Back to School Central
PTA:
Provides Back to School Central
as a comprehensive resource of information for the back-to-school
season. Content will cover topics such as preparing your child for
school, adjusting from a summer schedule, evaluating schools and more.
Stories and articles will be added throughout the summer. Check back
for valuable advice on how to wind down from the summer and get ready
for a tremendous school year.
Content is arranged under four categories:
- Back-to-School Preparation
- Nutrition
- Homework Help and Study Skills
- Parent Involvement and Communication.
Back-to-School Preparation
PTA's mission to be a strong advocate for the education and well-being
of every child starts with making sure that children and their parents
and caregivers are prepared for the new school year.
Back-to-school time can be stressful for parents and kids. This
resources aims to reduce the stress by providing important information
on back-to-school preparation and helpful tools to make the transitions
easier. You can find information on adjusting kids from a summertime
schedule back to a school time schedule, tips for safe routes to school,
ways parents can help teachers, and more as well as a list of resources
on other websites.
Please refer to these resources and check back frequently for more relevant content to help make your life a little easier.
Cost-Cutting Tips for Back-to-School
By Randy Craig, Editorial Manager
As expected, the economy will have an impact on back-to-school spending. The National Retail Federation says the average family with students in kindergarten through 12th grade will spend an average of $548.72 on
back-to-school merchandise, down 7.7 percent from last year, according
to the group's annual survey. The survey goes on to say four out of
five Americans have made some changes to back-to-school spending plans.
More than half (56.2 percent) will hunt for sales more often. Nearly
half (49.6 percent) will be spending less and more than 40 percent will
be using coupons or purchasing generic products more frequently. Consumers might be feeling pinched by the economy, but these tips
can relieve some of the pressure. Check out these cost-saving measures:
Online Coupons
Coupon sites are valuable, but there are hundreds of them on the Internet. This only breeds confusion. SmartMoney analyzed the slew of coupon sites and recommended these five: In addition to online coupon sites, customers can often do their
comparative shopping online to find the best bargains. Look for free
shipping deals. These might make it less expensive to buy online than
buying at the physical store.
Tap into your networks
Whether
it is your circle of neighborhood friends or an online community, your
social networks can be a good place to start. Ask if anyone has an item
you need and be willing to swap for something they need. These swaps
can be for clothes or supplies or both. If someone has a membership at
a discount club, you can all go in on bulk purchases.
Prioritize
What really needs
replaced? Sure, junior probably wants a new bookbag, but will the old
one last one more year? It might be possible to let the child choose
which item he or she wants to be brand new this year (a new bookbag or
new soccer shoes, for instance). Also, set a budget and stick to it.
Resist the urge to buy impulse items. Identify what is truly needed.
Stock up
Don't just buy for
back-to-school during the summer. Take advantage of sales throughout
the year on common items such as pens, paper and folders. The same
concept applies to food for healthy lunches. Shop at discount and club
stores for staples like chicken, apples and foods that will keep for a
long time or can be frozen.
New shopping venues
Goodwill
stores, consignment shops and even yard sales can house incredible
bargains. Don't be misled by your perceptions...these outlets often
have plenty of items in perfectly good (even brand new) condition
at incredibly low prices.
For more cost-cutting advice, visit the PTA Great Idea Bank. This growing social network has a forum dedicated to users’ best ideas for cutting costs during the back-to-school season.
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Overcoming Obstacles to Parent Involvement
Obstacles to Parent Involvement: Roadblocks and Detours
To
make parents feel more comfortable visiting the school, post Welcome
signs in all languages spoken at the school at each entrance and on
each classroom door. Create a special place in the school that is set
aside especially for parents, such as a parent center.
Not Knowing How to Contribute
Roadblock: Some parents believe they have talents but don’t know whether they are needed or how to contribute them to the school or PTA.
Detour:
- Don’t wait for parents to offer to help; seek them out. Suggest a
few different but specific options of ways they could volunteer.
- Have teachers and administrators create a list of specific
volunteer actions that are needed from parents. Refer to this list and
share it with your PTA.
- Ask non-PTA parents as well as members what they’d like to do in the school.
- Faculty and parents could share their list with each other and
begin to discuss and form realistic expectations to more effectively
use parents’ many talents.
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