When my son was born, my oldest was finishing up 1st grade while my youngest was finishing up her last year of preschool. As the school year began for both girls the following August, my son and I were left in a strangely quiet house. From 8:10 until 3:30 p.m. it was as quiet as a church. Well, as quiet as a little baby in a church.

Soon, my son and I found our rhythm. He was awake most days to see his sisters off to school. Took two short naps, which became one slightly longer nap. Our day revolved around meals, the arrival and departure of the school bus, and vehicles. Over his 5 years at home, he and I played cars, read about cars, visited train museums, toured the fire engines at the local VFD, and sought out construction sites. He could never have enough vehicles.

Large or small…it didn’t matter to my son. He was mesmerized by earth movers, cherry pickers (still not entirely sure what this machine does), steam rollers, and diggers of all kinds. Our local library became the site of the new community center construction project. We spent many a morning hanging our heads out of the van window watching paint…uh…tar dry. He loved it. I loved watching him. Any question he asked that I didn’t have the answer to…see above question about “cherry pickers”…was answered by a quick walk to the library.

My son was a happy kid as he boarded the school bus that first day. I kinda of miss the sounds of kids playing as I toil away in my basement office. One sad part of having three kids in full-day school is that we have to cram a whole lotta stuff in to the evenings. Sports practices, occasionally games, music practice, homework, and even play dates with friends can only occur between 3:30 p.m. and bedtime, and of course weekends, but we’re still busy.

Many nights my son must occupy himself while his sisters finish up homework as they have more homework than he does. A key source of entertainment for him is construction toys. From building with bricks to erector sets, he wants to do them all. A recent kit that arrived in our home had him jumping up and down with great excitement. What was the toy you ask? Mega Bloks’ new construction set from the Blok Squad line.

Unlike me he was not daunted by the “395 pieces.” Quite the contrary he dove in to the box and started constructing the Blok Squad Construction Site one vehicle at a time. By the looks of his finished products, the Blok Squad Construction Site includes a Workers’ Truck with Optional Trailer, a Track Loader, a Road Roller, and a bunch of construction workers with shovels, wheel barrows, cones, and guard rails.

Want to learn more about Mega Bloks Blok Squad Construction Site?

• Item #2462
• 395 pieces
• Recommended for 5+
• Price: $19.99
• Where can you buy it? A link on the Mega Bloks site says that this product is not available yet at offline retailers. You can leave your email to be notified when it is available. But, I found it at Walmart.com…though it was out of stock. Other Blok Squad sets were available at Walmart.com. Until then you can buy it through my amazon affiliate link.

Get connected with Mega Brands.

• Like Mega Bloks on Facebook.
• Like @MegaBloks on Twitter.
• Join the Mega Bloks Family Club.

Other finds from Mega Brands.

• I saw a very cool 3D puzzle at Time To Play.
• You’ve seen the Board Dudes dry erase boards, I’m sure? This mom needs a Board Dudes board in every room of her home. Got to get more organized for 2012! Note: If you saw my kitchen wall with its bulletin boards and calendars, you’d think I was highly organized. You would be partially right. I can always put a dry erase calendar board to good use!
• Moshi Monsters in your house? Build these Moshis.
• And don’t forget RoseArt — Color Blanks, Fun Dough, Smart Easel, and more.

I was given a Mega Bloks Blok Squad Construction Site to facilitate my review by Mega Brands and ChildsPlay PR. I was not compensated for this review.  I follow the tenets of Blog With Integrity.

Whether you are working from home or working out of the home, you will want to have piece of mind that your children are occupied. Winter break is short his year, so Kindercare is offering winter camps to keep your little ones occupied.

News from MomSelect…

Explore a Winter Camp that gives your children everything they crave now. KinderCare is proud to announce that this year’s Winter Camp is believed to be the best yet! Combining fun and learning, KinderCare offers programs that kids think are cool and parents know are smart — they balance loads of fun with a healthy dose of learning.

From December 19th – December 23rd and December 27th – December 30th, both preschool and school-age children can participate in KinderCare’s Winter Camp. Children will explore the science of chemical reactions and learn about the magic of flight through educational and hands-on themed activities:

• “Bubble Trouble”
• “Volcano Blast”
• “Helicopter Propellers”
• “Balloon Rockets”

KinderCare’s Winter Camp helps encourage and reinforce core learning activities such as

• language arts
• math and science
• creative expression

Winter Camp is specifically designed to offer a balance of fun and learning during winter break, while providing parents, who may need to work or simply catch up on holiday shopping and errands, with a simple solution for engaging their child in fun, educational activities.

For more information and to find a KinderCare camp near you visit http://www.kindercare.com. You can also find science experiments to do at-home by logging onto www.kindercare.com/camps.

Want to have more fun over winter break? Why not purchase a gift for the whole family to enjoy? Although once your kids get ahold of it, you might never see it again.

I was not compensated by Kindercare or MomSelect. I am providing this as a service to my readers. The views expressed in this post are my own. I follow the tenets of Blog With Integrity.

My workday is unpredictable. Some days my mornings start bang on time. I put all three kids on three buses with everything that each could possibly need for the day — backpacks, books, lunchboxes, etc. — and head down to my office to work without a problem. Oh, how I love those days!

Other mornings, my day just seems doomed from the beginning. We oversleep. There is no clean laundry…or more precisely the outfit that one of my girls needs is still in the laundry. I spill milk on the floor…and yes it is possible that I shed a tear at cleaning the floor at such an early hour. One of the kids dawdles and dithers and dallies and misses the bus. I realize that I have practically nothing to make lunches. Another kid calls from school about a missing notebook or homework assignment. Basically, my day does not get off to a good start. You know how it is?

On days where everything is off track and I find myself on the road to school with a missing lunchbox or folder or P.E. uniform, I am grateful to have the next best thing to my desk in my pocket. I like to call it my “office away home.” What am I talking about? My smartphone.

Almost two years ago, I did not have a smartphone. If I was away from my home office, I had no way to check email or tweet or post to Facebook. As a social media marketer and blogger, without a smartphone my hands are literally tied behind my back.

I was asked to test drive the HTC Rhyme phone. The Rhyme is an HTC smartphone available through Verizon Wireless. The Rhyme may seem like just another phone in the Android market, but it is the suite of accessories that make the phone a hit with anyone on the go.

• Comes with a docking station for charging.
• The phone rests on the dock to charge.
• I moved the charging dock from the kitchen to my office to my bedroom — very easy to move from room to room
• Unlike regular charging cards you don’t need to fumble in the dark as you try to locate the charging cord hole. Instead, just place the phone on the docking holder to charge. I never had a problem aligning the 3 pins on the back of the Rhyme with the corresponding 3 pins on the cradle part of the charging dock as the dock is contoured to cradle the Rhyme.
• While the HTC Rhyme rests in the dock, you can use the phone as an alarm clock or a music player. We listened to music while I prepared dinner and the kids did their homework.

Ever hear your phone ring, know that the phone is in your purse, but not be able to find the phone no matter how much digging you do? Just me? The HTC Rhyme comes with the Charm. You attach the Charm to your phone  using the headphone jack. The Charm will light up to let you know about calls, messages, and more. No more digging around in your purse…just pull on the cord attached to the HTC Rhyme to find the phone! Although I didn’t use the headphones, the flat wires would lead to few to no tangles.

The setup of the phone is very similar to the HTC Thunderbolt I currently use. I found all my favorite apps in the Android Market. I set up the Rhyme to mirror as much as possible my Thunderbolt. I use the extended battery with the Thunderbolt, so I missed the battery power. The Rhyme screen at 3.7″ WVGA super LCD is smaller than the Thunderbolt’s 4.3″ screen. I found both screens easy to use and read.

The only downside to the phone was that the opening on the side of for inserting the charging cord is covered by a flap. When I tried to insert the charging cord in to the phone, I fumbled quite a bit. Most of the time you can simply place the phone on the docking station. However, if you need to transfer data from phone to laptop/PC you need to connect the phone to the computer via the charging cord. I was able to insert the charging cord in to the phone, but the little flap was awkward to use.

The bottom line is that both phones are great for moms, dads, and even teens on the go. My two teens both found the Rhyme fun to use. One has a cell phone and the other has a multimedia phone, so both enjoyed exploring all the capabilities of the HTC Rhyme and its platform, HTC Sense.

You can purchase both phones in time for the holidays:

• HTC Rhyme is $199.99 at Verizon with a 2-year contract or check out amazon.
• Find a cute purple gel skin to fit the HTC Rhyme at amazon.
• HTC Thunderbolt is $149.99 at Verizon with a 2-year contract or find it on amazon.
• I bought an extended battery with door for my HTC Thunderbolt.

I was sent an HTC Rhyme to facilitate my review. I returned the Rhyme at the end of the review period. Earlier in the summer — during BlogHer 11 — I participated in a focus group with other bloggers where I was given an HTC Thunderbolt phone. The views expressed in this post are my own. I follow the tenets of Blog With Integrity.

I never had a backpack until I started college. Before college, I carried a satchel or a briefcase to school. My school required all items to be brown, so of course the briefcase was brown leather or more precisely brown pleather. I never got a new backpack each school year.

I recall having 3 school bags in 9 years of school. Previously, when I attended elementary school in England I probably had a backpack. I’m not sure what the backpack looked liked. My best guess would be plaid. I do remember getting a new lunchbox each year. You know the ones I mean, don’t you? Rectangular metal lunchboxes.

I had a plaid lunchbox of course. Another one was the Addams Family. I had maybe one other lunchbox in my early elementary school years. What was your favorite lunchbox?

But, back to backpacks. My kids get a new backpack about every 2 years. We used to do the new backpack every year until we had to buy several new backpacks midyear. After these unexpected mishaps — broken zips, torn plastic — we began to buy sturdier backpacks from Lands End or Nike. My daughters both used a Swiss Army Backpack from Costco for about 2 plus years each. In the end, the sheer load of books and notepads required of tweens and teens taxed the backpacks’ zips.

I’m sure I am not the only one who has unearthed a permission slip that was never turned in or found a flyer for an event that happened days ago. I have been known to get perturbed when I find important papers in the kids’ backpacks. How difficult is it for the kids to hand in forms or bring home forms to be?!?

My child’s school sent home this checklist for dealing with the “Backpack Black Hole.”

Tips for Helping Your Child Organize The Backpack

Each week parents should work with their child to:

1. Take everything out of the backpack
2. Organize binder(s) by putting papers in the correct sections
3. Read through any papers sent to you (fliers, etc.)
4. Throw away/recycle all trash
5. Check your child’s agenda book for HW from each class, missing work stamps, and notes from teacher.

In addition, children should be encouraged to write down all assignments in their agenda/calendar books.

What do you do to help your child stay organized at school?

The links in this post are to my amazon affiliate account. Photo credit: o5cm.

My oldest is always ahead of the game. As an almost-tween she “discovered” the Bobby Jack monkeys. For a few years she was all about those cute monkeys. Posters on her wall. Desk accessories. Many, many tees. Even a pair of sweatpants. And then nothing. No more monkeys. No more cute monkey pencils. Nada. Nothing.

She was the same way with the home computer. One day she was all about playing educational games on CD-ROMs where you shot a rocket to get the correct answer or followed a trail to find clues to solve a puzzle. No logging on to worry about…at the time our internet connection was painfully slow. And the next day she declared that the games were too babyish for her.

And so she moved on to the land of cute Arctic creatures. At about the same time my younger daughter — then a tween, too — discovered an online world of plush animals that you could buy at a store and play with online. Both girls also found their way to an online site where kids can play games, start a webpage or sphere, play in a virtual world, earn credits, etc.

In a matter of a few short months, I was faced with not one but two kids who wanted to play games online. We talked. We discussed. We educated our kids about online safety. We made it clear that playing games on online was a privilege not a right. If grades dropped or attitude waned or chores were neglected, the computer and any online privileges would disappear. No discussion.

I was adjusting well to this when my oldest then an almost teen requested a Facebook page. I hemmed and hawed and debated whether I should allow her to get a page until finally relenting when she turned 14. Her sister wasn’t far behind in asking for a Facebook page.

Having a Facebook page is a privilege and not a right for my girls. I keep track of their passwords for Facebook and email. But, I don’t check their accounts each and every day. I trust both girls to act responsibly with their pages. But, I want to know for sure that both are acting responsibly.

Recently, I was asked to check out a service called Safely. Safely offers a number of services to parents:  Safely Locate, Safely Drive, and Safely Social Monitor. I was asked to review the Safely Social Monitor service. Safely Social Monitor helps parents AND kids stay smart on Facebook. The Social Monitor is a free service for parents.

The Safely Social Monitor service is now available for parents to keep an eye on their child’s Facebook page. I found the service to be very easy to use. Here’s what I did:

• I opened the Safely Social Monitor using this invite code link. Remember there is no fee to join Safely.
• I created an account for our family. I shared the password and email that I used to sign up for an account with my husband.
• I added the email that my oldest child used to create her Facebook pages to our family Safely account.
• Safely Social Monitor prompted me to log in to my oldest child’s Facebook page. I keep both of my children’s Facebook passwords handy. The children know that I have their Facebook passwords and may log in. I’m not spying…I’m letting them know that I trust them to act responsibly, BUT I want to be able to log on from time to time.
• Once Safely had logged in to my child’s Facebook page, a Safely Report was generated that gave my child a score for safety including:  a score out of 100 for overall safety and a letter grade for the following categories — Connected to Safely, Number of Alerts, Appropriate Language, Friends’ Ages, Mutual Friends, and Number of Friends.
• I repeated the process with my middle child.
• The process was easy.

I am pleased to report that both children scored a 98 out 100 on their overall safe use of Facebook. I am so pleased as this means I (and my husband) have done a good job educating them about Facebook. Both kids “operate” their Facebook pages using safe practices.

One interesting feature is that I can see any new photos that the kids have added. I can also see the number of friends each has by age. The majority of their friends are their age. I like knowing that they are associating with tweens and teens their age, rather than young adults.

I bookmarked the Safely Social Monitor site so that I can check in regularly to see how the kids are doing on Facebook. I shared the log in details with my husband so that he can check in as well. Oh, and I sent an email to both kids letting them know that I was proud of them for using their Facebook pages in a safe manner. Kids love praise.

I would highly recommend that parents use Safely Social Monitor to keep track of their child’s Facebook page. I would also suggest that parents should not allow their children under the age of 13 to get a Facebook page. Facebook terms of service specifies that children should be over 13 before starting a Facebook page.

Want more information about online safety for kids, tweens, and teens?

• Like the Safely Facebook page.
• The Safely Spotlight — free digital parenting guide with tips and advice — will be regularly published and made available on the Safely Facebook page.
• Learn more about Safely Social Monitor by watching this YouTube video.

I was compensated for this review of Safely Social Monitor through a compensated post campaign sponsored by Location Labs. The views expressed in the post are my own. I follow tenets of Blog With Integrity.

Do you know what October is? Besides fall…pumpkins….hayrides…chilly weather…and Hershey’s Dark Chocolate. Hershey’s Dark Chocolate is my all-time favorite Halloween Candy…mmmm…oh where was I? Oh that’s right. October is National Book Month! October will be dedicated to reading and
focus on tips and advice to not only celebrate National Book Month,
but instill a love of reading at home.

National Book Month or not, I still read all the time. Although lately I spend most of my time reading on the computer…blogposts…reviews…and news reports. Besides the computer reading I do, I recently started subscriptions for 5 magazines. I’m so excited to be reading Time, Sports Illustrated, Popular Science, Sports Illustrated for Kids, and Entertainment Weekly. Fun times in our house. We haven’t had a magazine subscription that wasn’t a kids’ magazine in years. My kids are all avid readers, so I know the magazines will all be read. My son has a book log from school — as well as the books he reads he can read the magazines to vary his reading selections.

I finished Guernsey Literary & potato Peel Pie Society a few weeks ago. I loved it. I read it for my Book Club. I hosted Book Club, so I was glad that my selection was well received by the group. What are you reading? Leave a comment below. I am always on the lookout for a new book to read.

Kumon and Scholastic are all about reading. I know that you and your children will be reading in National Book Month and throughout the year. If you would like them to earn a free book…read on. And really who doesn’t love a free book!

Here’s how you and your child can participate in the Kumon Learn and Earn Program to earn free books:

• Download the READING and/or MATH activity sheets for your child’s age group.
• Have your child completes worksheet for her age group.
• Your child can earn two books if she completes the math activity sheet and the reading activity sheet. Or your child can earn one book if she completes the math OR the reading activity sheets.
• Download the reward redemption form. Print and complete all fields. Mail the form to Scholastic for the free books.

It’s that simple. And you know what I am going to do right now? Go to Kumon’s Learn and Earn site and print out the activity sheets for reading and math for my kids.

And a handy list of reading resources to help you get in the swing of back to school can be found here.

I was compensated by Kumon for this post. The views expressed in the post are my own. I follow the tenets of Blog With Integrity.

My summer baby started Kindergarten when the cutoff was December 31. I recall that I didn’t give a huge amount of thought to whether I should  send her or not. If I was sending her to Kindergarten now, I would explore the concept of “redshirting.”

School award ceremonies are even more fun with music.

I thought about redshirting. Back in 2003, the whole redshirting thing wasn’t on my radar. Plus, most of the preschools in my community (it’s semirural) do not have a PreK program. Most preschools near me only have programs for 4s. These programs are not as rigorous as traditional PreK programs and tend to meet only 3 mornings or afternoons a week. The benefit of redshirting your child is that your child is one of the older and more mature Kindergarteners after the extra year of preschool.

The options for schools with PreKs were over a 30-minute drive from my home. I had an infant at the time and it was awfully tempting to have my K and 2nd grader hop on the same bus to school. My kid was in morning K so I felt that she had time to decompress in the afternoons as well as do at-home learning, library storytimes, play dates, and nature center outings. She loved Kindergarten. She found the joy of reading. Became adept at counting, sorting, and patterns. Loved riding the school bus.

Did you redshirt your child? Why? Why not?

Before I forget I have winners!

• Congrats to Sara, Heidi, Stephanie, Debi and Michelle on winning the Super Diaper Diary prize pack from Scholastic. Happy reading!

More winners to be announced soon for the following giveaways. Don’t forget to enter:

• Keep your PC safe with antivirus software from Chicalogic – ends 10/14/2011.
• Real Steel prize pack — ends 10/17/2011.
• Kneebouncers Who Says Moo? storybook app — ends 10/28/2011.
• McDonalds New Happy Meal coupons – ends 10/31/2011

And I have one more giveaway for my local readers. If you live near to Rockville or in Montgomery County, I have a giveaway for a gift card to the Bean Bag Deli in Rockville, MD.

Options. Enrichment. Opportunities. Advancement. Like all parents, I want the very best education for my kids. I’m fortunate to live in the county where the school system is on the rise academically. About 5 years ago, our school district surpassed a neighboring county’s test scores. This change was monumental for our county.

If you know anything about education, you won’t be surprised that the list of top schools in this country is based on the all-important test scores in reading and math. In order for students to score well on these tests, students need to have the have a strong grip on the fundamentals of reading and math that are the foundation for all subject areas. Without knowing how to read with a critical eye, a child will not be able to comprehend a historical document or follow a recipe. The same is true for math. Learning how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide is necessary before embarking on higher level math classes in geometry, algebra, and trigonometry.

Parents with middle and high schoolers know how critical math is to current and future education, as well as career opportunities. I read an interesting quote from Sylvan while preparing to write this review:

A critical gateway subject, algebra is the foundation for higher-level mathematics and science courses in high-school, which in turn can open doors for college and lead to better careers and lifetime earning potential.

According to Sylvan, American students are failing algebra at an “alarming rate.” Algebra is a foundation course that is critical for your child’s future school success. Tweens and teens with low algebra skills could encounter difficulties with the ACT and SAT standardized tests.

Do you have a 7th or 8th or 9th grader who is about to or taking algebra this school year? Sylvan in partnership with Let’s Go Learn is offering a FREE 21-question Algebra Readiness Check-up. I was asked to review a site that will assess your child’s readiness for algebra.

After finding out that I needed to review the math site — Fit 4 Algebra — I enlisted my daughter’s help. I needed her expertise on the finer points of algebra. Over the years, I have forgotten quite a bit of the algebra I was taught in school. She was willing to do the screener for me as she is taking algebra this year. The screener, given to me by Sylvan Learning, is a tool that evaluates your child’s knowledge of algebra.

The process for accessing the algebra diagnostic test was straightforward. I set up an account on LetsGoLearn.com for our family using my email address. I chose a password that I shared with my children. I have one child who has completed Algebra 1, one child who is taking the class, and one who will take the class in a few years. I added all 3 children to our family account.

After my daughter completed the Fit4Algebra diagnostic tool — which took her about 15-20 minutes — I asked her what she thought about Fit4Algebra by Sylvan. Here’s what she said:

• She answered all the questions on the Fit4Algebra site, but she was able to use scratch paper to work out her answers.  Her math teacher always require that students hand in their scratch paper to see how they solved the problem.
• She liked she would be getting a reward for reviewing this site.
• She liked that the site helped her work out algebra problems.

Once she completed the Fit4Algebra Algebra Readiness Check-up I hopped on to the site to access the results of her check-up. The Results page showed her school grade level, for instance, 7.1 , 8.4. By clicking on “Results,” I was able to see my daughter’s algebra readiness level.

The Fit4Algebra “AlgebraMeter” listed not only her overall fitness level, but broke down her algebra readiness by topic areas showing whether her grasp of the material was STRONG, MODERATE, or whether she needed to BUILD her skills:

• decimal operations
• comparing and converting
• fractions
• ratios and proportions
• coordinate graphing
• geometry
• integers

I would highly recommend using the Fit4Algebra Readiness Checkup with your middle and high school children. Since the test is only 15-20 minutes, students shouldn’t be averse to doing the screening.

I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Sylvan Learning and received a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

A new born is full of potential. You’ve heard people say this, I’m sure. A baby is open to any and all possibilities. Hearing a new book read by a parent. Tasting a new food. Who doesn’t love seeing the face of a toddler trying a lemon for the first time?! Smelling a scent of fall leaves. Toddlers can laugh out loud upon seeing a monkey at the zoo. Preschoolers love counting steps or jars or blocks. Grade schoolers will tell you that they want to be a ballerina one day and an astronaut the next. Endless possibilities.

As parents we want our children to reach their full potential. Will our little ones become doctors or lawyers or teachers or designers or computer scientists or bakers or paleontologists? The sky is the limit.

As parents, we want to nurture the potential in our children. My oldest was an out-of-the-box thinker from birth…probably. She looked at each problem from a different angle than I did. There were days when she had endless questions for me. Other days she would quietly play and create and innovate.

Over the years I have read many, many stories featuring these guys!

As a way to give my daughter opportunities, I read to her. More than just a book at bedtime, I read stacks of books at naptime, bedtime, and throughout the day. We read books on ants, trees, space, Disney princesses, bikes, being a big sister, sharing with friends. In fact, no matter what book we picked up from the library she and I devoured it. She would read to herself while sitting in bed. Waiting for dinner to be ready. She “read” books to the new baby. At playgroups, I would often find her reading books on the shelves in her little friends’ playrooms.

September is all about possibilities and potential. Kumon has partnered with Scholastic Books to encourage the development of the all-important reading and math skills. When your child completes MATH and READING activities, he can earn up to TWO FREE BOOKS from Scholastic. I don’t know about you, but I NEVER turn down a free book. Especially a book for my children!

Here’s how you and your child can participate in the Kumon Learn and Earn Program:

• Download the READING and/or MATH activity sheets for your child’s age group.
• Have your child completes worksheet for her age group.
• Your child can earn two books if she completes the math activity sheet and the reading activity sheet. Or your child can earn one book if she completes the math OR the reading activity sheets.
• Download the reward redemption form. Print and complete all fields. Mail the form to Scholastic for the free books.

It’s that simple. And you know what I am going to do right now? Go to Kumon’s Learn and Earn site and print out the activity sheets for reading and math for my kids.

And a handy list of reading resources to help you get in the swing of back to school can be found here.

Don’t forget that October is Reading and National Book Month!

I was compensated by Kumon for this post. The views expressed in the post are my own. I follow the tenets of Blog With Integrity.

I was asked the other day about lost items. More specifically, kids and lost items. We all have days don’t we when we send our children off to school dressed in pants, shirt, socks, shoes, jacket, backpack, and perhaps glasses. Only to find these same kids tottering off the school bus without the jacket or missing a composition book.

Here’s how I handle lost stuff…by age:

For a preschooler and kindergarteners

• I assume that stuff will get lost all the time.
• I label everything with a Sharpie pen. Fortunately for me, all 3 kids and my husband and I share the same first initial and last name. Makes sharing hats, gloves, snowboots, so much easier. Less stuff gets lost if labeled.
• I talk to little ones about the cost of items, how sad they would be to lose a special shirt, and how much work is it for their preschool teacher to have to find missing items all day long.

Photo courtesy of Thomas Hawk.

For elementary schoolers

• I introduce or re-introduce the concept of money. For instance, “Grandma bought you that fuzzy sweatshirt. You know it cost a lot of money. So you need to keep track of your stuff. If you want to take off your sweatshirt, you can put it in your backpack right away. I would hate to go to the Lost & Found shelf and not find the sweatshirt.”

For middle and high schoolers

• I don’t have to worry about them losing any clothes, shoes, or jackets that they either purchased with their own money or chose as an Xmas/birthday gift from a grandparent. My kids NEVER lose anything special to them.
• Now, we have had an issue with expensive electronics. I told my girls that they weren’t allowed to take an ipod/itouch/mp3 player to school for use on the schoolbus. I tell them that these items are costly and cannot be replaced.
• Once my girls started middle school I started loosening rules right, left, and center. First rule to go was the No ipod rule. My 6th grader begged to be able to listen to her music rather than having to hear all the kids talking loudly on the bus. She “got” the concept of money and the value of objects and still has the ipod she got as a 9-year-old.
• Next rule to go was the No Cell Phone rule. By the end of 7th grade I relented as my tween was coming home to an empty house every so often. I wanted to be sure she had a way to call me if she forgot her key. She was very careful with her phone. Her phone came in handy the couple of days when it was too foggy for me to see whether or not she got safely on the bus.

Back when my teen was 10, we drove to Williamsburg. We had a new van with very deep cup holders. As we pulled in to a gas station, I unloaded my youngest and my oldest’s ipod fell out of the van on to the ground. We had a long discussion about where to store an item…a valuable item…and how much it costs to replace a costly item. I also told her that although her name and phone number were engraved on the back of the ipod, it was unlikely that anyone would call us to report it. Sad state of human affairs, right?!

• I look at a child losing items as a way to teach the child the value of the money used to purchase the item. A case in point…when my 1st grader constantly left/forgot her composition book at school, I would drive her and her younger siblings to school to retrieve the lost book. One day I realized that I wasn’t helping her at all. I told her that I wouldn’t drive her to school again. I told her that she would have to call a friend and have the friend tell her all 20 spelling words which she would have to write down. Not surprisingly she  started bring home all her homework materials.

So how do you deal with kids and lost items? Leave a comment. Thanks!