Back-to-School Parent Checklist

1. Begin the day right with a good nutritious breakfast-it’s important for kids to get off to

a good start every day.

2. Communicate with your child’s teacher as soon as possible by sharing positive

information about your child. Share your concerns, what you feel is working well for

your child, and ask for clarification if something is unclear.

3. Organize your calendar with upcoming school holidays and events.

4. Set up an area in your home for school papers – set up a file for each child.

5. Talk positively about school in front of your child. If you have a disagreement with your child’s teacher talk to them as soon as possible but don’t share the conversation with your child.

6. Provide a quiet place for homework that is free of distractions and help your child as needed, without doing the work for him.

7. Become familiar with your child’s school rules, policies and code of conduct.

8. With your child choose which after school activities are most important and really listen to your child when he/she talks to you.

9. Be consistent with home rules on play-time, meal time, and sleep time.

10. Read all information sent home by your child’s teacher and respond when requested.

11. Attend open houses and PTA meetings to become more informed about what is happening at your school.

12. If your child is sick, keep them home, but remember to call the school or send a written excuse (follow your school’s policy). Too many unexcused absences can affect your child’s grades, or raise concerns about absenteeism.

13. Even though your mornings can be hectic, always send your child off on a positive note with a smile and a hug, to set the tone for a great day.

Source: www.education.com

August Workshops

Call or email Diana for locations of workshops

6th, 3:00 p.m. “Helping Your Child Succeed in School”

7th, 9:00 a.m. “A Balanced Parenting Style”

7th, 10:30 a.m. “Enhancing Your Child’s Self Esteem

8th, 9:00 a.m. “Avoid Behavior Problems: Teach Self-Control”

8th, 1:00 p.m. “Creating Special Moments with Infants and Toddlers”

9th, 9:00 a.m. “What Does Time Mean to Children?”

10^th, 9:00 a.m. “Friendship and Play Skills for Preschoolers”

13^th, 6:45 p.m.”Avoid Behavior Problems: Teach Self-Control”

14^th, 9:00 a.m. “Effective Discipline for School-age Children”

14^th, 10:30 a.m. “What Kids Need to Succeed”

14^th, 2:00 p.m. “Building Your Resilience to Stress”

16^th, 12:00 p.m. “Stop Putting it Off! Overcoming Procrastination”

16^th, 2:00 p.m. “Avoid Behavior Problems: Teach Self-Control”

21^st, 9:00 a.m. “Improving Family Communication”

21^st, 10:30 a.m. “Stress Management for Parents”

24^th, 9:00 a.m. “Teaching Emotional Literacy” for child care providers

Increase School Readiness (Right in Your Own Home)

There are many things you can do in your own home, that don’t cost a lot, but can increase your child’s school readiness skills. Try one of the following each day or pick one room in your home each week and come up with other activities:

1.    In the living room – Ask your children “how tall is the lamp?” Use a measuring tape or ruler, then count the inches with them as they measure. Ask your child to look in the newspaper ads for certain letters and combinations of letters; or have your child cut out pictures of furniture, which they could place in the appropriate room on a big floor plan you provide using a brown paper shopping bag.

2.    In the kitchen – Let your child help with the food shopping list. Ask your child to check shelves to see what's needed, your child learns to spell and say words like bread and cheese. Write a number in each cup of an egg carton. Into each cup, have your child places a corresponding number of buttons.

3.     In the bedroom – Help your child learn the different names of clothing (shirt, sock, etc.) and body parts they are attached to by using the bedroom as a place to point these words out as your child gets dressed. Say the words aloud as clothes go on and off. The bedroom is a great place to play rhyming games-"sock and clock," "bed and head" - rhymes like these are all around the bedroom. Rhyming games are fun to play when you are getting your child ready for bed and improve reading readiness skills.

4.    In the laundry room - Your child can match and count socks as they help you fold laundry. Talk about colors, count buttons,  etc.

Source: http://www.megaskillshsi.org/introduction.html

Getting Organized for School

Tips for Getting Organized at Home for School

1.  Set aside a folder or box in a special place to keep school-related information.

2.  Put the school phone number and teacher’s name and number on the folder or inside the box lid.

3.  Make sure your children have supplies they need.  Keep extra supplies in a special place.

4.  Enlist your young child’s help in laying out school clothes at night.

5.  Decide on a weekday bedtime and stick to it.

6.  Decide how much TV and which program will be allowed during the school week.

7.  Help your child clean out his school bag once a week.

8.  Create a homework calendar.

9.  Leave lunch money in a designated place at the beginning of each week.

10.  Find out what specific topics your child will be studying during the year, then plan family                 activities to enrich the school curriculum.

Promoting Healthy Relationship Development in Teens

The late Erich Fromm had a humorous insight to relationships: “True love is like a pair of socks: you’ve gotta have two and they’ve gotta match.” So goes one of the many philosophies about what it takes to find and maintain lasting love and relationships.

Despite his somewhat casual approach to the subject, Fromm was right—couples who stay together tend to match and be more similar than they are different. It is these similarities and differences that often impact how well two people in a romantic relationship are able to communicate and interact with each other. In addition, each person also brings background influences into the relationship such as family of origin habits and processes. Individual characteristics also exert a certain amount of influence on the couple’s functioning as a whole. These components are further examined below.

Three Kinds of Premarital Predictors

Jeffry Larson and Thomas Holman have conducted the most long-term and specific studies of the premarital predictors of healthy marriages. They have synthesized these premarital predictors into three general areas:

1) background and contextual factors of each person

2) individual traits and behaviors of each person

3) interactional processes— how they effective communicate and resolve conflict.

For more information, download the publication: Promoting Healthy Relationship Development in Teens, Part II: Three Key Qualities to Foster Better Relationships at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FY/FY136400.pdf

Benefits of Family Meals

When was the last time you and your family sat down to a good dinner? Recently there has been a shift in society’s view of eating family meals.

 Families today have busy schedules. Kids are involved in extracurricular activities, and many mothers are more active in the workplace. Although most families would say that family meals are valuable, they often allow other things to become a priority, devaluing the act of eating family meals together. Making time for family meals is beneficial to the entire family.

One way to make sure your family sits down for family meals is to ask your children to help with dinner preparation and make it a fun experience. Some fun programs you can explore are Cooking Up Fun (http://www.cookingupfun.cornell.edu/), Cook It Up, and Cooking with Kids (http://cookingwithkids.net/).

All of these can give you some good ideas about how to bond with your children as you prepare family meals. These programs highlight the importance of family meals and the benefits of creating the meal as a family

Download the full UF Extension publication at: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FY/FY136200.pdf

Caring for Stepparents in Later Life

Most people agree with the idea that families have a responsibility to care for older family members. Yet some changes in family life have brought up new questions about caring for the elderly. What happens when a parent divorces and then remarries later in life? Should adult children care for the stepparent as well as the parent? These questions are becoming more and more important as individuals live longer and growing numbers of older adults divorce and remarry.

Researchers from the University of Missouri sampled over 1000 men and women from across the U.S. to find out how adults viewed responsibilities to parents and stepparents. In telephone interviews, researchers presented stories describing a family dilemma and asked how much help the younger adult should give to the parent or stepparent.

For example, the parent remarries after being a widower, and after a few years dies very suddenly. Should his son help the stepmother with things around the house, even though they have never gotten along? What if the stepmother has more serious health problems: Should the son help care for her? What if the older adult is a parent? Should the son provide this care?

Results showed that adult children were expected to help parents more than stepparents, out of a sense of obligation and to repay parents for past help. Stepparents who came into families later in life generally were not seen as family members, and, as a result, were not automatically entitled to caregiving aid. However, the quality of the relationship also influenced the duty to help both parents and stepparents. When the relationship was good, respondents were more likely to think that help should be given. This research suggests stepparents of all ages have to earn family bonds by building a history and developing positive emotional ties with stepchildren

Source: Suzanna Smith, associate professor, Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.