Author Archives: illinoispta

10 School Planning Tips for a Child with Food Allergies

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If your child has food allergies, it is important to form a partnership with your child’s school to support them. Kids with Food Allergies (KFA), a division of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, has ten tips to help parents prepare for the school year with their child with food allergies.

  1. Communicate with the school.
  2. Visit your child’s doctor before school starts to get needed forms and supplies.
  3. Meet with the school nurse or school representative before school starts about policies and procedures.
  4. Meet with the school/district food services director to learn about meals, policies, and needed forms.
  5. Turn in all completed and signed forms and prescriptions before the first day of school.
  6. Make an appointment to meet with your child’s teacher to discuss classroom management of food allergies.
  7. Teach and encourage your child to build age-appropriate skills to manage food allergies.
  8. Make sure your child has other items they may need to store at school.
  9. Work together to form a partnership with your child’s school
  10. VisitKFA’s School Planning Zonefor additional information on managing food allergies at school.

Read the full article for additional informationon the tips above to ensure your child has a safe and successful year at school. The article also has a free printable and sharable PDF guide with these ten tips.

A Parent’s Guide to Dealing with Fortnite

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If you have a video gamer in your house, chances are you’ve heard of Fortnite, the game that is dominating the gaming world with its recent Season 5 release and even showing up in major league baseball outfield celebrations. Even when they’re not playing it, kids are often talking about it with their friends, watching YouTube videos of the game, or watching live streams of the game on Twitch. If you’ve got a Fortnite fanatic in your house and aren’t sure what it’s all about, the Child Mind Institute has a Parent’s Guide to Dealing with Fortnite to help you out.

The article covers several aspects of Fortnite, including:

  • What the game is
  • Why the game is so compelling to players
  • The social draw of Fortnite
  • Determining how much is too much
  • Fortnite and behavior issues
  • Enforcing limits

Check out the full article to help you have a productive conversation with the Fortnite player in your house about how to play the game responsibly.

Graphic © 2018 by BagoGames under Creative Commons license.

 

Teaching Your Child How to Use 911

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As parents, we’re constantly on the lookout for our children’s health and safety. But what if something should happen to you or happen when you are not around. Do your children know how and when to use 911? An article from Kids Health, available in both Englishand Spanish, walks you through the process.

The article covers four critical areas:

  • How to talk to your kids about 911 in an age-appropriate way.
  • When to call 911, including when notto call.
  • What to say when you call 911.
  • Additional safety tips.

The article also features an emergency contact sheetthat you can fill out with information your kids can use should they have to call 911 or that may help first responders (e.g., an emergency contact). This sheet can also come in handy for a babysitter as well. Be sure to read the full article, and then talk with your children to make sure they are prepared.

Photo © 2011 by Pranav Bhattunder Creative Commons license.

 

News from National Convention—Membership

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Membership is at the heart of PTA, so it’s not surprising that membership was the focus of several workshops and one big announcement at the 2018 National PTA Convention in New Orleans. The announcement? Every PTA leader who registers or logs in to the Local PTA Leader Kit(formerly the Back-to-School Kit) will receive a new DIY Kit for Membership Growth by mail while supplies last.

The kit contains everything local PTA leaders need to develop a Do-It-Yourself membership plan. Included in the kit are promotional posters, customizable membership resources, and a Design Your PTA/PTSA Membership P.L.A.N. booklet. PLAN stands for:

  • Pictureways to reach and attract possible PTA/PTSA members.
  • Listento what matters most to them and align your PTA’s efforts.
  • Askpossible members to join PTA by sharing PTA’s focus on what matters most to them.
  • Nurturerelationships year-round by communicating the impact your PTA/PTSA is making for your students, school, and community.

The guidebook walks you through each of the steps with examples, questions to consider, and brainstorming prompts for you and your fellow PTA leaders to develop a membership plan tailored to your PTA, your school, and your community. The guidebook is printed in both English and Spanish. Get yours today!

Workshops

The new DIY Kit for Membership Growth was a big focus of most of the membership workshops at the 2018 National PTA Convention. The other workshop focused on attracting more parents, students, and educators to PTA in middle and high schools. The latter featured Illinois PTA’s South Suburban Cook Region Director Darvel Stinson as one of the panelists.

Among the ideas floated at the workshop were events that would attract students such as a car care night (learn how to check and change your oil, change a tire, etc.) or a sexual violence awareness event. Consider partnering with business classes at your high school to handle running and marketing PTA Reflections at the school. If your PTA offers grants to teachers, require teachers applying for a grant to be PTA members, and offer extra consideration points for teachers who have attended PTA meetings or based on the number of PTA parent and student members in their homerooms. For teachers without a homeroom class, offer extra consideration points for their doing a project with the PTA that engages families.

The workshop also provided a handout with links to the following resources: