Three Weeks Until School: How to Gently Get Your Child Back into School Mode!

     Self-disclosure....I have 5 school-age kids now and the transition back to school has highs and lows. The highs are pretty much limited to the excitement of the first day and getting all dressed up and running on adrenaline. The lows....are pretty much everything else. Earlier to bed (I can't sleep..it's light out!), earlier getting up (what time is it? Where is the sun?), schedule changes all over, homework, sitting in a desk for 7 hours a day, earlier lunch and no mid-afternoon snack (so we won't eat lunch at 1 p.m. Dad?), evening practices, not enough time to do all the fun stuff we want to do, etc., etc., etc.  Bottom-line, the two weeks it takes to adjust to this schedule is not fun for the kids or the parents. And I haven't even talked about the ramping up the skills needed to start at the next grade level. But, there are some simple things you can do to get your child ready for this change without having them freak out that you are ruining their summer (and if they do....remind them they got the first 10 weeks to do nothing, you are only using about an hour a day of their final 2-3 weeks!)

   *Start slowly changing their sleeping hours. Depending on the age of your child, the times may be different, but my guess is they are going to bed later and waking up later than normal. This doesn't happen for everyone, but it does for most. For my oldest two (6th/9th grade), they are now going to bed around 10 and waking up around 8 or 9. Hmm....that won't work. I need them in bed at 9 and up at 6:30. So, in August, we try to get there by August 23rd a little at a time. Begin with the wake-up process. I'm now getting them up at 8 a.m. at the latest. Sometimes I go to "work" at 7:30 or 8, so I get them up even earlier to help with watching the little kids. Do I have to go to work? No. But, by doing so, they have to get up and get going with their day. Win-win! By August 20th or so, we hope to have everyone up and ready for the day by 7:15 or 7:30. Next, work on the bedtime. Our goal is to get kids in bed and reading by the time we would normally want them asleep on a school night in a few weeks. They don't have to be asleep, but in bed with devices off and reading with start training their brain that this is time for bed. By the first week of school, their brain will see this as normal. With all the anxiety and excitement of the first day and week of school, it will be tough to sleep anyway.

  *Reading/Language Arts: If your child doesn't read daily, start this habit. It is the one habit that will not only help them in every subject in school, but study after study shows it leads to more success in life, a healthier life, and a longer life. Let your child pick the book or reading material, but don't settle for "I don't want to read", "I'm too old to read", or "No, I'm not reading." Here's a key point though....kids read more and fight you less if they see parents reading as well. So, find yourself a good book and take time each day to read. We pick a set time each day and call it "Reading time". Whole house shuts down and kids and parents read for 30 minutes. For my wife and I, it is one of our favorite times....it is QUIET and PEACEFUL! And I think it helps our stress level as well.

*Math: Elementary/Middle School age....take 5-10 minutes and do some basic math drills. If you have a device the kids like to play, put some math games on there and tell your child they have to do 10 minutes of math games if they want to play the device each day in August. There are a lot of fun math games out there. Find fun math videos on Youtube or online. Do practice problems. Take your child shopping and let them help you shop and explain how you are paying for it all. Financial literacy! Have your child pick up 10 toys and put them away. 20 toys! (Our house....20 toys each!). Anything to get your child using numbers and thinking numbers. Ten-fifteen minutes a day may not sound like much, but again, it gets the brain in number-mode which helps the transition back into math go much smoother.

  *All the other stuff....science, social studies, foreign language, computers, etc. Well, your child has already committed to losing about an hour of daylight by changing sleeping habits and now another 30-60 minutes doing reading and math, so piece in the other parts where you can. Go to the State Fair and really take in all the exhibits and things to see. Visit the State Capitol Building. Go hiking or fishing. Watch some cool science or travel shows on TV. Download Duolingo to your device/child's device and brush up on their Spanish if they are 6th-12th grade (Duolingo is AWESOME!). But make learning fun. Teach your child that life-long learning is and can be fun.

*Devices. Oh....continue to use them but set limits. So much of the new research is really scary about smart phones/technology and use by teens (and all people). And please....please.....keep the technology out of the bedrooms. Studies are unanimous about that idea. Smart phones, laptops, TVs in the bedroom of a child is NOT GOOD. Did you know the blue screen of phones actually keeps us awake? Companies know that if they used a yellow/dim screen at night, it would trick our brain into producing sleep-inducing hormones and cause us to fall asleep. So they purposely chose a color that does the opposite so we use their product more!! So....keep the tech out of the bedrooms and build good sleeping habits with your children.

   This may all sound like a lot, but really it is slight adjustments day by day to your child's sleep schedule and about 30-45 minutes a day of reading and some fun math stuff. You might be surprised at how it works and you may find your child has more immediate success to start the school year with their homework/grades.

Breaking the Technology Addiction.....How??

     I will be the first to admit it, I might be addicted to technology. This coming from a guy who once said he would never own a cell phone and only finally agreed to get a phone (but not use it!) because his pregnant wife said he needed one  just in case she went into labor. Fast-forward 10 years and 5 kids later, and I have my cell phone by me 24 hours a day. But what really worries me is when my 5-year old son says his best friend is "the IPad" and when asked what he is thankful for, his answer is "IPad!". Um...we have a problem. Fortunately, all problems can be solved or at least worked on. And fortunately, a radio DJ this weekend had several solutions we, as parents, can try. So, if your kids are like mine (or better or worse), here is a list of things you can try.

1. Sit down and have a conversation with them about technology use. And write up some expectations (rules, contract....whatever you want to call it). This doesn't make you bad parents for not laying down the law. Kids will buy into the expectations more if they have some input. They may surprise you with what their limits should be. This conversation should include all types of technology, not just phones or IPads, but game systems, E-readers, etc. But get the expectations in writing so everyone can agree upon it and review it from time to time and maybe update it.

2. Create Tech-Free zones. The dinner table, after 9 p.m., during homework time, church, etc. This can be part of your family discussion. But technology should not interrupt family time or other important times. As for late night technology use, screens are not good just before bedtime. It affects all of us and our ability to fall asleep quickly and have good, sound sleep. Pre-teens and teens don't really need technology in their room, but if they do, make sure it isn't keeping them up at night. Believe it or not, I have several students who wake up in the middle of the night (some even set their alarms!) and play on their phones or watch Netflix from 2-5 a.m.!! Technology is supposed to be useful and fun, not limit our family time or hurt our bodies. These Tech-Free zones might help us all get our families, and our sleep, back!

3. Discuss what Technology we are all using and why? Reading a book on an E-Reader or playing Cool Math Games online....not a bad choice for technology. Playing Call of Duty and killing video-humans or zombies for hours on end....probably not the best choice. Playing candy crush on a smart phone all through dinner versus texting back and forth with a friend who just moved away and had a rough first day at his new school.....pretty easy choice as to which is good and which is bad. Again, technology is meant to help us, not make us into mindless drones. It is no secret that the most popular games have endless levels and give extra lives and powerups. Remember the good ol' days when you have 3 PacMan lives and if you died 3 times you went back to your seat at Pizza Hut and enjoyed your family and good pizza. Well, technology creators have solved this problem by making sure kids and teens can play over and over and over and never quit if they want. A little mindless fun is okay every now and then, but if it is consuming their time and causing other things to not get done (homework, chores), then it is a problem. Not to mention what games, apps, social networking sites are appropriate vs. non-appropriate for certain ages.

4. Be there with your child when they are using technology as much as possible. Not only can you monitor their time, but you can monitor what they are doing with that time. Safe and appropriate use is key as they are learning and consuming technology. We wouldn't let our children drive a car without going through many steps and having us along their side and we wouldn't allow them to work a job without some training and a boss and co-workers supporting their learning, so why would we let them use technology without our help, support, and monitoring?

5. Last, but not least.....reflect on your technology use. I will admit it, my kids use technology a lot because I do. But I am getting better at modeling how I use technology so my kids see this and hopefully follow my lead. This means no phone or tablet at the dinner table, no texting and driving, no violent or pointless video games, and other expectations I want my kids to follow. I do have the urge to do these things sometimes, but I push that urge aside not just for me, but for my kids. Learning by example and observation is what kids do best, so no matter what rules and things you try to do, if you can't stick to them, your kids likely will not be able to either.

   I will leave you with this video which I have seen before, but I saw it on a few sites as I researched for this blog. It is a good reminder why we should not be glued to our screens.

Many Ways to Teach Kids to Code

   As the new school year approaches, I have an opportunity for the 3rd straight year to team up with our business partners at Telligen to help 30+ middle school students learn about technology and do some pretty fun and amazing things with technology through our Hyperstream club. This year, we will focus more on coding skills. So....what exactly does it mean to "code"? Coding is what makes it possible to create computer software, programs, apps, games, etc. Have you used your smart phone, tablet, or computer today? If so, it is because someone wrote code for you to do these things. And guess what? This technology and these skills are only becoming more and more in demand.

    Hmm....2020, that is when our current high school students will graduate college and when our current middle school students will graduate high school. Helping them learn the basics of coding and computer programming can set them up for success in an even larger digital world. But what if your school or your child doesn't have an opportunity to be in a technology group like Hyperstream? Well, there are great websites where they can learn to code for free. Below are a couple great resources, resources our Hyperstream club will be using this year. Have fun!

www.code.org    This site is AWESOME! Totally free, has some super-famous computer programmers supporting it, and is simple enough that my 9-year old son can work through it on his own, but difficult enough that I am challenged by it to. Basically, it is a step-by-step tutorial of what coding truly is at its most basic level and you get to complete challenges and earn trophies as you go. Here is a video explaining it better than I can.

Five IPad Apps that help learn coding skills. This blog post by Richard Byrne is a great description of some free resources that your children (and remember...even you!) can try to learn the basics of coding. I have not tested these yet, but plan to test them soon and have our students test them. Let me know what you think if you have tested them or when you test them. 

  Good luck!

Apps for Education

   If you, your family, or your child got an IPad this Christmas or have recently acquired an IPad, this link might be a useful link for you to check out sometime. A blogger that I follow as an educator has posted a great resource of IPad apps that he has personally tested and used and thinks could be good for other people. Not all would be great for kids, but many are good apps that your child could use to improve or practice their educational skills at home or away from the classroom. Take a look and try some of them out.

Richard Byrne Free Technology for Teachers blog post about Apps click here!

Nutshell and Utah Education Network's Short Internet Safety Videos are Pretty Good!

   Through a blog I recently read, I learned about the website called Nutshell. It has lots of short animated videos about things people don't understand. In other words, they explain a concept or idea in a "nutshell". Well, the blog I read focused on a portion of the site that schools, counselors, and parents may appreciate. The Utah Education Network has produced and is still producing Internet safety, etiquette, and proper usage videos. I just watched a couple and thought they were pretty good, even for the high school age. If you have kids at home and don't understand something about the Internet, you could watch these videos and then have your kids watch them. Or watch them together. They are not very detailed, but the get the general idea across, in a "nutshell". Lots of other videos on the site that could be of interest, but I am posting the link directly to the Internet safety videos as well as the link to the Nutshell homepage. Enjoy

Utah Education Network Internet Safety Videos click here!

Nutshell home page click here!

Planet Nutshell | Web Videos | Explainer Videos | Educational Videos: NetSafe Episode 1: What is the Internet? (Grades K-3)

Parents Information Site About Teens, Technology, and the Online World

I came across this website hunting for a technology video and after looking around I realized that it is a pretty good resource for parents. I did not look at everything on the site, but I thought the videos had lots of good topics and were pretty straight forward. Very informative for a parent who may not know what exactly their child is doing with technology or why they are doing it. Then, there is a blog attached to the site where general interest stories are posted. The site really wants to connect teens with parents and bridge the technology gap between the two. Also has some information on bullying and cyberbullying, which is always great! Please click on the two links below, the parts of the website I liked the most!

Teach Parents Technology! (TPT): Videos to teach parents about the technology their teens are using. Click here!

Home page for the parent portion of the website. Great articles and videos here too. Click here!


Website is called A Platform for Good.Org

Middle School Kids and Smartphones, a Recent Survey

Catching up on my blog reading, I came across a recent national survey questioning middle schoolers and their cell phone, or more specificially, smart phone use in and outside of school. Personally, I am noticing more and more students pulling out cell phones after the school day is done and more and more of these phones are smart phones. Even my own 8th graders have told me they sometimes complete my email assignments on their phones. We currently do not allow cell phone use in school and during the school day, but I know some middle schools do. With data like this in this survey, smart phone use in schools will only continue to be debated as to whether it should be allowed or not. Please see the survey at the link below.

Middle School Smart Phone Use survey

Six Iowa Teens Charged in Sexting Case

  KCCI reported on a story today about some Iowa teens who were arrested and charged in a "sexting" case. Just another reminder that what some teens think is a harmless or funny thing to do with a cell phone, can be damaging and embarrassing for the victim, but also be against the law for the teens who send the picture message. I see stories like this from Iowa once or twice a year and it is a good reminder for our own teens to not only think before they speak, but also think before they send.

Click here to read the story.

Des Moines Register Feature Sunday Article About Facebook, Parents, and Their Kids

Sunday's Des Moines Register's feature story was about Facebook usage among teens and pre-teens and their parents. I have received this question from time to time as a middle school counselor: "Should I allow my child to have a facebook account?" There is no great answer to that question and truly it is a question that parents has to answer for themselves. But I think this Register article (link below) has a great conversation and gives some good advice. My advice is pretty similar. I think Facebook can be a great tool and has many positive uses, but as a parent myself, my children's first Facebook friend will be me and I will have their password so that I can log into their account at any time. But isn't this invading my child's privacy? No. Reading their diary and unlocking something in their room to see what inside would be invading their privacy. Facebook is a social network where the whole point is that what is said is not private. In Life Skills we teach to never write/say anything online that you don't want the whole world, your teachers, and your parents to know. So....if you don't want Dad and Mom to know, don't post it!! But enough from me, read what a professional journalist and several local people who were interviewed have to say....

Des Moines Register article "Teens, Parents Face off Over Facebook" click here!

That's Not Cool.com: A Site for Teens Who Have Questions and Thoughts

Just saw a commercial on Saturday morning TV about teens and innappropriate texting. The commercial ended up saying that constantly texting your friends, especially your boyfriend or girlfriend, is "not cool". Then the commercial directed you to a site called thatsnotcool.com. So, I went to the site and did some exploring and found the site had lots to offer our middle school and high school teens. When I clicked on topics like Rumors or Textular Harrassment, they had great submitted questions with great answers from both experts and from other students. If a student has questions about how to handle a difficult issue at school and they cannot reach their counselor, this website might be a possible option to do some research. And maybe an option to submit some of their own strategies as answers. There are other sites out there like this one, but this one is definitely a good one for a student to explore and try more.

Click here to go to ThatsNotCool.com

Iowa "Did You Know" Video: Makes You Think Doesn't It?

Thank you to Scott McLeod and a few others for the creation of a special version of "Did You Know" video series, this one focusing on Iowa's schools, students, and educational system. If you have never seen any of the "Did You Know" videos, you are missing out. But I especially like this one since it becomes Iowa-specific in the 2nd half of the video. Some pretty interesting stats and figures in this video and it should make all of my colleagues in education think and hopefully start talking about the future of education in Iowa. It should get students, parents, and school districts thinking and talking as well. I'm interested in knowing what everyone thinks. Leave a comment after watching the video if you can. Video is embedded below. Enjoy!

Getting Technology for Your Teen This Christmas? Great Idea....if Educational Uses are Involved!

Last year, student's most requested item for Christmas (based on their bell ringer response) was an Ipod Touch. Even I wanted one and I did get one last March. I wasn't sure what I would do with it as I was still learning how to text and use my new phone, but I had some help. No, not just from my students, but from my 5-year old! Jack, and even Abby (3 years-old) love playing with my IPod as I have downloaded many free "apps", most of them educational games and tutorials. And the kids still love them! The point of all this is that you can buy your children cool technology for Christmas or their birthdays, but it does not have to be just a fun toy. It can be a learning tool. Here is just one example of an article I found on the internet about using an IPod Touch as a learning tool.

But it doesn't have to just be an IPod Touch. It could be the new IPad. My wife has one of these through her work and my 3 and 5-year old have used this too. From watching Sprout videos, playing PBSkids games, or learning their ABCs and "sight" words, they have no problem with the technology. In fact, they usually learn the game just by playing around with it. Jack has taught me how to do some things. And most if not all of these Apps are FREE! Even something as simple as the live web cams from zoos around the world that I downloaded (for free!) brings up all sorts of conversations and discussions with my kids.

But, you are likely saying "But I have teens....they don't play PBSKids games and they know their letters already!". You are right....at least I hope you are. But that isn't the point. The point is that these items aren't just for Facebooking, texting, tweeting, etc., but if you are purchasing it for them and they are living under your roof, you can make sure some educational purposes are happening too. When I grew up, we had a computer, but no Nintendo (original 8-bit system...I'm old!) or Sega because they had "no educational purpose" according to my mother. Nowadays, most of these devices even the Wii and the XBox have educational purposes. My son learned basic math on a Brain game on our Wii system. So, these cool technology items are what you make of them. My plea with parents everywhere is to consider "forcing" your child to use some of the educational items available on these systems. Who knows.....they might just have fun and learn at the same time!

By the way, here is a great site for family friendly apps. Most are for young children, but I am sure some will work for teens as well: Mom's With Apps

Also, I highly recommend the Kindle App. It's free and you can download TONS of free books to it!

Six Things Not to Post on Your Facebook Account

Although geared more for adults, I still wanted to post a link to some great advice. Each of the six items could relate to young people and young people might be the least understanding of these rules and make the most mistakes, so I think they could use this information. However, all the parents, adults, and even I could use this information. I love the reasons they give on why not to post these six things...makes sense and is kind of scary. Anyway, click on the link and see how many of these you do. I have to admit...I do some of these!

Six Things You Should Never Reveal on Facebook by Kathy Kristof

More Cyber-bullying and Threats Lead to Suicides

As a counselor, I am again saddened by another case of online bullying, embarrassment, and harrassment lead to a young person committing suicide. The case I am speaking of is the case of Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers University freshman who committed suicide last week after being outed as a homosexual by use of online video and webcast. The two students, one was his roommate, who were behind the outing of this student have been charged with crimes related to posting of the video and harrassment. And the story has again brought the idea of bullying, cyber-bullying, the use of technology to humiliate and harass others to the point where a young person thinks the best option is to take their own life.

Even as a middle school counselor for only 2 years, I have worked with countless students on the issues of bullying, cyber-bullying, and suicide ideation. Recent Iowa Youth Survey data shows that roughly 11% of our 8th graders have made a plan to commit suicide or have attempted suicide. This could be due data in that same survey that shows that roughly 50% of our 6th and 8th graders feel they have been bullied in the past year. Both of these numbers are way too high and having conversations, discussions, and information given to this age-group both at school and home is constantly needed.

The only question I get from parents sometimes is "why is bullying so different nowadays? why so different because it is online or using technology?". Those are valid questions because I remember bullying when I grew up and it was bad....but not so bad that I thought of suicide. I doubt my friends considered suicide either. But what is different is that bullying ended when we went home, it wasn't constant. Now, I meet with students who get texts about them, their body, or their beliefs forwarded around all day. One student I met with last year even got several texts after 2 a.m.....on school night! With almost 80% of our middle school students on a social network site such as Facebook, again the bullying and taunting can be 24-hours a day. And if you think "well, just quit Facebook or that site", well, good idea in theory, but those networks are that students "social network" and quitting that site means isolation and loneliness for that student, two things that can lead to depression and suicide. As you can see, online bullying or bullying using technology can be constant and way worse than the bullying we grew up with. And the solutions are not simple. The best solution is discussing these issues with your child, schools discussing it with their students, and students learning "digital citizenship" which means knowing how to be a good citizen when using our rapidly changing technology. If one more student dies due to an issue like this, it will be too many....we must act to solve this problem now. And the solution starts with all of us.

Link to long USA Today article about this latest case of online harassment leading to suicide.

Websites for 6th Graders to Test

This week, our 6th graders will be playing games in class! After talking about study strategies, my students will be my online educational game/site testers as they test and review 2 game sites in the computer lab. Here are some of the sites they are testing. I will post some of their reviews here later.

Site 1: Number Nut: http://www.numbernut.com/

Site 2: My Wonderful World: http://www.mywonderfulworld.org/games.html

Site 3:FunBrain Math: http://www.funbrain.com/

Site 4:FunBrain Reading: http://www.funbrain.com/

Site 5:Primary Games.com Science and Social Studies: http://www.primarygames.com/

Site 6:Primary Games.com LA and Math: http://www.primarygames.com/

Site 7:Arcademic Skill Builders.com Math: http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com/

Site 8:Arcademic Skill Builders.com LA & Geography: http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com/

Site 9: PlayKidsgames.com Vocab & Alphabet: http://www.playkidsgames.com/

Site 10: PlayKidsgames.com Math & Geography: http://www.playkidsgames.com/

Cell Phones in Schools? Yes, in Some Schools

For the last 3 years, I have studied and learned about many schools and their cell phones/technology policies. Many of those schools are rapidly updating those policies and some are simply throwing the "no cell phone" rule out the window and use the phones as a learning device and to actually teach students how to use phones like an adult. While these schools are few and far between, the number is growing. I read a recent article about a principal who is using a variety of new technology and allowing students and parents to do the same. In fact, he is having his school and staff embrace students with cell phones and actually having students use cell phone technology in class. Click here to read the article.

After reading the article, I am interested in the thoughts of both students and teachers. While I think the idea is a good one, I realize that we are not ready for this here at Carlisle. I think students and staff need to work together for a year or two to plan the way we look at and use cell phones in schools. I also believe this should be done at the high school level, but not at the middle school level. Maybe someday, but not yet. The schools where cell phones are used in class are almost all high schools and that is where the studies are showing they can work. I have not found any studies on middle schools yet. Bottom line is technology is changing rapidly and schools need to constantly review how we use or don't use technology and what our rules regarding technology currently states. If needed, those policies need to be studied and updated. What are your thoughts?

Apps for Educating Your Child!

Maybe the first question is: What is an "app"? Well, I didn't know until about 6 months ago when I got my first device that runs apps: an Ipod Touch. My phone is so old and basic, it can barely text, so this Ipod Touch was quite a learning experience. Anyway, it can run applications which are programs that you download and then can use to play games, help manage your life, or learn from. What I am directing you towards today, is a list of "apps" you could download to your phone, Ipod Touch, or even IPad (if you have one of those cool things!) in order to give your child a fun and interesting way to learn school material. A great site that I found over the summer is called "Moms With Apps" and the reason I like it is because this is a group of parents (moms) who test and later recommend apps that would be great for kids and for education. They also have a great deal on Fridays where you can get some of these apps for FREE! Well, today (Friday), they not only have a free app, but I also noticed that they had a list of "back to school" learning apps that they have tested and researched over the last year or so and highly recommend for you if you have children. Now, I have a 3 and 5-year old, but they love some of these apps and are very good and careful when using my ITouch. They use it better than me sometimes. I have often downloaded some of this site's apps and some of the reading and letter apps helped my 3-year old better than I did....sadly! Anyway, give this blog entry a read by clicking the link and maybe even bookmark the site so you can check in on Fridays for the FREE App of the Week! Have fun!

http://momswithapps.com/2010/08/18/a-is-for-apps-back-to-school-at-moms-with-apps/