You’ve got the school supplies, the new backpack and lunchbox, and maybe even a new pair of shoes for your kiddo this year. But lost in the midst of checklists, orientations, open houses is something that we at Birdhouse routinely ask ourselves, “what tools can we use to make this school year as successful as possible?” We know we aren’t alone in this, and in fact, that was one of the huge motivations behind building Birdhouse to begin with.
So as you gear up for that first day, here are 3 ways to use Birdhouse this school year that are sure to help make the year as successful as possible.
Use Birdhouse To Improve Parent-Teacher Communication
Often times, teachers use a binder for each student, and send the day’s notes home to their families. In the morning, you fill out the back side of those notes with what your child ate for breakfast, if he got his meds, how he slept, etc. Sound familiar?
Does the binder make it home every night? Do pages ever go missing? What if you wanted to look back at last year’s notes— do you still have those?
Try inviting your child’s teacher in to your Birdhouse. You may find that you no longer have to rely on those notes back and forth, and since you can do it all from your phone, you’ll never have to worry about where that binder went. (Hint: it’s easier for teachers, too. And just think of all the trees we could save!)
Track Meltdowns To Determine Which Days Are Toughest
Perhaps some days he gets off the bus and is happy as can be, but other days he walks in the door and completely melts down. We’ve all been there. And we all wonder “why?”
By using the Meltdown feature and logging each day he comes home and has a rough time, you’ll start to paint a picture of which days are more difficult than others and then you can work with his teacher to discover any differences about those days than his more successful days. Just the same, you can use Mood to log days he comes home happy, and discover what sets those days apart from the rougher ones.
*do you notice that this happens every Friday, perhaps?
Stay Consistent With Medications And Supplements
Every parent has wondered, “did I give her her medication (or supplements) this morning?” It can get even hairier if she doesn’t have just one medication or supplement each morning, but if she has 4 or 5. And when a second parent gets thrown into the mix, sometimes assumptions get made, double dosing occurs, or something doesn’t get administered at all.
Taking a minute to add your child’s daily or weekly meds and supps to Birdhouse, and to give them recurring schedules, can save you loads of time and confusion in the future. Each day an item is to be given, it pops up on your child’s Activity feed at the exact time she needs it, and you can either swipe it complete on mobile or click it complete on the web.
And of course, when you do it once, from any device, it updates across everyone else’s Birdhouse almost instantly, with your name attached to it, so everyone stays on the same page and knows what’s going on.
These are just 3 ways to use Birdhouse during the school year to make it successful, but there are countless other ways as well. We’d love to hear how *you’ll* be using Birdhouse this school year, so let us know!
-Ben