Information to help families get ready for the new school year.
Back To School
Teens Use Quarantine to Teach Others
We’ve all spent countless hours worrying about our kids during the pandemic. We talk about how adaptable kids are, but none of us imagined our kids would have to face the kind of intense global and national experiences we’ve had over the last few months. But while we do have to be vigilant about our […]
Where Will Your Family Find the Fun in the New School Year?
There’s nothing like the anticipation of a new school year. Kids are filled with excitement to see their friends, meet new teachers and learn. But this year the global pandemic has robbed our kids of the joy of returning to school safely. So, what will it be? Distance learning, hybrid (online and in-person) home school […]
How are L.A. Parents Coping with this Pandemic Back-to-School Year?
The other day, I was looking for a long-lost bowl in the kitchen when my eyes fell on my son’s lunchbox. It stopped me in my tracks with a deep welling-up of yearning and sadness. I fled the kitchen and closed myself in the bathroom so that my son would not be able to hear […]
What Families Can do About the COVID Slide
Responsible parents don’t let summer go to waste. That, for a long time, has been the thinking among parenting experts. And so, instead of the carefree summers of our own childhoods, we parents squeeze little more than a “free” day or two in between sports practices, well-curated family vacations, “meaningful” camps designed to advance our […]
California Content Standards in New App
Eager to understand the California State Standards your kids are supposed to learn this year? There’s an app for that. The California Department of Education has launched a mobile app where you can find the standards with a touch of your fingertips. The app offers quick, targeted access to standards related to the arts, computer […]
Letting Kids Explore Their Sense of Style
My high school cafeteria was its own kind of runway, a place where the popular kids paraded their personalities and latest outfits while the timid, clumsy and fashion-starved hoped the ground would open up and swallow them whole. I would like to say I existed somewhere in the middle, but I would be lying. Then, […]
The Right Shoes for Back to School
A new school year is a great time for new shoes. We turned to podiatrist Pedram Aslmand, DPM, at Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach for some advice on finding the right fit. What do parents need to know about choosing a shoe? When kids are just starting to walk, you want a pair […]
10 Facts for Families New to Speech and Language Services
As children across the country embark on a new school year, some will have their first experiences with being evaluated or treated for speech and language disorders through the school system. This is something that occurs only with a parent’s consent. Many parents are worried about their child’s communication. Recent national polling commissioned by the American Speech-Language-Hearing […]
Go Retro for a Back-to-School Film Fest
As a latchkey kid of the ’80s, I enjoyed summers that were far from over-scheduled. I watched soap operas, fried my skin with friends at the beach and never, ever missed $2 Tuesday movie night at the local theater. We’d pay for the 6 p.m. show, sneak into the 8 p.m. show and eat popcorn […]
Play Hooky With Your Kids
Ever think of taking a day off work and playing hooky with your kids? You should this month! August is chock full of weekday events and unique experiences you should fit in before the freedom gates of summer clang closed. From chasing dancing fairies through Descanso Gardens to leaping across giant indoor trampolines and handcrafting […]
Back to School: Getting Kids to Open Up
From pressure around grades to anxiety about transitions, bullying or home-related tensions such as divorce, some kids will start this new school year facing a host of issues. “One of the big, big issues is immigration,” says Suzanne Silverstein, M.A., founding director of the Cedars-Sinai Share & Care program. “Because a number of them are […]
Talking Your Child Through a Tough Spot
September can be a prickly time of year. The kids have started school, and everyone’s getting used to the fall schedule and responsibilities. Anxiety, which is often part of this picture, can show up in many different ways, according to Lori Baudino Psy.D, a clinical psychologist with a private practice in Westchester. “Anxiety is a […]
Making a Smooth Transition Back to School
Back to school time is coming and it’s time to get your child – and yourself – ready. This is especially true if your child has a learning difference or developmental disability. L.A. educational consultant Victoria Waller, Ed.D., says summer is an easier time for all families. Bedtimes and other rules are relaxed, the schedule […]
Our Breakfast-to-Bedtime Back to School Guide
Remember last year’s back to school photo? The kids wore big, happy grins and fresh haircuts. Inside their shiny new backpacks awaited orderly pencil cases and a homemade-with-love lunch filled with summer veggies and nothing processed. Cut to the second week: Running to the car five minutes late, the day’s completed homework forgotten on the […]
A Back-to-School Checklist For Healthier Kids
It seems like only yesterday that our children were wrapping up their last day of school and heading off to the pool, summer camp and family vacation. But the new academic year will soon be here, and it’s time to think about what’s needed to prepare them for a safe and healthy start in the […]
Bridging the Summer Gap to Prevent Learning Loss
Now that the academic school year has ended, students are ready to enjoy summer and all of the fun that it promises. Beach days, family vacations, swimming pools and waterparks; activities that bring fun memories, social time with friends and a highly anticipated break from the classroom. Unfortunately, with all of the fun that summer […]
Choosing a School: It’s In the Details
Most schools offer a good education. Look beyond that to find a fit for your child. The days of sending kids to an assigned neighborhood school, no questions asked, are gone. Today, Southern California families are fortunate to have many great schools to choose from, giving us the opportunity to find just the right school […]
Free Resources Start Students’ Year with Inspiring Math Messages
To help students in grades K-12 approach math with creativity and enjoyment, YouCubed, a Stanford University center that provides research-based resources for teaching and learning mathematics, has released a series of free lessons in time for back to school. The Week of Inspirational Math (WiM) lesson series for teachers, parents and students includes five lessons […]
Back-to-school Readiness For Music Students
As a piano teacher and the founder of Music Teacher LA, I am often asked how to help young music students get ready for back-to-school time. For families whose children are taking private music lessons, such readiness is essential to ensure that children have a smooth transition from a summer of laid-back music study or […]
Non-Traditional Learning: School’s Out and About!
As the pace of change in the world around us has accelerated in recent years, so have changes in the way children learn about that world. More and more alternatives to the “traditional” classroom are emerging, and more kids are taking advantage of them. As many as 3.4 percent of U.S. children are now homeschooled, […]
6 Tips for Setting Realistic Back-to-school Goals
My daughter Keya and I have a tradition for the last day of school. We go to Trails Cafe in Griffith Park, where she orders a snake dog and an old-fashioned root beer. We recall the year’s high and low points, and I listen as she tells me which teachers she liked, what subjects she […]
Introducing Your Child With Disabilities To a New Teacher
A new school year is starting, which means a new teacher for your child. Take a few minutes to write a letter that will help equip your child’s teacher for the excitement and challenges ahead. “As much as our kids need support at times, teachers need just as much,” says Kathleen Secchi, Santa Clarita coordinator […]
What You’ll Learn At School Open House
While searching for private schools for their son Kevin (now in college), Tony and Kristy Adler of Bel Air eagerly attended several open houses at L.A. schools with him. They quickly learned the do’s and don’ts of open-house protocol. “We were doomed at one school from the beginning when I grabbed our son’s name badge. […]
How to Choose a Child-Centered Preschool
Extensive research shows that attending preschool helps children develop social and emotional skills, improves their reading and language development, and gives them the opportunity to make decisions and ask questions in a safe environment. Regardless of their socio-economic status, race or location, children who have attended preschool are more likely to graduate high school and […]
Teaching Kids To Speak Up
My daughter is lost in play with a friend, and I watch as her eyes suddenly fix on the floor beneath her. The conversation is quiet and I can’t quite make out the words between them, but I can sense from her posture that she doesn’t want to speak up. The path of least resistance […]
Use The Six R’s For a Smoother Return to School
Stocking up on new notebooks and sharpened pencils is the easy part of going back to school. Oftentimes, a more difficult adjustment is navigating the emotional changes kids and parents experience in the early days and weeks of returning to the classroom. But the start of a new school year doesn’t have to be stressful […]
How Nontraditional Schools Inspire Students
If you walk into any classroom, you’re likely to find quiet students who turn in their work on time, but don’t necessarily challenge themselves beyond their comfort zone. You’ll also find bright students who become easily bored and distracted by repetitive worksheets and tests. Then there are those whose sketches in the margins of their […]
College Life: 5 Things To Tell Your Daughter Before Move-In Day
Your daughter is going off to college and you’re worried she won’t be prepared to live away from home (though she’d probably beg to differ). The team behind HerCampus.com and The Her Campus Guide to College Life has some simple tips you can offer to help her get the most out of her first dorm […]
How Failure Improves Homework Habits
Most parents want to make sure they are doing everything they can to assure their children are happy, healthy, feel good about themselves and are successful. “How do I get my child to clean up their room without a fuss?” “How do I limit electronic entertainment?” “How do I get them to stop fighting with […]
5 Tips To Get You More Involved In Your Child’s School
When the school year began and you buttoned up your precious ones against the fall chill, kissed their cheeks and sent them off with the latest back-to-school goodies, did you make a silent vow that, this year, you would get more involved in your child’s school? More than likely, you’re next thought was, “What time […]
What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Preschooler
I still kick myself for taking a rock away from my 2-year-old. “You can’t carry a rock around other kids,” I explained, prying the flat, round object out of his hand. It was shellacked bright blue with a big “R” painted on it, a trinket we had once found on the ground. “Rigby rock” wasn’t […]
Three Ways to Help Kids With Test Anxiety
The second half of the school year will soon begin, and for many parents that means a return to tests and the fear they instill in our children. Often times test anxiety stems from one of two areas: fear of embarrassment and fear of failure. The main idea is to look to the root of […]
The Back-To-School Boogie: Tips For Teachers And Parents For A Smooth Transition
Regardless of whether you are a parent, a teacher, or a student, August marks the turn of the tides when school supplies, planners, and new-school-year jitters take center stage. It is an exciting time for some, and a dreadful time for others. Each parent, child and teacher is unique and has his or her own […]
Managing Middle School
Help Your Child Through the Big Transition With These Tips By Elena Epstein I’ll never forget my oldest daughter’s first day of middle school. There was the scariness of a new place – not unlike the first day of kindergarten – only this time we didn’t have a sweet teacher taking her hand to reassure […]