MAKING THE FIRST DAY EASIER

- Point out the positive aspects of starting school to create positive anticipation about the first day of class. They will see old friends and meet new ones. Talk with them about positive experiences they may have had in the past at school or with other groups of children.

- Consider starting your child on their school sleep/wake schedule a week or so ahead of time so that time change is not a factor on their first couple of days at school.

- Find another child in the neighborhood with whom your child can walk to school or ride on the bus.

- If it is a new school for your child, attend any available orientations and take an opportunity to tour the school before the first day. Bring the child to school a few days prior to class to play on the playground and get comfortable in the new environment.

- If you feel it is needed, drive your child (or walk with her) to school and pick her up on the first day, and get there early on the first day to cut down on unnecessary stress.

- Make sure to touch base with your child's new teacher at the beginning or end of the day so the teacher knows how much you want to be supportive of your child's school experience.

BACKPACK SAFETY

- Choose a backpack with wide, padded shoulder straps and a padded back.

- Pack light. Organize the backpack to use all of its compartments. Pack heavier items closest to the center of the back. The backpack should never weigh more than 10 to 20 percent of your child's body weight.  Go through the pack with your child weekly and remove unneeded items to keep it light.

- Remind your child to always use both shoulder straps. Slinging a backpack over one shoulder can strain muscles.

Read more tips: 
Back to School Tips

Sesame Street is offering support to and raising awareness of children living in foster care by introducing Karli, a Muppet who lives with her “for-now” parents, Dalia and Clem. Through the new character, Sesame Street producers also will offer a shout-out to foster parents. 

"Sometimes, even mommies and daddies need some help taking care of their children," Dalia says, explaining the role of foster parents to Elmo. "Karli’s mommy has been having a hard time, so we are her foster parents or her for-now-parents. We will keep her safe until her mommy can take care of her again.”

The new initiative is part of the show's Sesame Street in Communities program, which provides resources for parents, teachers and other caregivers on a range of topics, including difficult issues like foster care.

Read more about Karli:
Sesame Street Introduces Karli, a Muppet in Foster Care

Thanks to Governor John Carney, Rep. Minor-Brown, DE General Assembly, Wilmington City Council, advocates & supporters, HB 79 for healthy drinks in kids' meals was signed on July 17th! 

Decreasing sugar consumption is an important step toward creating a healthier Delaware. 

Read more about HB 79 here: 
https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail/47551

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leads you off the well worn path; and that will make all the difference.” —Steve Jobs, Stanford University Commencement Speech, 2005.

As we start a new fiscal year, I tried to write a message about the year ahead. Yet after writing what seemed to be a lackluster review of upcoming events, I reconsidered my continued desire to look back. As Steve Jobs poetically illustrates, our understanding of our past and it’s connections, lets us leap ahead to the future, even when we don’t quite know where we are going. We must have the faith to know our journey is the right one for us.

In last month’s message, I shared how Dr. Joe Vitale and Dr. Aguida Atkinson connected my dots to the AAP. But my story has many other dots too. I’ll share some of those connections and how they will help me lead our chapter to new and exciting places over the next year.

Read more from Dr. Lawler's message here:
Connect the Dots