Enforce Healthy Habits

You can’t perform well when you don’t feel good. To help your child have the best chance at doing well in school, make sure she follows healthy habits at home. Choose a bedtime that will give your child plenty of sleep, and provide a healthy breakfast each morning. Encourage exercise, and limit the amount of time she spends watching TV, playing video games, listening to music, or using the computer.

 

Master water safety

 

Water-related activities are popular for getting physical activity and have many health benefits. Here are some tips to stay safe while having fun.

• Learn how to prevent recreational water illnesses and help protect yourself and your kids.
• Help kids get H2O Smartz about water safety.

Drownings are the leading cause of injury death for young children ages 1 to 4, and three children die every day as a result of drowning.

• Always supervise children when in or around water. A responsible adult should constantly watch young children.
• Teach kids to swim. Formal swimming lessons can protect young children from drowning.
• Learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Your CPR skills could save someone’s life.
• Install a four-sided fence around home pools.

Recreational boating can be a wonderful way to spend time with family and friends. Make boating safety a priority.

• Wear a properly fitted life jacket every time you and your loved ones are on the water.

Beat the heat and sun

 

Heat-related illness happens when the body’s temperature control system is overloaded. Infants and children up to 4 years of age are at greatest risk. Even young and healthy people can get sick from the heat if they participate in strenuous physical activities during hot weather. For heat-related illness, the best defense is prevention.

• Never leave infants, children, or pets in a parked car, even if the windows are cracked open.
• Dress infants and children in loose, lightweight, light-colored clothing.
• Schedule outdoor activities carefully, for morning and evening hours.
• Stay cool with cool showers or baths.
• Seek medical care immediate if your child has symptoms of heat-related illness.

Just a few serious sunburns can increase you and your child's risk of skin cancer later in life. Their skin needs protection from the sun's harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays whenever they're outdoors.

• Cover up. Clothing that covers your and your child's skin helps protect against UV rays.
• Use sunscreen with at least SPF (sun protection factor) 15 and UVA (ultraviolet A) and UVB (ultraviolet B) protection every time you and your child go outside.

Career Options

Oakwood Academy is a great place to work, offering many career options. If you are interested in becoming part of our talented team, please complete and submit the form below. We will retain your information for six months, and we will contact you with information on available positions.

Minimize First Day Jitters

The start of the school year is an exciting and sometimes scary time for children. Not knowing what to expect that first day often leads to nervous stomachs and sleepless nights before the first day of school. Advance preparation can help relieve some of your child’s anxiety.

• If possible, visit the school before the first day of school, either at a scheduled event or by appointment. Even if your child is a return student, it’s been a whole summer since he’s walked the halls, and a little refresher doesn’t hurt.
• Talk about your child’s fears and expectations in the weeks before school starts. Recount some of your memories as a child. While it’s best to focus on the positive, a funny story or two about your past struggles could help put things in perspective too.
• The week before school starts, work on getting back into a routine. Set your child’s alarm each morning, and have him get up and go through the school-morning rituals. This will help reset his body clock and get him ready to get moving in the morning.
• Check out the school supply list, and make sure your child is prepared.
• If you did not receive a school supply list ahead of time, ensure your child has pencils, a two-pocket folder, and a small spiral notebook for the first day of school. He’s sure to bring home a list of supplies after the first day.
• Get everything ready the night before. Prepare your child’s lunch, set out backpacks and outfits, and decide what will be on the breakfast menu. Then, send your child to bed early. He’s sure to have trouble falling asleep, so some extra quiet time may help settle his nerves.
• Get your child up a little early that first day to alleviate some of the stress of rushing through the morning routine. Leave the television off to ensure your child keeps moving.
• After school, talk to your child. Kids are notorious for one-word answers, so ask open-ended questions that require a longer response. “Tell me what you did today.” “What is your teacher like?” and “What was the best part of your day?” are some great starters.

We hope your child is looking forward to his return to school. Some advance preparation is sure to help! Most of all, send him to school rested, prepared, and ready to tackle the year ahead.

Keep Your Kids Reading

Reading. It’s one of the simplest—and cheapest—forms of entertainment for you and your child. And with summer here to stay for a while, it’s also a great way to stay cool—curled up on the couch with a good book. Reading is also a great way to keep your kids tuned into learning during their long vacation. Here are some tips to keep your child’s reading skills on track while she is out of school:

• Set a timer and have your child read at least 30 minutes a day, in addition to any bedtime reading. If your child isn’t quite reading independently, have her look at the pictures and just peruse the books. Better yet, read to her.
• If she’s a reluctant reader, visit your local library. Most offer summer reading programs with incentives for minutes or books read.
• Find appropriate books. Your child needs books at her reading level so she can be successful. Scholastic offers a list of great summer books, divided by grade level, along with tips to determine if the book is age-appropriate. Family Education also has book lists by age group and genre.
• Talk about books. Let your child see that you are a reader too, and talk about some of your favorite books. Ask her questions about what she is reading and encourage discussion.
• Relax and have fun! Just like you, kids need a break sometimes. Encourage reading, but don’t make it a chore. If 30 minutes a day is an expectation, stick with it, but allow your child time to rest, play, or just goof around!

Enrichment

 

Here at Oakwood Academy Schools, we truly believe in educating the whole child. Challenging curriculum is important, but so are hands-on activities, field trips, art, and music. Not every child has the same learning style, and offering many different ways for children to engage in learning and express themselves is the best way to ensure student success. Take a look at the pages below to see all we offer.

• Activities
• Field Trips
• Summer Programs

Pedestrian Safety

• Teach children to walk, not run, across the street.
• Children should cross only with an adult or an older, responsible child.
• Whenever crossing the street, try to make eye contact with any drivers nearby, to be sure they see you.
• Teach children to avoid running out from between parked cars.
• Use sidewalks whenever possible.
• Always hold your child’s hand near any moving or parked vehicles.
• Adults always need to set a good example!

News

So much is happening at Oakwood Academy Schools! One of our goals is to help keep you informed of all the changes and positive activities taking place on our four campus locations. We’ll be updating this page frequently with the latest news and events, always keeping you “in the know.”

 

Helmet Safety

 

• An appropriate helmet must be worn whenever a child is “on wheels.” This means bicycles, scooters, skates, roller blades, skateboards and more!
• The helmet must fit properly.
• Helmets can be life saving and can protect a child from serious injury.
• Be sure the right type of helmet is being used. For example, a bike helmet needs to be used for biking.
• Moms and dads should wear helmets as well.