Back to School

As the summer winds down you’re counting down the days to freedom. Admit it — you can’t wait for your kids to go back to school.

Tuesday is the first day of school for many kids in the Missoula area.

There is no better motivation to get kids to show up for school quite like some good old fashion bribery, right? Well, the city of Detroit seems to think so.

Somehow another summer has flown by and the kiddos are headed back to school again. Sure, that means vacations are over, the house will be empty and days at the pool are numbered. But what it also means is that it’s time to shop for supplies.

Parents who admire their kids’ late-night study habits might be better off encouraging them to get some shut-eye instead — new research suggests well-rested students fare better academically.

Laying the groundwork for a successful future should be reason enough for children to go to school — but for some districts with poor attendance rates, they’ve had to sweeten the pot.

You may already know some lucky kids are being rewarded with things like shoes, iPads and even cars just for showing up to school. But if they don’t, is it fair to fine them — and their parents?

The two-and-a-half-month summer vacation that kids get was a mid-19th century compromise between rural school districts, which had children who needed to help out on the family farm, and urban districts, which often dealt with extreme heat in the summer.

The weather might be more ice cream trucks and long days at the pool, but the calendar is inching towards yellow buses and new backpacks. Every parent knows about back to school clothes and back-to-school supplies, but nowadays, back-to-school apps are just as important.

The new school year begins soon, and with that comes back-to-school shopping. And since many parents are feeling the crunch of the economic downturn, that means lots of them are talking to their kids about something they often haven’t before: money.

The Mindset List, which was conceptualized at Beloit College in 1998, is an annual list that has served for over a decade as a source of entertainment for millions of people interested in the reading through the youthful and naive eyes of first year college students.

Can you taste it? It’s in the air. Yes, parents it’s the taste of school in the air.