Goodbye Summer, hello Fall

Greetings Moms and Dads!

The end of the school year, weather going from warm to hot and humid, full vegetation including flowering plants, skunks, mosquitoes, longer hazy days, the sound of neighborhood ice-cream trucks, camping, and of course one of my top favorite things to do, the beach.  What in particular comes to mind as your think of each of these?  The start of summer, right?  As quickly as it came it has passed.

Labor Day signifies the official end of summer and the beginning of fall and a new school year.  All children in America will officially start school this week if they have not already started.  To me, it seems like just a couple of weeks ago I was talking to you about preparations most single parents have to make at the end of every school year.  Summer break requires readjustments of family life mainly due to childcare arrangements, as well as meaningful activities for our children.  Whatever you did, I hope reading was a daily part of your child’s routine.

Now that school has begun I want to remind all of my single mothers and fathers of the importance of  your involvement in your child’s education.  I cannot stress the importance of this action enough for the success of your child’s education and learning experience.

Do you have an “action plan”, a list of priorities to increase the likelihood of a positive outcome this new school year?  If not, I thought you might like some ideas to help get you started.  Here are some thoughts for a good action plan:

!.  On the first day of school if at all possible both parents arrive at school, remember, get the “other parent” involved as much as possible as long as he or she is a safe person.

2. On the first day of school make it a point to personally meet your child’s teacher/teachers.  If your child has multiple teachers it might not be possible to meet each of them on the first day, so let that be your goal by the weeks end. Perhaps you can divided it up if there are for example 4 teachers, each parent can meet 2 that first day.  However you do it, try to work it out. The more involved the other parent can be I can almost assure you they will be, and that results in a “win/win” for everyone!

3.  Go straight to the principal’s office to see what the school’s needs and opportunities are for your involvement. Duties such as homeroom mom, parent advisory board, parent booster, playground volunteer, crossing guard, field trip monitor, field trip driver, teacher’s helper.  There are so many needs and your child as well as the school will benefit, so it is critically important you make your interest known and follow up and follow through.

Regardless of your child’s grade level, the need and value for your involvement never changes. In spite of full time work the entire while my son began school, I was homeroom mom through grade 8. When he started high school I was asked by the principal to serve on the parent advisory council which I readily accepted even though I was not fully aware of what that commitment meant.  I served on this counsel throughout my son’s entire junior high through high school years and never missed a meeting.

The friendships you make will be personally meaningful to you, and the satisfaction you derive from knowing your presence was known and felt is priceless.  Your presence lets your child’s teachers know you are involved in your child’s education, and that you want to know what they are being taught and how they are being cared for.  As I say in “Single And ApParent”, how can you know if you are never there?  In addition, it sends an ongoing message to your child about how important he or she is to you.

Do you have any worries or concerns about this new school year?  If so, I hope you share those thoughts here. Please remember this blog is for YOU and your comments and questions are both needed and welcomed!

I hope your child read a lot this summer, and I hope this will be a wonderful school year for each of you.

“Goodbye summer, and hello fall!

Peace.