No more books
Do you still make fun of nerds who create Power Point presentations? You and your child will be one soon.
We parents who grew up pre-computers have a rude awakening in store when our kids get into middle school. Get ready to help your kid with their homework using a CD, instead of a textbook. Be prepared to help your child create a Power Point presentation as part of a class project. Help your kid with the software to produce a tri-fold pamphlet that could pass for a tourist brochure.
Get your kid's homework assignment online, at the district's homework website.
Don't say you'll leave all that to the kid. I expected my 7th-grader to know far more than I do about computer tricks and software by now, considering they start in daycare and are all walking around with cell phones and handheld video game systems with online capabilities.
However, I've since learned that kids don't get on the computer to tool around making tri-fold pamphlets. (And for the record, neither do I.)
My son doesn't even know what a BLOG is yet! (Whew!)
So, again, it's Parent Homework.
I have no idea how to make a PowerPoint presentation, nor does my son. But I can guarantee that in a few months, we'll both know the basics.
I found out this morning that Seminole Middle School doesn't have enough books for the kids to use at home. So parents were complaining that they couldn't figure out the math homework, with no book to refer to. Can you imagine how maddening>? What are you supposed to do, go to the library on Labor Day weekend and find a general mathematics book and do some research?
The principal's response was that they're "burning CDs'' for the kids to use at home, since they can't afford to buy enough books.
[Mind you the kids have books in the classroom, but they might teach three classrooms so there isn't one book for each student.]
I think this means you all will need a good computer and you better brush up on your skills downloading photos and scanning images and stuff.
I've said it a bunch -- when your kid is in school, so are you. This is what I've learned. I had no idea. My parents didn't help me once with anything. And if you can't do this stuff, your child's grade will suffer.
So now I have to get with the (PowerPoint) program.
Gretchen Day-Bryant has a son in high school and a daughter in middle school. She’s lived to tell about the struggles of juggling little kids and work.
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Brittany Wallman is the mother of Creed, 15, and Lily, 7, and is married to a journalist, Bob Norman. She covers Broward County government, which is filled with almost as much drama as the Norman household. Almost.
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