to care for their things and to remember the value and the hardwork that went into buying these things. We want them to respect their belongings. So get in there and get it done , school is approaching fast.

OFF TO SCHOOL

ITS OK TO CRY MAMA!!

With school starting and us crying mommies sending our children off, I thought I would share some great poems with you, to remind yourself your not alone, you’re a great mommy, and they grow up so fast! So go ahead, print these out, make a cup of coffee and have yourself a good cry after you send the little ones off to school the first day! Get it out of your system and then next week we are back to work on Fall cleaning our homes! So you have a couple of things to cry about!!

Mom, do I start school today?
Everything will be strange and new,
Are you supposed to drop me off ?
But I’m not sure what to do.

I want to be a big boy
And not cry in front of you
Mom, why do your eyes look wet?
Are you sure you’re not crying too?

Aww, I’ll be a brave man, Mom
You have taught me what to do
You said do what the teacher says
And soon I’ll be back home with you.

I’ll learn to read and write and draw,
There’ll be new friends and games to play,
It’ll be ok, Mom, you can go
I think I’d like to stay.

I’m home, Mom! Where are you?
Come see what I have done!
I made a picture just for you!
Boy! School’s gonna be so much fun!
Nyoka Smith 2008

Preschool Survival Kit
The penny is to remind you that you are valuable
The star is to remind you to always try your best
The eraser is to remind you that it’s okay to make mistakes
The life saver is to let you know that you can always talk to me
The tissue is for drying your tears and those of others
The band-aid is to let you know that together we can make things better
The chocolate hug is to remind you that you are cared for
The sticker is to remind you that we always stick together
Author Unknown

“Why are you crying?” a young boy asked his Mom.
“Because I’m a woman” she told him.
“I don’t understand,” he said.
His Mom just hugged him and said, “And you never will, but that’s okay.”
Later the little boy asked his father, “Why does Mom seem to cry for no reason?”
“All women cry for no reason” was all his dad could say.
The little boy grew up and became a man, still wondering why women cry.
Finally, he put in a call to God. When God got back to him, he asked, “God, why do women cry so easily?”
God answered, “When I made woman, I decided she had to be special. I made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world, yet her arms gentle enough to give comfort. I gave her the inner strength to endure childbirth and the rejection that many times will come, even from her own children.
I gave her a hardness that allows her to keep going and take care of her family and friends, even when everyone else gives up, through sickness and fatigue, without complaining. I gave her the sensitivity to love her children under any and all circumstances, even when her child has hurt her badly. She has the very special power to make a child’s boo-boo feel better and to quell a teenager’s anxieties and fears. I gave her strength to care for her husband, despite faults, and I fashioned her from his rib to protect his heart. I gave her wisdom to know that a good husband never hurts his wife but sometimes tests her strengths and her resolve to stand beside him unfalteringly.
For all of this hard work, I also gave her a tear to shed. It is hers to use whenever needed and is her only weakness. When you see her cry, tell her how much you love her and all she does for everyone. And even though she may still cry, you will have made her heart feel good.

good habits for your children

Are your children organized and efficient? Are you? Do they possess good study skills that will benefit them through school and through life? Do not wait to teach good habits. Be an example to your children in organization and efficiency. Lead by example. Here are some tips to help your child succeed in their education.

Have a place that they can call their own. Be it a desk, a small TV table with baskets set up underneath it, somewhere that they can keep all that is important pertaining to school. Some place they do not have to share with others.

1. Let them set up the “work station” to their liking. Help them to pick out baskets, folders, pencils, paper; a calendar to write down assignment due dates etc.
2. Make it a quiet place in the house. Do not have the TV or music on during homework/study time. Try to keep younger siblings occupied while your child is studying and doing homework. Keep distractions at a minimum to allow your child to focus.
3. Have your child on a schedule of when they do their homework. Keep it consistent. I have always found that the kids do well if they come home, have a snack and get right to it. For one thing, it teaches them not to procrastinate. Secondly, they are still in that school mode, and it is easier for them to just get at it, and get it done.
4. Get your children into the habit giving you papers that you need to see without you asking for them. It will teach them responsibility, and give them accountability.
5. Help your child to keep their backpacks, folders, binders, and desk organized. Teach them to purge once a week anything that they do not need.
6. Do not wait until Sunday night to do weekend homework. Get kids into the habit of getting it done on Friday after school. They will learn that it is smarter to do your work rather than have it hanging over your head all weekend. They will learn that work comes before play, and if it is a bigger assignment than they bargained for, they will not be trying to finish it at the last minute, and handing in poor quality work.

organizing those busy schedules

I know you all think I’m organized and have it all together, right? HA. Not so. If I don’t write things down, it’s gone forever. Lost into the vast wasteland that is my brain! I have post it notes everywhere, and calendars for everyone in the family and a master calendar. With school coming up so fast, its time to get it together and get all those appointments written down, birthdays written down and other important dates. Get yourself a big white board calendar. You can use different colors for each child. With sports practices, and games, and fund raising events, and dr. and dentist appointments…good gracious, it’s too much to keep inside my frazzled brain! Don’t wait to mark things down till later, believe me you will forget! Keep it simple. Don’t go into a frenzy of spread sheets and graphs. All you need is a simple calendar.

A White board is great, different color markers for different people in the house, and a smaller calendar to put future dates on. Each month just take the smaller calendar and add them to the white board. You can use the white board for strictly the kids and their events, and use a smaller calendar for you and your husband, and for birthdays of friends, relatives etc. If you can find a white dry erase board with a corkboard attachment or magnet attachment, grab it. It’s perfect for the forms and permission slips your kids will be bringing home. Do not try and magnet all these things to your refrigerator. It will just end up lost and looks messy and overwhelming. So let’s get organized now, before we get unorganized!

Folders can be useful too if that’s what works for you. Have a binder for each child with their friends phone numbers, their sports schedule, homework or project schedule, pemission slips etc. You can go through it each night to review and get ready for the next day. Remember to keep your childrens papers separate from your papers and from the bills. Each member of your family should have their own space for these things. Don’t forget there are many websites that can be used to set up reminders. One cute site that’s free right now for the first 3 months is BigDates.com. You’ll get your own personal assistant Dottie, who will text message your phone with reminders of Dr. appts, anniversaries, birthdays and other important dates. Stay on top of things, write down appointments, and keep things organized and you will have a smooth school year. And your children will have a successful school year!