October 20, 2022

I have always wondered why the doctor did not send an instruction manual for each of my kids home with me from the hospital. I really wish they had, as there are occasions nearly every day that I want to look up how to handle—whether to take them to the hospital or just give them a hug if they aren’t feeling well, how to best entice each of them to study their multiplication tables and do their chores, how to help them when they are struggling with friends.

Though I still haven’t found the magic wand to give me specific answers for individual kids, there are resources available to help with some of our parenting quandaries.

Tutoring: Do you struggle with helping your student do their homework? Sometimes their homework looks different from what I remember learning in school. Sometimes I just am not the most patient person to help my kids do their homework and I want to find a tutor for them. The state department of education has recently launched a new, Free Online Tutoring Program called Dakota Dreams. If you are interested in signing your student up for online tutoring in English/Language Arts, Math, Science, or Social Studies, check out the Dakota Dreams website.

Parenting: I think we can all agree that parenting is hard. If you have questions about parenting, what to expect as your child forms their identity at different ages and stages, how to help our kids through hard things like frustration, check out the ParentGuidance.org website. I love that there are FAQs and courses already available, and you can even ask questions if you need to. It is free, it is private, and you can access it from your phone or home computer.

Digital Media: Our devices are such a double-edged sword. They are a great source of information and entertainment, but they are also addicting. There are weirdos and creepers out there who take advantage of and extort our kids. If you would like more information about how to protect your own children while they are on-line and what to do if some strange person is talking to them or taking advantage of them, please join us next Wednesday, October 26, at 5:30 for supper and a discussion. Brett Garland will be here from the South Dakota Department of Safety to share with us some tips on protecting our kids while they are on-line. He is also going to share about a new platform, Safe2Say South Dakota, “a statewide tip line that allows South Dakota Students, school staff, and community members to safely and anonymously report sensitive information that concerns their safety, or the safety of others, including mental health concerns.”