Terracycle takes those millions of juice pouches and upcycles them into backpacks, pencil boxes, folders, and other school organizational items. Stuff like this is all over Etsy. Get creative!

School supplies have been on display in local stores for weeks now. It gets earlier every year. Pretty soon, the schools will start posting their supply lists with all the items that make sense. But that list isn’t complete. Here are some things you might want to pick up that your child will be glad to have when the time comes.

Laminating sheets

For the older kids, laminate things that they need to keep in good condition. Schedules and important phone numbers fall into this category. It can also give certain projects a more professional look. For the younger kids, laminate their best art work throughout the year.

Fancy sketchbook

You don’t have to be an artist to find sketching and doodling relaxing. Investing in a good one gives the book a better chance at survival. Who knows? You might spark a serious artist.

Fancy journal

Self-reflection is a big 21st century skill. There are plenty of online journaling options, but nothing beats having the ability to sit down with a pen and jot down your thoughts. Again, investing in a good one is an investment in survival.

Lap desk

Where is all this drawing and writing supposed to happen? Teachers are starting to use a more free-form design in their classrooms. It spurs collaboration and creativity. A lap desk gives your child the opportunity to work anywhere, including the floor.

App store gift card

School means using a lot of devices and a lot of different apps. Most tools a school uses are either free or through their subscription, but that’s not always the case. Other times, your child will want to use something specialized for a project. Buying a gift card now and setting it aside for these purchases is a great way to budget.

Multi-port charger cable

By now, your child is carrying around chargers and cables for their primary device. But what if they want to charge the school’s digital camera or a strange laptop? This adapter cable goes from USB to either Lightning (newer iDevices), 30-pin (older iDevices), as well as mini and micro USB (most Android phones and other small electronics).

Cool organizational stuff

Boring folders are 1,000 for 99 cents. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make your child stand out. For example, Terracycle takes those millions of juice pouches and upcycles them into backpacks, pencil boxes, folders, and other school organizational items. Stuff like this is all over Etsy. Get creative!

By far, the best tool for online safety is a vigilant parent.

Schools and districts have a substantial budget to spend on their online safety apparatus, with more money being spent with every connected classroom. Parents don’t often have the same luxury, but there are ways to secure your child’s activity on the Internet without breaking the bank, using some of the same approaches that you would find in a school.

Secure networks

Most security in a district is handled at the network level, using filters and routers designed to block kids from inappropriate sites. The benefits of that method are that you don’t have to worry about individual devices; everything is covered. You can use the same approach at home.

Secure routers are expensive (for the record, Clean Router is very well reviewed), but there are some DNS filters worth consideration. The first step, though, would be to check the router you are currently using. Some have very robust settings on the back-end that could really help with objectionable content. If you don’t know how to access administrator privileges on yours, ask your cable company.

There are also products like OpenDNS, which comes in both free and paid ($20/year) versions. It basically sits between your router and the Internet like a bouncer, only letting appropriate content through while logging what is happening so you can check it out later.

Secure devices

There are many, many products out there for securing individual devices. Again, this works great if your child is only using one device. But that’s just not realistic anymore for many homes.

The first step is to get familiar with the parental controls on each device. Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc. have all beefed up their security settings in this regard. Watch a few YouTube videos for your particular operating system and you’ll learn things that will go a long way toward safety.

If you do want to use an app, Mobicip is one of the most popular among schools and districts. The apps themselves are pretty cheap and the company offers various levels of service depending on what you think you need.

You

By far, the best tool for online safety is a vigilant parent. Simply have an open dialog with your child about what is appropriate online and what isn’t, things to watch out for, and what each of you (yes, it’s a two-way street) are finding on the Internet. And this tool is absolutely free.

Meditation apps are ubiquitous on the various app stores, but few are developed with students in mind.

We often think about technology as only being able to help kids with their academic skills. But the conative skills—like memory, resilience, interpersonal communication, and organization—are just as indicative of future success.

Luckily, smart programmers and developers have been working on resources for that section of mental growth as well. This area of education technology has more subscription-based services, but they also offer trials.

1. The Social Express Pro

Think of this as “Choose Your Own Adventure”, but the adventure is navigating the sometimes confusing world of growing up. The child guides a character through various tricky social situations, learning the right approach as they go along.

1. ePals

Group projects and games help kids from around the world communicate, solve problems, and think creatively together. This would be particularly valuable for kids who don’t have much experience with other cultures.

1. Geoguessr

Along a similar line, this site shows the player a random picture from Google Street View of places all around the world. It’s their job to guess where the picture was taken by placing a pin in the location.

1. Oregon Trail (app)

Bet you didn’t think the Oregon Trail was still around. Bet you also didn’t realize that the game was teaching us executive function and decision-making skills all along. This app is slicker, but still the same concept as the one we played on old Apple II’s.

1. Mood Meter (app)

This app helps kids track their moods and give explanations for what is causing a certain way of thinking at the time. Developed originally for students with behavioral problems, it’s turning out to be useful for any child who needs to understand why they think what they think.

1. Smiling Mind (app)

Meditation apps are ubiquitous on the various app stores, but few are developed with students in mind. This can be a great way for your child to calm down, relax, and think inwardly rather than about whatever stress is currently happening.

Technology can’t engender these kinds of traits by itself, but the summer is a great time for students to start thinking about their conative processes before the real stress begins.

Summer is a great time to strengthen your child’s skills and fight off the summer learning loss.

New educational technology resources come online every day. You might think that these resources are only for teachers, but in some cases they can be really helpful for at-home learning. Summer is a great time to strengthen your child’s skills and fight off the summer learning loss. Here are some resources… and they’re completely free!

TenMarks

TenMarks, recently acquired by Amazon, offers free standards-aligned math lessons and activities under their Summer Learning Program.

DIY.org

Bring the maker movement home with this website full of kids sharing do-it-yourself creation ideas, everything from circuitry to cooking.

New York Times Learning Network

The Times has organized activities built around current events. Non-fiction reading is big in the next generation standards.

Lawrence Hall of Science

Science games and activities that also serve as a virtual field trip to the renowned science center.

National WWII Museum

For the older kids, World War II will play a big part in upcoming AP History classes. The museum has put together a great collection of resources for in-depth study.

Duolingo (app)

Duolingo is a free foreign language-learning app that moves at the student’s own pace. The list of languages is extensive and the lessons are engaging.

DigitalCompass.org

DigitalCompass is a brand new website and app that features a choose-your-own-adventure story built to give students some lessons in digital citizenship and online decision making.

Code.org

Perhaps the most comprehensive coding resource, where games help form a foundation that can translate easily to accepted code languages and more advanced engineering.

MIT App Inventor

Along the same lines, MIT has created this site to help students build their own mobile apps. All they need is the idea.

Youth Voices

An online community of student writing. Perhaps your child will get inspired enough to contribute their own work.