ONCEKids Back to School Checklist (Part 4 of 4)

By: Kate Camillo

Welcome back! We’re wrapping up our back to school checklist. As the summer is winding down, it is important to refocus on the school year. It is time to switch gears from bathing suits to backpacks, from cookouts to pb&j sandwiches, from late nights to early mornings. We’ve been over the basics and I encourage you go read the other parts before catching up on this one to get the vibe we are going for with this series. This is not your average checklist; no pencils and 36 pack of crayons involved. This is about making sure you are doing the right things at home to prepare your child for school and help them, with more than just their homework, once school picks up.

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It’s a new school year, your child is going to be around different kids and it is important to remind them how to make friends. You should help them practice how to introduce themselves and what to say to other children. Having common interests is the main bond children have; such as their favorite game, their favorite show, and their favorite book. This can help them find friends to sit with at lunch. These friends can come over to play games, and hang out. Who knows when your child will meet their best friend, I met mine when I was five, it is important to help them break the ice.

Another thing to help them break the ice would be to do some practice runs before school starts. See if your child’s school has a Meet the Teacher event they can go to. Especially if it is a new school, show your child where to line up at the start of the day and where the bus will pick them up. It’s important to make sure your child is comfortable in their environment. All of these things are to ensure a smooth transition in a stressful time.

Last but certainly not least, lets talk about those real back to school checklists. If your child’s teacher provides a school supply list, follow it! Grab your kid and make a day of it. This will help them get excited for school. Have them pick out notebooks with their favorite characters on it and a backpack that they’ll want to carry. When going back to school shopping for clothes, let them pick out some cool pieces that are going to make them want to get ready. The last thing your kid wants is for you to come home with a bag of stuff they don’t necessarily like. Always have them pick out clothes the night before so there are no battles in the morning.

My last tip hits close to home. If you have a shy child, go out of your way to write notes and leave pictures in their lunchbox. TRUST ME! This will go a long way. As someone who did not take to anyone other than her parents until she was like 7, please understand that back to school is a very hard time for us. A note in their lunchbox or a picture of you guys will help them get through the day.

That’s it folks for this back to school checklist series. Don’t worry, we got another one coming. Come back next week to learn some great tips and tricks on how to fill your child’s lunchbox!

Our final checklist:

• Provide your kids downtime
• Encourage new forms of reading
• Get their creative juices flowing with imagining stories
• Ease them into structure
• Spend time together
• Help them make friends
• Practice runs at school
• Make back to school shopping fun
• Lay out outfits every night before school
• Send notes and pictures into your child’s lunchbox

17 days until September 1st!!! See you next week!

Education: Integrating Social Media into Schools (Part 1 of 3)

With the rising technology, social media is becoming increasingly more integrated within our everyday lives. Even businesses are capitalizing on social networking and other forms of social media to engage current customers and gain new ones. Social media is having a profound effect within our work and social lives but one area where it is still being somewhat rejected is within our education system. Some teachers embrace the use of technology and social media within their curriculum, others avoid any use of it at all. 

To learn more about Modern Moms and The Mom Code, please visit ONCEKids Publishing website, Facebook and Twitter

Many schools, if not most, even have the use of sites such as Twitter and Facebook strictly prohibited on school computers. Many schools and teachers are fully aware of the negative aspects of social media but few have knowledge of the benefits that come with social networking. Instead of shying away from new technology and social media, schools should learn to embrace it. The continued growth of social networking and its prevalence within society is inevitable, so simply ignoring it or banning it within schools is becoming increasingly ineffective. 

Many teachers aren't completely opposed to using social media within a classroom setting, they just don't know how to integrate it into their teaching. 

Teachers can utilize social media sites in four critical ways: to connect, to notify, to teach, and to curate. 

One of the most popular social media sites used within a classroom is YouTube. 40% of teachers report that they have used, or often use, YouTube during lessons. Teachers can capitalize on YouTube in countless ways. The most common way YouTube is used by teachers is to search for videos that tie in the current topics being learned to use during class time. This brings the lessons to life and the visual stimulation helps further engage the students -- especially those day dreamers! 

Learn more about educator, acclaimed author and Mompreneur Eileen Wacker, click here 

Another way YouTube can be integrated into education is by recording lessons and posting them on YouTube. This way students will be able to access them from home and review them whenever they want. This is very helpful come test time when the students need to study.

Teachers can take this videos to the next level by adding quizzes to the end of the recorded lesson. Another way to utilize YouTube is by putting together a series of videos on your YouTube "channel" that are relevant to current topics being taught. This way students will be able to access related, and approved, topics with the click of a button. An idea much more appealing to students than only having access to a text book for outside-the-class learning. 

Find out how Facebook and Twitter can be integrated into education in the upcoming part two!