From the editor
The big yellow cardboard school bus filled with school supplies stopped me in my tracks as I headed down the aisle with the grocery cart to feed my family’s $170-a-week food habit.
Surely, it couldn’t be that time already.
The start of school has a way of sneaking up on us busy parents. We have great plans to make the most of our summer with the kids, then all of a sudden, when we’re not even a third of the way through our fun to-do list, it’s time to start thinking about the kids going back to school.
How are you going to spend the final carefree summer days before the school bell rings? Squeezing the last days out of the local pool? Zipping out of town for a quickie vacation? Driving yourself mad trying to find the exact color of pocket folders and highlighters your child’s school requires? Figuring out a way to sell your blood to pay for your son’s $500 school and athletic fee?
In my house, we’ll start getting back on school-time schedules. My first-grader will finally start working her way through the summer worksheets her kindergarten teacher sent home, my seventh-grader will continue to complain about the math class we made him take and my third-grader will continue marking off the days until she’s back in the classroom with her pals. As for me, well, I’ll put off back-to-school shopping just long enough to make myself a stressed-out, harried mess because I can’t find red pens or the shoes the kids covet, all the while regretting not doing the things with the kids I should have done.
We all know giving our kids the best opportunities to succeed in school is one of our biggest roles as parents. If we do it well, they flourish. If we fail, they may, too.
That’s why there’s nothing more important than starting the new school year off on the right foot, with positive thoughts, reasonable expectations and a plan to succeed. This month’s issue is filled with tips and ideas to help you help your kids have a great school year.
