Opinion

Teen Travel In Uncertain Times

Traveling in uncertain times is a challenge for most of us adults.

So, imagine how many dangers, real and imagined, a young person will face.

• Recently, I flew to Aguascalientes, Mexico. Although I have been flying for many years, I became acutely aware of how challenging flying has become in this pandemic era.
• Masking and social distancing aside, I encountered many new obstacles that were not part of my travel experience even a few years ago. I'll point some of these out.

Canva generated this picture of a teen walking in an airport terminal corridor.

The young traveler

Whether you send your child off to visit her grandparents or send her back to school, you know she has to travel safely.

• After all, you have experienced just about every situation and glitch you can imagine during your travels.
• But remember that you were traveling as an adult.
• You had the financial resources to book a hotel room the minute the airline canceled your flight, and your flight out was early the following morning.
• You knew what to do to comply with TSA requirements as you made your way through airport security.

Most importantly, you were streetsmart, aware of your surroundings, and ready with an exit path in case of a crisis.

• These are just a few of the things that you need to teach

Scholarship Tax Credit ProgramsSchool choice has been a fact in American K-12 education since 1989. That year the State of Wisconsin passed a voucher program which aimed to help students from low-income families in Milwaukee. Since then 39 states have established school choice programs. Depending on the state, school choice programs have expanded to include educational savings accounts, tax credit scholarships, and individual tax credit/deduction which parents can use to send their children to a private school.

Most states also allow parents to transfer their children from underperforming public schools to higher-performing public schools. In addition, many states have permitted the establishment of charter schools as one more alternative to an underperforming public school. Because allocating taxpayer funding to educational resources other than public schools is controversial, numerous legal challenges have been filed. Depending on the state, you will see a variety of workarounds including the afore-mentioned educational savings accounts, tax credit scholarships, and individual tax credits/deductions.

According to the American Federation for Children, the following states now have some form of funding for school choice program. In fact, several states offer several educational choice options. For the latest information https://www.federationforchildren.org/

• Alabama
• Arizona
• Florida
• Georgia
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Louisiana
• New Hampshire
• North Carolina
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• Utah
• Virginia
• Wisconsin

Other resources include Noodle which has assembled a useful guide to the various educational choice

Velcro is a hook-and-loop fastener that sticks things together. It also has become a popular term for describing a certain kind of over-protective parent. The other term used to describe such parents is helicopter parent. The term drone is also used. I was curious about the phenomenon as I don't recall that Nancy or I were that over-protective with our children. My research indicates that hovering came into vogue with the advent of smartphones. Texting and apps make keeping in touch with your children very easy. It is very easy to be too involved. That is not good for your child, and her school will not appreciate your velcro tendencies. There has to be a balance between hands-on involvement and a hands-off approach. So, let's approach the issue from that perspective. We will look at how this applies to each grade level as your children progress through their schools.

Pre-school

I was one of those lucky fathers who drove his daughters to their pre-schools. In those days, back in the 70s, I was on the staff of a large Episcopal church on Long Island. Our house was about 2 miles from my eldest daughter's preschool. The preschool was located in the Sunday School classroom wing of the church. The school had just been established because of the strong demand for pre-schools in that South Shore community.

Literally, the two of us would get out of the car and enter the front door of the church

Dissatisfied with your local public schools? When parents are faced with underperforming public schools in their area, what alternatives do they have? In most cases, just three options are available: they can keep their children at home and homeschool them. They can also consider sending their children to private schools. Or they could relocate to an area with good schools. Let's leave out the last option, which is a real stretch for most families. Selling a home and finding a new one is not a project for the faint-hearted.

Fact: The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reported that during the 2019-2020 academic year, approximately 3.3% of school-aged children were homeschooled, which amounted to around 1.7 million students.

Fact: According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), during the 2017-2018 academic year, around 5.8 million students (about 10% of all elementary and secondary students) attended private schools.

The mothers in this video explain why they are thinking about homeschooling their children.

The other underlying condition which we have to appreciate is that we are talking about average middle-class families. Typically these hard-working folks bring in less than $100,000 a year. In many cases, much less than that. I feel that this is a very important factor to deal with upfront. Why? Because, in most cases, parents in this income bracket feel that they cannot afford private school. So they don't even bother exploring private

How to Avoid Summer Brain Drain

The summer “Brain Drain”, also known as the “Summer Slide,” is a term commonly used by educators and parents alike to describe the learning loss that takes place for many students during summer months.

Brain Drain occurs when the extended break from structured learning and scheduled academic work makes the mind lazy and makes it easier to forget material that has already been learned. It is a major concern for American legislators, educators, and parents alike. We’ve paneled some of the top experts in education to get the best advice for parents to help kids avoid summer Brain Drain. From CEO’s to Technologists to PhD’s and more, we’ve got the expert advice to help kids of all ages stay sharp all year long.

1. “We’re always learnings, but what are we learning?”

First thing’s first: take time to get to know your child’s interests. Dr. Alice Wilder, Chief Content Officer at Speakaboos, is a huge proponent of tapping into children’s interests to maximize their learning potential. Dr. Alice is a leader in children’s media and research, with senior production roles on landmark franchises and programs like Blue’s Clues, Super Why!, Speakaboos, and Amazon Kids (to name just a few of her many projects and accomplishments).

Dr. Alice says parents should allow their child to be bored at times to uncover their interests. “See what they come