School District Calendars

We've written before about how calendars - high tech and old fashioned paper - can help keep students and families on track. But there is one calendar that every family with school age children should have handy, and which they should review now as the school year begins - the calendar for their school or school district.

Whether this is available online via the school website, or is sent to families in paper format (a vanishing practice in this digital age), the school calendar can be a treasure trove of information. First, the obvious information about when school is in session and when vacations and days off are scheduled should be added to kids' and parents' personal calendars. Also take note of "optional snow days" if you are doing long-term vacation planning for your family. In the event of a snowy winter, school may continue longer into the spring than you anticipate.

Make note of when marking periods begin and end and when mid-term or final exams are scheduled for each semester. This will enable you to work with your child to make sure that he or she is up to date before each marking period comes to a close. Once the marking period ends, it is often too late to make up homework or exams your student may have missed, and this may be reflected in their grades. If your school still sends report cards home with students (another vanishing trend), make sure you know when report cards will be issued.

School calendars can be very basic, such as the one for New York City public schools, or serve as a handbook for families, with information about every aspect of school or district operations - from the tax code for your district to the names and contact information for every building and district administrator. Some districts also include contact information for PTA officers and -- particularly useful for parents of students with IEPs and 504 Plans -- the officers or liaisons to the Special Education PTA, if your district or school has one. For New York City parents whose children have IEPs or 504 Plans, you may also find helpful information geared to the beginning of the school year from the folks at Advocates for Children, with a list of Q & A for families of students with disabilities.

Time Management and Homework Resources

Earlier this spring, we looked at some of the extensive resources tucked away on our website, starting with a look at tech literacy. Today we explore our suggestions for ways to manage tasks, lists, and homework. Take a look and see if they help.

ENHANCING PRODUCTIVITY
​Slife, Rescue Time, Freedom app, and Stay Focused
All four of these online productivity monitors allow users to track how much time they spend on certain websites and even block certain sites from themselves or during predesignated times.

Pomodoro
​This free product (upgrades available) is the best of both worlds: a to-do list and a timer. Students can enter their tasks to keep track of their responsibilities, the use the timer to keep track of how long they should be working and when to take breaks. Pomodoro is both a desktop application and a smartphone app. Students who are easily distracted by their phones may want to use it only on their PCs; used in conjunction with Slife, Rescue Time, Freedom app, or Stay Focused (above) to block distractions, Pomodoro can help students stay focused and organized.

MANAGING LISTS AND REMINDERS
Wunderlist
This great app is excellent for those who want to coordinate to-do lists with other people. Wunderlist will send email reminders to members of a group and the group organizer can check to see which tasks have been completed. Group members can use an in-app chat feature to discuss tasks, too. This app, which is free for iOS and Android, is ideal for families or students and professionals who do lots of collaborative work.

Wunderlist

Any.Do
We love this simple, free app! Just type in things you need to remember and your smartphone will alert you when it's time to get things done. You can even attach notes, documents, videos, or images to items on your list. Any.Do works with almost all devices, both mobile and desktop.

Finish
This clever app allows users to create to-do lists and organize tasks by priority. It's simple, elegant, and effective. For iOS only.

Remember the Milk
Manage responsibilities and prearrange text or email reminders so they'll show up when you need them.

Make Custom Checklists
Easily create checklists for your child using this free resource. A checklist can help foster independence so kids can get through routines (getting ready to go to school in the morning or to bed at night, for example) without forgetting anything. 

MANAGING YOUR WORKLOAD
myHomework - free, or $4.99 per year without ads
This award-winning app allows students to stay on top of just about everything. Users can input classes, assignments, tests, and grades, and myHomework will send alerts and reminders and even help students to prioritize tasks. The streamlined layout keeps distractions to a minimum, too.

Here's a helpful tip: Making timelines can be a particularly helpful way to plan an evening of work or a multi-step project. Check out our model, then try making a timeline of your own.

Lots to do? Get Finish

One of the most blogged-about new apps for iDevices is streamlined. It’s useful. It’s innovative. And it was developed by two sixteen-year-old high school sophomores.

Finish, which was released earlier this year, is a clever tool for managing to-do lists. Creators Ryan Orbuch and Michael Hansen came up with the idea when they were embroiled in finals and longing for a better way to manage all they had to do. Their brainchild, Finish, allows users to enter tasks to be completed and place them on one of three lists: Short-, Mid-, or Long-Term. Finish initially defines short-term as tasks due in 0-2 days, mid-term tasks as 3-7 days, and long-term tasks as
8 days or more, but these settings are adjustable.

Finish is nothing if not user friendly; simply type in the task you have to accomplish (e.g. “Email Prof. Chen re: paper”), select the deadline for the task, and that’s it! Finish will place the task under the appropriate heading. Users can scroll through the list under each heading and either edit, check off or star entries as needed. Finish keeps lists up to date, too. Enter a deadline for a paper due in two weeks and the task will automatically move from your long-term list to your mid-, then short-term lists as crunch time approaches. Users can enable push notifications to let them know when tasks are due, and it is easy to move tasks from list to list as needed, too. Finish even allows users to repeat tasks. Got a study group every Monday evening at 5:00? Simply enter it once and indicate that you want the task to repeat weekly. Finish will take care of the rest.

Finish is a fantastic app, but users should consider a few potential downsides. One is that it does not sync with other devices, so those who have well-established calendars on computers or iPads may not want to take the trouble to duplicate their agendas. For iPhone-reliant students, however, this may not be a problem. Also, while Finish’s simplicity is one of its best features, it is so basic that users cannot enter times, locations, or notes to accompany each task. This limitation can be skirted by typing “Tutoring @ 5 in library” as opposed to simply “Tutoring” for the task, but this takes a bit of extra legwork. Again, this may or may not be a deal breaker depending on your individual preferences. Updates to Finish have been promised that may address these issues.

Despite its minor limitations, we think Finish is an innovative, functional app that could be just the ticket for organizing a hectic schedule. Finish is available for $0.99 from the iTunes store.

Special Events For Your 2012 Calendar

It’s time to start adding events to our 2012 calendars, and we have some programs that you might want to take note of for the new year.

For the NYC child who has everything -- and a love of adventure -- an amazing holiday gift could be an overnight visit to the Museum of Natural History. Reservations for these sleep-overs for 6 - 13 year olds are limited and sell out quickly. Check out the schedule, details, and available dates by calling 212-769-5200.

Resources for Children with Special Needs will be holding its annual Camp Fair on Saturday, January 28, 2012 from 11 AM to 3 PM at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle, (entrance on Columbus Ave./W. 60th St.) in Manhattan. Admission is free and attendees get a copy of the extensive Camp Directory. The Fair will feature day camp programs in New York City and sleep-away camps throughout the NY, NJ, and CT area. Presenters include travel programs and remedial education programs for children with a broad range of learning and other issues.

Kids Night on Broadway takes place February 5th- 9th, 2012. This annual event offers free tickets to many Broadway and Off-Broadway shows for children from 6-18 when accompanied by a full-paying adult. The event also offers free dining for kids at participating restaurants and includes parallel events in other cities. Early curtain times make these evenings even more kid-friendly.

Subway Sleuths is a program for kids on the autism spectrum (primarily in grades 3-5, but they are flexible) that uses content about the New York City subway to practice and promote social engagement, collaboration, and problem solving. The ten session program begins in February, but there is a required 45-minute observation and orientation tomorrow, December 17th (and another one in January).

The Yellin Center will be presenting a number of special events throughout the year. For starters, Dr. Yellin will give a free presentation sponsored by CHADD of New York on January 9 in Manhattan. Stay tuned to our special events calendar for more information.

Calendars

For many families, the new year begins in September -- not January. Vacation is over, the days are just a bit shorter, and everyone's focus is on the start of school. One common problem faced by busy families is keeping track of school activities, projects, music lessons, sports practices and games and all the daily and occasional appointments and commitments of every member of the family.

One solution is to keep an on-line family calendar accessible to all the members of the family. Google Calendar or Cozi are both convenient choices that let family members access the calendar from a computer or smart phone. Both are free -- but require sign up.

For technophobes, there is always an old-fashioned paper hanging calendar, with plenty of room for notes and information. There are all kinds of these available for under $10.

Whatever approach you choose, make sure that everyone in the family has a plan to check the calendar on a regular, recurring basis, and to add their own appointments and deadlines (or have mom or dad help them). This will ensure that the calendar can be a useful clearinghouse for all family activities.