Back to School Tips for Families

The late August heat wave has made it hard to be outdoors, so we've had extra time to catch up on our reading. We've encountered lots of back to school information that we want to share with our readers.

For New York City Families

New York City public schools don't begin classes until after Labor Day and we know that every year there are students who don't have a school assignment as the first day of classes approaches. The folks at InsideSchools.org have a helpful guide with tips on what to do if your middle schooler still needs a place at this late date. They also offer information on how to contact the NYC Department of Education and its various offices for other school related issues that can arise at the beginning of the school year or later in the term.

Navigating the Start of School

Our colleagues at the American Academy of Pediatrics have an excellent set of suggestions on their HealthyChildren.org website for making the first days of school go more smoothly, especially for younger children. They cover topics ranging from travel to and from school -- on foot, by bus, and even by bicycle. They have tips for how to handle bullying and the best ways to develop good sleep and study habits. And they link to more detailed articles on many of these subjects. It's worth reading.

School Supplies
We've always liked the suggestions from Wirecutter, and they have an extensive list of suggestions for back to school items for all ages, including backpacks, writing instruments, organization tools, electronics, and art supplies. They also have recommendations for laptops for college students. 

Dressing for School Success
Scholastic has some practical suggestions for what young children can wear to school that will enable them to be both comfortable and independent. For older students, parents might want to check out whether their child's school has a dress code, and work together with their child to make sure that they can express their personal style in acceptable ways. And both students and parents should keep in mind that the saying "dress for success" has a real basis in scientific research.

Helping to Meet Classroom Needs

A recently released report from the U.S. Department of Education, through its National Center for Education Statistics, looks at spending by classroom teachers on supplies for their students and classrooms.

Based on data from the 2014-15 school year, which included teachers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, fully 94 percent of teachers spent their own money on classroom supplies, without reimbursement. The average expenditure over the course of a school year was $479, with teachers in schools with a high percentage of students who qualify for free lunch tending to spend more.

Clearly, teachers are stepping in to fill gaps in the supplies they believe are needed for optimal learning in their classrooms. But there are things that parents can do to help with this burden. One option is the organization Donors Choose. Donors Choose was founded in 2000 by Charles Best, a teacher at a Bronx public high school who needed books for his students. To date, the nonprofit organization has fulfilled over a million projects for almost 80,000 schools across the country and has a four star rating on Charity Navigator.

The model is a simple one. Teachers post information about the projects or materials they need. Donors can view these requests and fund some or all of a particular posting. Donors Choose keeps an eye on the donation to make sure it is put to good use. Take a look around their website. See their impressive list of corporate partners. And see what you can do to help teachers and schools in your area or around the country.

School's Over... No, School's About to Start...

Here in New York City, where most schools run until the end of June and do not begin again until after Labor Day,  the first part of July is a time for students and teachers to catch their breath and to bask in the prospect of weeks of summer break looming ahead. But much marketing by retailers is national in scope, and we've noticed that stores that sell school supplies are busy reaching out to families whose children return to school as early as mid-August. These ads -- for clothing, binders, electronics and the like -- are only going to increase in frequency until things hit a crescendo as summer comes to an end.

So, loathe as we are to interfere with the relaxation that comes with summer, it may be time to consider some products that can make your family's return to school less stressful and more productive. In our work with all kinds of families, we've found that some basic items tend to be the most helpful.

A large white board, mounted in a central location (kitchen wall or door, near the front entry, right by the mud room or garage) can be "command central" for busy families. Need something from the grocery? Write it on the white board. Have a project or permission slip due? Make a note on the whiteboard or actually hang it from the board with a magnetic clip. Some families use a board that is divided into days of the week. Others reserve one area for each family member. And others write on it helter-skelter with lots of colors and underlining. Whatever works for your family...

A large bin or basket for every family member, lined up near the most used exit door. This can hold a backpack, gym clothes, homework folders (which should be in the backpack), and anything else that needs to leave the house with that person. Even mom and dad can find this useful as a place for keys, sunglasses, phones, etc. If you can locate the baskets near a place to plug in a long power strip, everyone can put their phones away (if you can pry them from their hands) and charge them for the upcoming day, all at the same time.

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A supply closet can really help prevent last minute store runs. This can be anywhere you have a couple of extra shelves, which you can stock with packages of notebook paper, folders, glue sticks, boxes of pens and pencils, and printer paper - all bought on sale, of course.  If you have room for a pencil sharpener, manual or electric, all the better. And as the school year progresses, this is a great place to put "leftovers" -- those pieces of poster board you didn't use, the markers left over from a project, or glitter from a craft project. As the year unfolds, these items may come in handy and knowing where to find them is the key to putting them to use. Some families find a similar cabinet in the kitchen for lunch supplies is also helpful - stocked with sandwich fixings that don't need refrigeration, sandwich bread or wraps, juice boxes, packaged healthy snacks, and paper or plastic bags or reusable lunch containers.

A large, easy to read clock in the kitchen can help keep everyone on schedule during the crucial parts of the morning. Too often there are small clocks on various appliances, each off by a minute or two. When catching the school bus or commuter train requires a precise departure time, it can help to have everyone's schedule synchronized.

As you think ahead of other ways to make the transition from summertime to school time easier, don't forget to take plenty of time to read, relax, and enjoy the break from school.

Gifts Teachers Really Appreciate

Giving holiday or end-of-year gifts to your child’s teacher is certainly not expected in most schools and may actually be prohibited in some public schools, but when you decide you want to show your gratitude to that extra-special teacher, finding the right gift can be tough. For those occasions when the “#1Teacher” mug or ubiquitous apple just won’t cut it, here are some fresh ideas:

Supplies: Too many teachers use their own paychecks to pay for classroom supplies. Put together a box of assorted classroom essentials like dry erase markers, pencils, sticky notes, staples, and packs of binder paper that are sure to go to good use. Or let the teacher choose his own supplies by presenting him with a gift card to an office supply store. Another idea is to set up a donation page and spread the word among other parents in the class. For example, www.adoptaclassroom.org provides a platform for raising tax-deductible donations that teachers can use for classroom supplies and equipment.

Books: If your child’s teacher maintains a classroom library, donate gently used books your child has outgrown. (If not, the school library may appreciate them; ask the librarian.)

Faculty Lounge Treats: If you’ve got several children at the same school, show your appreciation for all of their teachers, as well as for the administrative staff, by sending a supply of high-quality coffee and an assortment of good tea for the teachers’ lounge. Ask someone who works in the office what kind of coffee machine is available to the teachers to ensure you send something they can use. A fruit or vegetable tray or a fruit bouquet is also a generous gesture.

Customized Stamp: Writing his name in every book that belongs in his classroom is a time-consuming chore for your child’s teacher. Save him precious minutes by giving him a self-inking stamp that will allow him to mark books and other classroom supplies with ease. Most office supply stores will allow you to choose from a variety of customize-able stamps.

Donation of Your Time: Tell your child’s teacher that you appreciate all the work she puts in so much that you’d like to put in a little of your own. Many teachers will leap at the chance to involve another pair of adult hands in a big project or experiment. (If you’re artistic, offer to collect the supplies for an art project and lead it yourself.) Another idea is to offer your help with time-consuming tasks like taking down a classroom display of student art and setting up a new one, designing a display bulletin board, or helping pack up the classroom at the end of the year. A very innovative idea is to ask if the school would allow you cover the teacher’s lunch or recess duty or study hall. The time off will give your child’s teacher the chance to squeeze in some grading or simply relax.

Pampering: Time to one’s self is rare for most busy teachers. A gift card to a local spa for a pedicure or a massage is almost always welcome.

A Night on the Town: If you find yourself with tickets to a concert or sporting event you can’t attend, ask the teacher if she’d like to use them before you try to sell them. Many teachers would also appreciate a gift card to a local restaurant.

A Handwritten Note: Most teachers go into teaching because they dream of making a difference in the lives of children. Let your child’s teacher know he succeeded with a letter that tells him just how much you appreciate him. Include a specific memory, like the way you felt when your child, formerly a reluctant reader, couldn’t stop talking about the book the class was reading. A note from your child (act as scribe if she’s too young to write it herself) would be the icing on the cake. For extra credit, send a copy of your letter, and your child’s note, to the principal. This free “gift” is likely to be the one the teacher will treasure most!

Getting Ready for School

Anyone who has walked into a store, turned on a television, or opened a newspaper over the past several weeks has been bombarded with the message -- school is about to begin and it's time to think about school supplies.

Rebecca Kohn

We've written several blogs about this subject over the past few years, and thought it might be time to look at them again. We were please to see that they are still timely, and that the products recommended and the strategies we suggest remain helpful.

Helpful Apps

Whether your student is an advanced math scholar in need of a low-cost version of a graphing calculator, or a beginning reader who will enjoy a "kiddie Kindle", take a look at our blog on Apps for Students.

School Supplies

We've got recommendations for low tech items, like folders, binders, and pen and pencil holders for students who need help with graphomotor issues.

Tips for College Students

We have a number of suggestions for college students, including the Livescribe pen, which turns spoken words, such as lectures, into computer compatible notes. We have an entire blog post on this tool, which we often recommend to students with challenges with handwriting, memory, or organization.

We have also written about products and strategies specifically for college freshmen, including how to manage medication, when to apply for accommodations, and how to file papers. Our favorite tip for college students -- and one that is useful for families and for younger students as well -- is the white board. Whether it is set up in a dorm room, in the bedroom of a high school student,  in the family kitchen, or by the front door, a large white board is a terrific organizational tool. Try it for listing items to be taken to school or work, to track long and short term projects, and to allow family members (or roommates) to share messages. Many of these boards are magnetic; this will allow you to use magnetic clips to keep urgent papers, notes, and receipts readily at hand.

Having the right tools -- whether high tech or low -- will help every student get off to a good start.

New Apps and Tools for Students: Graphing Calculator and V.Reader

An iDevice app for advanced math students and a "kiddie Kindle" for early readers are two of the many new ways that technology can help students of all ages.

For Advanced Math Students: Graphing Calculator

This news might make you feel a little bit better about breaking down and buying your child that iPhone he or she has been begging for: Thanks to the app Graphing Calculator by Appcylon, there’s no need to shell out another $150 for that powerful, essential accessory to all advanced math courses. For just $1.99 from the iTunes store, Graphing Calculator does all that a standard graphing calculator does, and does it better, too. The display is sharp and clear, lines can be presented in different colors, and the interface is streamlined instead of being clunky. Graphing Calculator works on all iOS devices.

A word of caution, though: Be sure that your child’s school will allow him/her to use a phone/iPad/iPod Touch in class and on tests before relying solely on this app for all calculation purposes.

For Beginning Readers: V.Reader

Think of Vtech’s interactive e-reading offering as a "kiddie Kindle" -- kids read downloaded electronic books on its high-resolution screen, look up words they don’t know, and much more. The device is rated for users from age 3-7, so while pre-readers can choose to have stories read to them and enjoy the animated pictures that accompany the words, beginning readers can read the stories themselves. V.Reader also features a helpful tutorial function in which tapping a word with the stylus or just a fingertip provides the reader with a definition or help sounding the word out. Kids can play games or create digital artwork as well, and a tracking mechanism allows parents to monitor their kids’ progress. New e-books can either be purchased in cartridge format or downloaded via a computer and transferred to the device. The V.Reader is made of durable plastic and comes in either pink or blue, and parents will be relieved to know that they can silence the beeps and whistles typical of children’s electronic games by plugging their tots into the headphone jack.

The downsides are few, but are worth pointing out. For one, the V.Reader plows through batteries – it requires 4 AA’s to run – so investing in a battery charger may be wise if you buy a V.Reader for your child. Additionally, the stylus is not tethered to the reader and can be easily lost, so it may be a good idea to require that it live in a special place while not being used. Overall, however, reviews of the V.Reader have been overwhelmingly positive. Kids seem to love it, and parents report that they are seeing literacy progress. At $39.99, the V.Reader is a good deal, one parents will appreciate even more when they don’t have to read the same bedtime book to their little one for the tenth night in a row.

Helpful Tips for College Freshmen

It may still be mid-summer, but it's only a couple of weeks until freshman orientation begins on many college campuses. Along with high tech electronics and extra long twin bedding, there are some items that students with learning or attention challenges need to bring with them to get off to a good start.

Students who take medications for ADHD or for medical or emotional issues need to consider the logistics involved in both taking and refilling their medications. How will they best remember to take their medications regularly when caught up in their busy academic and social schedule? Some helpful tools include a pill tray for those who take multiple medications (which can be set up once a week), a watch or phone with a reminder alarm that is set to go off at the time(s) medications need to be taken, and a designated location in the student's dorm room where medication is both accessible to the student and safe from roommates or visitors.

What about refills? Controlled substances -- which include most medications for attention and emotional issues -- require a new prescription for each month's supply. Families should check with the prescribing physican and speak to the campus health center for recommendations for local pharmacies. Another option is re-stocking during visits home.There is no single best arrangement, but it can take time to procure a refill and the day the student runs out of his or her medication is too late to create an effective plan.

Students with learning difficulties or ADHD who need academic accomodations, such as extended time on exams, should have already been in touch with the campus Office of Disability Services to provide required documentation of their disability and to obtain appropriate accommodations. If your student has not yet done so, make this your first priority, since it takes some time for this process to be completed. You do not want your student to face their first exam without the accommodations needed for success.

There are a number of tools that can benefit all students that are particularly helpful to college freshmen with learning or attention issues. These include: 

• A large white board to keep track of upcoming tasks and to break down extended assignments into workable segments 
• A device for recording lectures. This can be a Smartpen, which can allow the student to link their notes to the recording so they do not have to listen to the entire lecture to get the parts they missed, or a smartphone or other device with a recording feature. 
• A file box, set up with a separate folder for each course. Once a week, papers from each course should be filed and retained for studying for the final exam. 
• For those students who qualify, authorization for access to audio books through organizations like Bookshare or Learning Ally. Most textbook publishers are required to make their materials accessible to students in multiple formats. 
• An electronic or paper organizer. Electronic versions can provide reminders that help keep students on track. 

A little bit of planning can make a big difference for a new college student. Take some time now to smooth your student's start to college.

Photo: Matt Runkle / Creative Commons

Cool Tools: Connecting Written Text to Recorded Audio

The New York Times recently picked up on an inspired piece of educational gadgetry which we have been recommending to many students and young professionals in our practice for quite some time.  The “smartpen,” manufactured and marketed by Livescribe in a couple of iterations, with varying features and price points, is a spectacularly handy device for note-taking in a lecture situation. It also has myriad additional uses, such as quick translation and mathematical-calculation applications built-in, and would be a useful tool in the arsenal of any business person or student who could benefit from a little support of their memory and materials-organization skills.

The current models, called “Echo” or “Pulse,” are affordably priced gadgets which essentially combine two age-old note-taking devices – the simple pen and the voice recorder – into one compact tool with intertwined functionality. The pen records lectures while you take notes as you would with an ordinary pen. It uses a proprietary notebook (a small one is included, additional books are sold separately, and the Times article implies that a “DIY” solution to creating your own coordinating paper is possible) to link the playback of your recordings with the written text you have entered while listening. Later, when studying your notes, a tap of the pen (it has a built-in sensor/stylus) can transport you back into the lecture hall by accessing the specific moment of the lecture that was being recorded while you jotted down your notes. Software (no additional charge) for your desktop or laptop computer can help you organize, access, and share your recordings. The pen and notebook system can even recognize drawings or mathematical equations that you sketch while listening.

For students with weak memory, attention, and organizational skills, the Livescribe pens can be a huge help and yield important benefits in the studying process. We have seen high-school students, college and post-graduate students, and even resident-level doctors praise the effectiveness of these sleek devices. The pens hold battery charge for a long time and are ergonomically designed, appearing no larger than a permanent marker. The bulkier size of the pen (when compared to a traditional pen) may even be a plus to some students who struggle with fine-motor issues. It charges simply via USB connection to your computer, and holds a large amount of audio recordings (variable by model and price); of course, you can upload your recordings to your computer via the supplied software, effectively allowing for infinite storage capacity of your recordings.

As with any new technology, there are certainly kinks to be worked out; for one, the pen doesn’t always trigger playback as instantaneously as you would like – sometimes you’ll have to peck intently to initiate playback. Another potential hazard is one that is not unique to the smartpen device but certainly symptomatic of much of the gadgetry of our time – the ubiquity of recording devices everywhere you turn. Whether you are a high-school student using the smartpen in class or a businessperson using the device to backup your notes on an important meeting, you will want to ensure that audio recording is acceptable in the specific situation in which you wish to use the device. Some schools and professors may not allow audio recording in their classrooms, so be certain to check with administrators prior to investing in this or any similar recording device (for example, any Mac computer or iPhone comes equipped with audio recording technology – although these devices lack the sensational cross-functionality that is built into the Livescribe pens). Also, looking into the future, it’s easy to imagine how the addition of speech-recognition software (such as the much more expensive but equally useful Dragon software from Nuance – to be discussed in a future post) to the mix would enhance the functionality of the device.

All things considered, we’ve found the Livescribe smartpens to be incredibly useful tools to help create important linkages between the spoken word and written text. Starting at just above $125 and available both online and in big-box electronic retailers, the smartpens should be fairly easy to obtain for many families.

-Jeremy Koren

Back to School Shopping

Even if you haven't looked at a calendar lately, the advertisements in your daily newspaper or a visit to almost any store will make it clear that it is August -- time to think ahead to the start of the new school year. Even here in New York City, where a regular class schedule doesn't begin until the week of September 13th, thoughts of school supplies are unavoidable.

Some students don't have a great deal of flexibility in their purchases; teachers have sent home specific lists and students are expected to show up with the mandated items. But there are some simple products and devices that can help many students who deal with issues such as organization and graphomotor (handwriting) difficulties, and in our experience most teachers will permit -- and often welcome -- the use of these items to help their students better manage the demands of their work.

One product we often recommend, especially for students who struggle with loose leaf notebooks or who can't keep track of handouts, homework, or other papers, is the accordian folder. These generally are made of heavy duty flexible plastic or vinyl and come with 7 or 12 sections. Instead of using loose leaf dividers, students can  label sections of the folder for each subject and have additional sections labeled "take home", "bring back", and other useful headings. Parents can assist younger students with reviewing the papers in each section roughly once a week, moving those papers that need to be kept for studying or other purposes into a longer term folder kept at home and discarding those papers that are no longer needed. Even older students may need assistance with this process in the beginning; they should be responsible for doing this themselves once they get the hang of it.

Another simple kind of tool can help students who struggle with graphomotor issues.  Writing aids and implements like Dexball, Dr. Grip, Twist n' Write and weighted universal holders can all be extremely effective in helping students work around graphomotor weaknesses. Students who are old enough to learn to keyboard, generally age seven and older, may also benefit from having access to a computer at home or in class or both. This doesn't mean that such students should abandon work on their handwriting skills. Using the computer will liberate these students from having their written expression hobbled by their handwriting difficulties. They can work on their handwriting as a separate skill, but by taking it out of the equation for some creative tasks and responsive essays their knowledge and creativity can be expressed without the limitations imposted by their graphomotor challenges.  

It also may be time to take another look at a tried and true guide to paper management,  The Organized Student: Teaching Children the Skills for Success in School and Beyond, by Donna Goldberg. This book is not for those who prefer cutting edge technology, but for those students and parents who need help dealing with the volumes of papers that overwhelm many students.