Implementing a back to school safety program is one way to help your kids deal with a crazy world. Although the instinct of most parents is to shield your child from harm, this will not benefit them in the long run. You need to give your kids strategies for handling the challenges they are confronted with on a daily basis.

Communication

At the heart of any back to school safety program is communication. This includes talking to them about the dangers in the world as well as listening to what is going on in their lives. Develop an atmosphere of open communication in your household where your children feel they can tell you anything.

This is important because perpetrators, and pedophiles especially, will use shame to make kids stay quiet about the things they are doing to them. Children are more likely to open up about problems if they feel you will listen and support them no matter what.

Additionally, don’t let your own shame or embarrassment stop you from talking to children about the things they will be confronted with in life. You may think your child is too young to know about drugs but the drug pushers stalking the playground won’t think so.

Now that we’ve talked about the major requirement of a back to school safety program, here are some practical tips for keeping your kids safe.

Monitor Your Kid’s Social Media Activities – The minimum age for most social networking sites is 13 but kids as young as 10 are ignoring the rules and creating social profiles anyway. The worst part is that many parents don’t realize that their kids are on Facebook and Twitter but pedophiles and other deviants do. In addition to talking to your kids about internet safety, find and monitor their social networking profiles to make sure they are not inadvertently putting themselves at risk.

Understand the School’s Policy on Personal Protection Devices – Possibly the most controversial aspect of a back to school safety program is the use of personal protection devices. There are as many reasons why your child should carry them as there are reasons why they shouldn’t. But before you make any decision either way, you need to find out what the school’s policy is on students carrying around things like pepper spray and stun guns. If they are not allowed in the school, then your child could be expelled for carrying them around.

Have a Safe Place for Kid’s to Go Afterschool – There used to be a period of time when being a latchkey kid wasn’t a big deal. However, with home invasions on the rise, it is best that kids and teenagers have a safe place to go afterschool if you are not going to be home with them. Make arrangements with friends or enroll them in afterschool activities and always check in to make sure they arrived safely.

Enroll them in Self Defense Classes – A self defense class will teach kids how to physically defend themselves. But, even more than that, kids will gain self confidence as well as be taught other, important, life lessons. Additionally, self defense classes will keep kids busy and out of trouble.

Teach them How to Diffuse Tense Situations – Teaching kids interpersonal and conflict resolution skills can go a long way towards preventing problems from arising in the first place. You can enroll them in a formal class designed for kids or you can try role playing common situations they’ll run into at home. The goal is to teach kids how to handle tough situations before they get embroiled in them.

There are many aspects to an effective back to school safety program. For the most part, though, keeping the lines of communication open, monitoring their activities, and teaching them how to handle themselves will go a long way towards keeping your kids safe.

MicroInfoSource is a lifestyle blog that provides tidbits of useful information on a range of topics including marketing, home based business, holidays, fashion, home improvement, celebrities, product reviews, and much more.

While perusing my favorite store the other day I noticed that the store employees were putting up their displays of back to school supplies along with the back to school lists that detailed items that were required at school. Even though summer still has some life in it, the reality that the first day of school is just around the corner can’t be ignored.

Whether you are still recovering from the economic meltdown or just overspent on the family vacation, here are seven tips for saving money on back to school supplies for your kids.

Look for Coupons Online

The vast majority of manufacturers and retailers, both small and large, are hip to the internet and now offer coupons online. You can either visit the individual manufacturer’s or your favorite retailer’s website to find coupons for back to school supplies. You can also visit coupon aggregation sites, like RetailMeNot, to find user submitted coupons found on the internet.

Apply for Rebates/Cash Back

Along those same lines, take advantage of rebates or cash back opportunities. Usually you will find rebates in the store with their associated products. However, if you are internet savvy you can also find them online. If your credit card offers cash back on purchases, pay for the back to school supplies with your credit card and pay the bill off in full at the end of the month. Not taking advantage your credit card’s cash back feature is really like leaving money on the table.

Pool Money with Other Families and Buy in Bulk

Get together with people in your social network and buy back to school supplies in bulk. This is particularly useful if you have a membership to a warehouse store like Sam’s Club or Costco. These places specialize in selling bulk items, like paper and notebooks, at low prices. You can all pool your money together and divvy the spoils at the end of the shopping trip. If you can’t get out of the house, look for wholesalers online.

Search for Free Local Resources

Check around your local area for churches, local clubs and associations, public assistance offices, and even schools that have programs in place for families in need. In bigger cities, especially, many of these places will collect donations of free back to school supplies and distribute them. A few will give the family a voucher to purchase back to school supplies from a local retailer. If you don’t know where to start looking, ask the school administration for recommendations of places you could contact.

Shop at Discount and Second Hand Stores

Dollar stores and second hand shops are great places to get back to school supplies on the cheap. At most dollar stores, small items, like paper and folders, are usually a $1 or less while larger items, like backpacks, may cost $5 or $10 at the most. Second hand stores will be about the same. The only drawback is that the items will be very basic and plain but that’s nothing a few craft supplies can’t take care of.

Reuse What You Have

There is nothing in the rule book that says you must buy brand new back to school supplies every year. Unless the backpack is torn beyond repair or the notebook has been doodled to death, then reuse what you already have on hand. In addition to saving money, you’ll also be doing the environment a favor by reducing the amount of waste that finds its way to the landfills.

Ask Family and Friends for Unused Items

Chances are very good that friends and family members have items that their children are not using or don’t want. Give them a call and see if they are willing to your kids have them or sell them to you for extra cheap. Most people will only be too happy to get rid of stuff that is cluttering up their home and you’ll both be doing the environment a favor.

Bonus #8 Tip – Barter for Supplies

Back before money was invented people used to barter for goods and services. For example, someone would stroll over to the neighbor’s house and give them a bag of potatoes in exchange for a few heads of lettuce. In this time of frugality, you are bound to find someone willing to go into this type of arrangement with you especially if you have useful skills. You can offer to redesign your co-worker’s blog in exchange for a box of back to school supplies for your kids. Or provide free cleaning or laundering services for school clothes.

When it comes to saving money, look at all of the penny pinching opportunities that are available to you. The money you save now could be used to fund your dreams tomorrow.

Delish Shopping is an online shopping portal that aims to bring you the best deals found on the internet. From handbags and clothing to electronics and home decor, Delish Shopping has something for everyone.

But back to school shopping doesn’t have to be a burden. Even if you are working on a limited budget, you can still get your kids the supplies and clothes they need as long as you shop smart. Here are a few tips to help you stretch your dollars so you can get everything on your back to school shopping list.

Take Advantage of the Back to School Tax Free Shopping Weekend

There are about 19 states that give parents a break every year with a back to school tax free shopping weekend. This means on top of the sales that are already happening at many back to school shopping malls, you can save an additional 4-8% off your purchases because the state will not charge you sales tax.

If you live in or near the following states, contact the school district, chamber of commerce, or tax bureau to find out when your back to school tax free shopping weekend is:

Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington D.C., and West Virginia.

If you don’t have a back to school tax free shopping weekend in your area, contact your local government representatives about implementing one.

Do Back to School Shopping at Second Hand Stores

Luckily for parents today, retro is making a comeback. Okay, maybe it’s not but you can save a lot of money by doing your back to school shopping at second hand stores. Stores like the Salvation Army and others sell gently used clothing, shoes, and accessories at a fraction of retail store prices.

If your teen is into the fashionista scene, then look for a Plato’s Closet, or similar store, which sells second hand brand name gear on the cheap. An additional benefit of doing back to school shopping at Plato’s Closet is that if you have hip clothes that you want to get rid of, you can make extra cash by selling those pieces to them.

Spice Up Hand Me Downs

Parents with multiple children in varying age groups can keep the back to school shopping budget in line by shifting usable clothing from one generation to the next. Unless you have angels for kids you will probably get complaints. However, allowing kids to personalize their hand me down duds may help lessen the whining.

Fabric dye, iron on transfers, beads, and colorful fabric are just a few things you will find at a craft or hobby store that kids can use to make their hand me downs look like new. A five dollar box of dye is definitely a much better deal than a $50 pair of jeans. This also works with notebooks, backpacks, pencil boxes, and other things that can be used again with a little freshening up.

Do a Back to School Supply Exchange

A twist on the hand me down route is to connect with other families and do a clothing and supply exchange. Each family brings a box of clothing or back to school supplies that are not needed or used anymore to a central meeting place. Then let each child (or adult) go through and choose the things that they want. Kids will feel like they are doing a little back to school shopping and parents can give their checking accounts a break.

Do Your Back to School Shopping Online

This year, all the cool kids are saving money by doing their back to school shopping online. Internet stores generally have lower overhead costs than brick and mortar retail stores. This puts them in a good position to be able to offer deeper discounts on their products.

Even with that, though, you can maximize your savings by shopping smart. Look for opportunities to take advantage of free shipping and use a shopping search engine, like Bing Shopping or Google Product Search, to compare prices between vendors offering the same products.

Even though you may be low on funds this year, back to school shopping doesn’t have to break the bank. A little savvy shopping and a bit of salesmanship can help you get the most out of your limited back to school budget.

About the Author

Delish Shopping is an online shopping portal that aims to bring you the best deals found on the internet. From handbags and clothing to electronics and home decor, Delish Shopping has something for everyone.

Help your student ace their school work with this back to school HP laptop computer

Get Up to Date with Back to School Requirements

The most important of the back to school tips for parents is ensuring your child has everything they need to start school. This means making sure your child has back to school supplies and the correct school uniform required by your school district. It also means double checking that your child is current with their vaccinations.

Generally the vaccination requirement only applies to children going into preschool or kindergarten. However, with new communicable diseases going around, like H1N1, your school district may require all students to have special vaccinations to prevent the spread of disease. Call the administration to find out if there are any such back to school requirements in effect in your district.

Spend Time Addressing Back to School Fears

Whether they are going into the first grade or the twelfth grade, every child will have some anxiety about going back to school. Their worries can range from having to face unresolved issues from the previous school year to worry about making friends to preparing for college. The best back to school tips for parents that have anxious children is to talk to them about their fears.

It may take a little effort to get your child to talk but once you do, listen to what they have to say. As an adult, their concerns may seem silly or trivial to you but they are a very real worry for your kids. Reassure them that everything is going to work out. Endeavor to provide them with tools and advice that will help them negotiate the landmines they may run into on the first day of school.

Start the Back to School Routine Early

About a week or two before school actually starts, you will want to work on getting kids back into the school routine. This means putting school night curfews and bed times into effect, getting up and ready for the day at appointed times, and even serving meals at times the kids are likely to eat during a school day. Small children especially need time to get used to a new back to school eating schedule.

Prepare for the First Day of School the Night Before

To prevent chaos from reigning on the first day of school, spend time getting ready for it the night before. Have the kids pick out the outfits they want to wear, pack their backpacks, make their lunches, and even bathe the previous night. This ranks high among the back to school tips for parents with multiple children. This will help cut down the time spent looking for lost items as well as prevent arguments erupting over who gets to go into the bathroom next.

Invest in a Back to School Calendar

There will generally be quite a few school activities happening during the school year that your kids may want to take part in. Additionally, you may need to meet with school administrators every so often for updates on your kid’s progress. Keep track of important dates with a back to school calendar.

Depending on how organized the school district is, you may get a list of important dates at the beginning of each quarter. Other schools may only provide a few weeks’ notice. In either case, be sure to mark them down on a central calendar so you can make advance arrangements if need be.

Hopefully, these back to school tips for parents will help you start the school year off right. Remember, the more preparation you do in the beginning, the smoother things will go when the first day of school finally comes around.

About the Author

MicroInfoSource is a knowledge blog that provides tidbits of useful information on a range of topics including marketing, home based business, holidays, fashion, home improvement, celebrities, product reviews, and much more.