Back in the Groove: How Summer Classes Can Help Your Child Start the New School Year Smoothly

Back in the Groove
 How Summer Classes Can Help Your Child Start
the New School Year Smoothly
By Mikey Keating Smith, M. Ed

Every year it happens. You and your child are enjoying a perfectly wonderful summer vacation when you stop off at the store to pick up a few items for dinner. You turn the corner onto aisle 13 and there it is. . . The SCHOOL SUPPLY display, where everything from backpacks to book covers is piled sky high from one end to the other and back again.  You break out in a cold sweat and your neck kinks up as you think back to the beginning of last school year: the battles over bedtime, the wars over waking up, and the struggles over supplies. You back quickly out of the aisle and head to the pharmacy for some ibuprofen (or the beverage aisle for some Chardonnay). You hope to yourself that this year will be different - this year, it won't take until Thanksgiving break for your child to get back into the school routine.

We all know that summer classes for kids help stave off learning loss (also known as Summer Slide) in students and salvage parental sanity. Enrolling your child in a camp or class close to the start of school can also, however, serve another purpose. It can help make the transition from the lazy days of summer to the crazy days of school a little easier.

Parent Elizabeth Anderson's daughter Lindsay has already attended several camps this summer and has several more scheduled before the school bell rings for the first time in August. She agrees that attending camps and classes will help her daughter once school starts.  "It's about keeping on track, on a routine," she says, adding that although her daughter doesn't have to get up quite as early for summer camps as she does for school, she does still have to be up by a set time, which helps ease the pain of early rising once the fall semester rolls around.

Can I Get a Volunteer?

 Can I Get a Volunteer?:
How Kids Benefit From Serving Their Community
by Lara Krupicka  

Mitchell Smith hadn't done any sailing before he joined the Topsail Program at the Los Angeles Maritime Institute at age 12. But now his mom says he loves being aloft aboard the 100-foot brigantines. "He found a passion for sailing," says Mitchell's mom, Sandy. "It opened him up to a whole new world." In fact, Mitchell often volunteers as an excuse to get in more sailing. In a word, he's hooked.

Volunteering gives kids a chance to try new things. In the process they can uncover talents and interests they hadn't been aware of. Some may even go on to pursue college studies and careers inspired by their volunteer experiences.

Increased Confidence-
Youth volunteers gain valuable exposure to interacting with the public they couldn't get anywhere else. It requires them to exercise their communication and public speaking skills. In turn, this fosters confidence as students see the positive impact of their interactions. Carly Mulder, a junior interpreter at the Naper Settlement living history museum in Naperville, Illinois learned early on that part of her role involved greeting museum visitors and fielding questions about the games and other activities she demonstrates. Karin, Carly's mom, notes she's seen Carly's confidence improve from her involvement at the museum. "She's learning how to interact with the public and how to have confidence in dealing with other people." Wearing a costume and imagining herself as a person from a different era helped. So did special training provided by the museum.

Even behind-the-scenes roles can instill confidence as kids find success in completing the tasks they're given. And connecting with fellow volunteers and coordinators can be enough to help reticent youngsters come out of their shells and develop valuable social skills. For some kids, simply the act of sharing their time and being valued for their service can build self-assurance.

Get off the Couch! Keeping Your Family Healthy During the Summer (and Beyond)

As the dog days of summer set in, your child might want to burrow into his favorite spot on the couch with a bag of chips in one hand and a game controller in the other. While it might be tempting to join him, DON'T! Research shows that exercise isn't just good for your body, it's also good for your mind. This week we are focusing on ways you can help your child stay active during the summer and hopefully, for life.

Get off the Couch!
Keeping Your Family Healthy During the Summer

(and Beyond)

by Mikey Smith, M.Ed

 

It used to be that the start of summer meant that our parents would push us kids outside, lock the door and tell us not to come home until dinner unless someone was bleeding profusely. Nowadays, however, more and more kids are spending more and more of their summer sitting on the couch playing video games and watching TV. We all know that kids and adults and people in general are more sedentary. What can we do to reverse that trend in our own homes?



Make it a Family Affair

As with everything, parents can start by being positive examples. It's hard to expect your kids to go outside when you're sitting inside watching TV with a snack in one hand and the remote in the other hand. Go on family hikes or walk the dog together, or even get down and dirty with yardwork. Taking care of chores is a great way to make them go faster as well as to burn calories!



Be Adventurous

Let's face it, walking up and down the same old streets in your neighborhood can get a tad boring. Houston is home to dozens of sites great for exploring. Find parks, trails, campgrounds, outdoor places and events with -

 The National Wildlife Federation's Nature Find Website

The National Parks and Forests

and local playgrounds.

Social Media: How Much Do You REALLY Know?

Social Media:
How Much Do You REALLY Know?
by Mikey Keating Smith, M.Ed
   
Many parents are familiar with Facebook, the ubiquitous social networking site, and some also know about twitter (although they might not understand exactly how it works). Unfortunately, when it comes to social networking, Facebook and twitter are just the tip of the iceberg. Tumblr, Instagram, Keek, Vine, ask.fm. . . Social networking sites are exploding, and while there are many wonderful uses for each one of them, there are also many pitfalls and opportunities for kids to become targets. How can we keep our kids safe on websites we don't even know exist?

*Leigh Stewart thought she had covered all her bases when it came to keeping her 11-year-old son safe online. Her son's emails were forwarded to her cell phone, and she knew he had several social networking accounts, including one with ask.fm. What she didn't know, however, is that ask.fm, a seemingly harmless website where users can post questions and answers, has no privacy settings. That means that anyone, anywhere, is free to comment on anyone else's account, with no filter. Anonymously. The site, which has more than 40 million users, has come under fire in England recently, where it has been blamed for the suicides of several students who were reportedly bullied mercilessly thanks to ask.fm's anonymity.

Because ask.fm emails users when posts are made to the account, Stewart was able to see responses to her son's questions. She was shocked to see the responses grow more and more inappropriate, and worse, obscene. Her son was hurt and humiliated by the anonymous bullying. "I went in my son's room and he was crying under the covers so I wouldn't hear him," she says. "He was embarrassed but he showed me all the other comments that he never replied to - thank goodness he was smart enough to not reply."