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Three Important Factors to Consider When Choosing a High School for Your Teen

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The recent article published on The74million.org, “Giving Parents Information Helps Them Choose the Best Schools for Their Kids. How 3 Data-Sharing Tools Are Working for NY Families” has great ideas about the information parents and guardians can use to help guide them in their search for the right high school for their teens.

In it, Peter Sloane, chairman, and CEO of the Heckscher Foundation for Children writes about his organization’s experience providing different data to parents in an effort to help them make an informed decision about different high schools in New York. But we believe the three types of information that he discusses are universally important for decision-makers everywhere:

  1. High school graduation rates
  2. Financial aid application completion
  3. College completion rates linked back to the high school level

Finding schools with strong graduation rates is critical. What is considered a strong graduation rate? Sloane recommends at least 70 percent. He goes on to explain that they also “… looked at financial aid application completion rates. Consider that 90 percent of high school seniors who complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid — FAFSA — go on to college immediately after graduation, compared with just 55 percent who do not.” Obviously, FAFSA completion can be a strong indicator of potential college enrollment!

Although enrollment into college is important, we know the graduating from college is usually the ultimate goal. From multiple studies conducted by the Urban Institute, we know that a child participating in scholarship programs like the ones that AAA administers – for even as little as three years – has a positive correlation with them enrolling in, and ultimately graduating from, college.

We understand that it’s not easy for busy parents and guardians to choose the best educational fit for their children so we hope that this information is helpful to you. Please let us know some other data points that you’ve found to be helpful so that we can all become better at this tough but important work!

4 Ways to Interact with Your Kids After School

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iStock_000061836450_MediumAfter a long day at school, the last thing most kids want to do is more schoolwork. Some scholars argue that keeping kids in the “school” mindset immediately after coming home is beneficial, however others believe it is better to let your kids have time to free their minds and relax. Regardless of when it happens, everyone can agree that it is important to allow your children free time every day, after school.

 

Making sure a family spends quality time together is key to strengthening emotional bonds and creating trust within the family. Spending just a few hours together a day can help you create fun family memories as well as influence your kids to make better decisions and stay out of trouble. So, how can you spend more quality time with your family? Here are 4 ways to hangout with your kids after they come home from school:

 

  1. Games

Playing games with your family helps you create fun memories and allows you to share laughs together! Family games will also teach your children good sportsmanship, communication skills, and will help them understand the importance of following directions.

 

Game Ideas:

  • Card games like “Close Call” or “Quick Stop” can help build math skills.
  • Board games such as “Scrabble” can advance your child’s spelling and literacy skills
  • Interactive games like “Mother May I?” will teach children basic social skills such as asking permission.

 

  1. Dinner

Eating dinner together as a family allows you all to relax, tell stories, and laugh together while also building your child’s communication skills and vocabulary. Creating healthy meals that are “family style” allows for picky eaters to decide which foods they want on their plate and will put them in a better mood for conversations!

 

Conversation Ideas:

  • Ask your children their favorite and least favorite part of the day.
  • Ask them to tell you their favorite joke, and from where they heard it.
  • Ask what kind of super power they would want!

 

  1. Crafts

Crafting with your kids can be especially fun because it allows kids to be creative and take pride in their artwork. When creating art there is no right or wrong way to do it, therefore your children can express themselves in any way they want! Creating art has been found to boost children’s ability to problem-solve and think with an open-mind (something they do not often get to do while in school).

 

Crafting Ideas:

  • Finger painting is not only fun, but also it strengthens hand and finger muscles, which will improve motor development.
  • Playing with chalk promotes thinking “outside of the box” and the best part is it’s not permanent!
  • Scrapbooking helps kids remember the fun times they’ve had and they create family heirlooms.

 

  1. Exercise

They say a family that plays together stays together! Allocating time to exercise together with your family will not only help your health, but it gives you time to talk to each other about your lives and strengthen your family bonds. Exercising with your children emphasizes the importance of playing sports for fun and not for competition.

 

Exercise Ideas:

  • Sports like football, softball and soccer will teach children skills like teamwork and adherence to rules.
  • Walking your dog together as a family will give you time to talk to each other and can teach your children to be responsible for a pet.
  • Having a dance party with your kids will not only be fun but it lets your children release all of their build up energy in a positive way.

 

Remember, when you’re interacting with your children make sure you all put technology away so that you can give each other 100% of your attention and avoid the negative consequences of technology use. Your children look up to you so set an example and keep the phones and tablets out of family time.

 

Although some days can be long and stressful for parents, it is important to remember that your kids have had a long school day too. So use these tips to make your child’s day brighter while having fun and strengthening your family bonds!

Are Your Kids Reaching Their Full Potential?

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iStock_000053850462_SmallIt’s a thought that almost certainly crosses every parent’s mind, “am I doing everything in my power to help my child reach their full potential?” Often times parents think, am I paying my child enough attention? Am I making enough money to provide them with what they need to succeed? Am I doing something that will hurt them later on in life? And on, and on with the questions. Chances are that if you’re asking these questions in the first place, you’re probably doing a great job providing for your children, but have you ever thought to ask these questions of their school?

Is my child’s school providing the right environment to help them learn? Are they learning all the vital skills they will need to succeed later in life? Do they enjoy going to school, and do they view it as a positive environment? These are all questions you should be asking of your child’s school. After all, they spend six to eight hours there a day, sometimes more! If you can’t answer these questions, or if the answer is no to a lot of them, it might be time to take a closer look at what you can do to find a school that is the right fit for your child.

Many parents believe that they don’t have any other options when it comes to where their child goes to school, other than the public school in their district, but this is not always the case. There are many options families have to remove their child from a school that simply isn’t the right fit, and put them in one that is the perfect fit! One of those options, school choice, is one that isn’t talked about all that often.

School choice is a program that allows students and their families the option of attending a private school of their choice, often partially- or fully-funded by a scholarship. These scholarships are available through programs such as the AAA Scholarship Foundation, are funded by tax-credit donations, and awarded based on a variety of criteria. Currently, approximately 190,000 students across the U.S. are using tax-credit scholarship programs to help pay for tuition and 14 states have enacted tax-credit-funded scholarships programs. There’s no doubt that these programs are helping a lot of children reach their full potential, and there’s no reason they can’t help your child!

Children who attend school in an environment that causes stress, anxiety or depression are less likely to learn and grow to their full potential. Instead of focusing on the lesson, they are focusing on their environment and how badly they wish to be somewhere else. As a parent, you can help your child by providing them with an environment where they can truly learn and thrive. In fact, one of our most recent scholarship recipients, Ky’mier Bowie, experienced just this, when transferring from his volatile public school, to a private school of his choice. His struggles (and successes) are highlighted in our Scholarship Spotlight; “’Before I started attending Fruitful Ground, my family was constantly leaving work to come up to my assigned school because I was frequently getting into fights,’ admits Ky’mier. Expectations of success and thriving were a new concept for Ky’mier at school. Before, he had just hoped that he survived each day. In a short time he did a complete turnaround.”

Stories like Ky’mier’s, of children being given the opportunity to reach their full potential, are becoming more and more common in the U.S. and this can be attributed to the success of the school choice program! If you would like more information on how we can help your child reach his or her full potential by going to a private school of their choice, contact us today!

 

 

How to Help Your Kids Handle the Stress of Going Back to School

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If your kids have already gone back to school this month, or are getting ready for their first day, it’s no secret that the stress of making that kind of major change is nothing to be ignored. Waking up early, meeting a new teacher and students, learning new and unfamiliar subjects, and in some cases, starting at a completely new school can all help contribute to anxiety and stress that can be expressed through behavioral issues, lack of sleep and/or appetite, or even illness. As a parent, it might be hard to understand what you can actually do to help combat the effects of stress on your children. After all, you’ve got your own stresses like work, bills and family schedules to worry about, and your kids have to go to school.  So, what can you do to help keep your kids calm and stress-free as they make the transition back to school?

Start with SLEEP! School-aged children and pre-teens need approximately 10 – 11 hours of sleep a night! Teenagers can get away with a little less, at a recommended nine hours a night. Getting enough sleep at night is one of the best things we can do for our bodies. This period of rest helps our bodies reset and repair from the day’s stresses and many experts believe that when children don’t get enough sleep it can affect their growth and immune system. Sleep also helps us humans deal with stress better. Having a well-rested mind means having a clear mind, one that is ready to take on the day!

How do I ensure that my children get enough sleep, you ask? Start with a bedtime routine, if you don’t already have one. Establishing a routine that they can rely on will help make bedtime easier for all involved. They key is consistency, children need consistency in their lives before any kind of habit can be established and it’s up to you as the parent to enforce it.

Next, set aside some time, every day, to allow your kids to exercise! Physical activity, whether it’s guided or not, can help release pent-up energy, help build strong muscles and bones and even help balance hormones – leading to better performance on a stress test. This time for physical activity can be something as simple as running around on the playground, playing sports with other kids in the neighborhood, playing tag in the backyard or even doing some family workouts! In fact, kids are more likely to want to exercise if they see you doing it, so lead by example and get moving!

While getting more sleep and exercising are both great physical actions you can take to help your children combat stress, ensuring mental stability is just as important. Young children experiencing stress or anxiety for the first time might not fully understand what they’re feeling, and certainly won’t know how to handle it. Taking the time to talk with your children about what stress is, and helping them understand how to deal with it can go a long way! The American Psychological Association has these tips for talking with you children about stress:

  • Be Available
  • Listen Actively
  • Respond Thoughtfully
  • Consider
  • Seek Help if Necessary

And finally, make sure you laugh! Spend some time joking with your kids, tell them a silly story, or let them tell you one. Laughter is a great way to release some of the stresses of the day, and who knows, it might even help you relax too, Mom and Dad! In fact, according to the Mayo Clinic, laughing can have both short-term and long-term positive effects on us! If you’re looking for some laugh-spiration (laughing inspiration, get it?) here are some family-friendly jokes to try at the dinner table tonight!

Stress can be a serious factor in the success of your child, so use these tips to help keep your children happy and healthy this school year!

If your child is unhappy or under-performing in their school, contact us to see how we can help you and your family have access to a private school that’s right for them!