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The Three D’s of Learning Challenges
When it comes to school, we’re all familiar with the three Rs: reading, (w)riting, & (a)rithmetic. All three are the basis of our education, from our early days learning letters and numbers to later years in high school and even college, writing papers and surviving calculus. What happens, though,...
Homework Alabama is a Hidden Gem for Local Students
For students that are struggling, many parents feel helpless – the years spent outside of a classroom make it difficult to assist children with new work. (Common core math, anyone?) Working families struggle to find time to go over homework, and if there is a child in the home playing a sport or participating in an extracurricular activity, time is precious and hard won between schedules. For students looking for guidance to continue achieving Homework Alabama is also a great resource. It’s without a doubt a real game-changer for many families.
To the Mothers of Incoming Middle Schoolers
First of all – breathe. Breeeeaaaathe. It’s going to be okay. Middle School is now behind my household (for a few more years anyway), which means:. 1) We’re now staring into the void of high school while realizing, and. 2) We’re old, and. 3)We’ve successfully navigated...
Madison City Schools Invites You to Honor Your Educator During Teacher Appreciation Week
Madison City Schools has a great way that families can show appreciation to the teachers that have made an impact on student’s lives. “Honoring Your Educator” launched in May 2020 for Teacher Appreciation Week, but is also a great way to say thank you to a teacher during the holidays or year-round! This website makes it very easy for parents, grandparents, mentors and friends of students to give back to teachers by honoring them in a meaningful way.
Ask the Expert: How to Ride the School Bus
From time to time we like to invite local experts from the community to answer questions about parenting and raising kids in Huntsville and North Alabama. Today we asked Tom Brandon, Madison County Commissioner, and former educator and school bus driver to address the BEST way to ride a school bus.
Dear Mom Sending Her Child Off to College
I’m probably not the best one to be writing this letter, considering my child is about to start his sophomore year in college and I’m already missing him so much I’ve cried twice this week. But having gone through the process, here’s advice from a mom that’s sent her child off to college recently.
Everything you Need to Know About ACT but Were Afraid to Ask
Every student who dreams of college or higher education after high school has probably heard of the ACT. Maybe you are a parent or student that has even found this page because you want to understand more about it. You’ve come to the right place! In this article, we will demystify the ACT and break down the following:
Dyspraxia in Alabama: Support for Families
Most people are familiar with dyslexia and even its lesser known cousins, dysgraphia and dyscalulia have been gaining traction in the last few years. But few people have heard of dyspraxia, even though some estimate that 1 in 6 children have this neurological disorder. Dyspraxia (also known as Developmental Coordination...
7 Tips for Incorporating Montessori Into Your Home
A bit of Montessori might be the perfect way to keep the kids’ brains active, without breaking out the textbooks. (Has anyone Googled how much extra screen time actually turns the brain to mush?) The Montessori Method is a child-led approach to teaching that focuses on a child’s physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development. With a little research, it can be pretty easy to incorporate many of the Montessori concepts in your own home. The cool thing is, you can introduce as much or as little of the method as works for your child, starting with nature walks, visual math skills, or even etiquette.
Books About Starting Kindergarten
During the first week of August, I’ll join countless other parents in the rush to see their children off to school. Like many other parents, I’ll see my child off to Kindergarten. My only child starts school this year, and I am already starting to tear up writing this.
Bullying at School: The Solution Starts At Home
Ours is a world full of mean people saying mean things. So when our children act badly, why should it surprise us? I’ve started this article many times and each time I start, I stop because I get overwhelmed with the task of fitting all there is to say on the subject. It’s no secret all of our local school systems in Huntsville, Madison, and Madison County have had incidents of bullying at school. That’s when I started writing again because frankly, it needs to be said.
Advocate for the Future: Helping You Understand Your Rights in the Classroom
As soon as we left her office after my son’s 18-month checkup, our pediatrician had called Early Intervention so that we could start receiving services needed to help my son with his developmental delays. We stayed in that system until he was three years old. After that he aged out of Early Intervention and into our local school system, who, by law, was to provide similar services starting at age three. Soon, our school year was not only bus routes and supply lists, but also IEP meetings and the struggle to understand exactly how all of the pieces fit together to create the best education my son could get.
5 “Be’s” to Prepare Your Child for Tomorrow, Today
My family and I came to Huntsville for my father to work with Dr. Wernher von Braun. He was the Blue Origin of the 60’s and early 70’s that would change not just North Alabama but the entire world. Think about all the innovations that the space industry ushered in through the 1960’s up through today! With current technology not just in the space industry but in many facets and sectors of our society, innovation and change has become the norm and not the exception. In fact, now every day has the capacity to be different than the day before. Every tomorrow has the probability of being different.
Focusing on Strengths in the Face of Challenges
So often when we talk about children with special needs, cognitive or physical, we focus on the challenges that these diagnoses present. Whether your child’s challenges are related to learning or to walking or to relating to the world, the stress of making sure that they have what they need to grow and succeed can be overwhelming. It can be easy to lose sight, especially for people who might not have the chance to be with your child day-to-day, of the positives that these challenges can bring to the people that they are growing to become.
Students Needs Serious Sleep. Here’s How to Get It.
Going “back to school” doesn’t just affect students and teachers, this time of year can mean big schedule changes for most families as well, especially when it comes to their sleep schedule. During the summer, we tend to slip into a more laid back and loose schedule....
Advice to Parents, From a Teacher
I have been blessed to be an educator, coach and bus driver for over thirty years. The rewards in these occupations are not found in the monetary but in the relationships that you are able to develop with students who often share with you the wonder of the everyday world that we as adults have long taken for granted.
How the PTA Can Engage Working Parents
I often find myself having the same conversation again and again with working parents – they say that they don’t have time to volunteer at their child’s school, or time to be an active member of the PTA. Then they counter those claims with complaints of things they dislike about the school or the people in PTA.
Let’s Make It Teacher Appreciation YEAR!
Think back to when you were seven years old. You were in second grade and your biggest concerns revolved around loose teeth and what you were getting for Christmas. Do you remember what movie won Best Picture at the Oscars that year? What the number one song was? Do you remember who won the Super Bowl or the World Series? Can you name the number one television series at the time?
Huntsville & Madison County Students Now Have Access to a Free Tutor
August looms like a persistent mosquito, threatening the summer fun with one protuberance of academic menace. Yes, children, that buzzing you hear is the wiring coming to life within the walls of each school in the valley. And while some may quake in revulsion or tremble with anticipation and excitement, it is absolute: SCHOOL IS COMING.
What Teachers Really Wished Parents Knew
Plenty of sleep at night, a healthy breakfast in the morning. When the kids are back in school you do everything you can to make sure they get off on the right foot. But one of the best things you can do to help your child have a great school year doesn’t involve them at all. A good relationship between parents and their child’s teacher can go a long way in improving communication and preventing problems during the school year.
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A hyperlocal website dedicated to all aspects of parenting in Huntsville and North Alabama. We share information that makes parenting in Huntsville easier.
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