The best deals for back to school supplies? When does school start? How might the rise of artificial intelligence impact my student?
NBC10 is planning to answer these questions and more this week as we take a look at all the preparations needed as students in Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania suburbs, New Jersey and Delaware prepare to head back to school.
For Monday, NBC10's Matt DeLucia sat down with Dr. Rob Danoff, a physician with Jefferson Health, to learn some ways to make sure your child is healthy for the upcoming school year.
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And, according to Danoff, one of the most important places to start, as students get ready to head back to school, is making sure kids are getting enough sleep.
"Get them back into the sleeping habits," Danoff told NBC10. "Try to get them to bed earlier and wake up earlier so it’s not a shock when they go to school."
Danoff also noted that kids need to be up to date on their vaccines and have had regular physicals as well.
Health
Also, he said kids need to make sure they have recently visited a dentist and have had their eyes examined, in order to be at their best for school.
But, also, before sending the kids off to school, Danoff told NBC10 that parents need to make sure their kids' backpacks aren't overloaded or too heavy to carry easily, as children can develop back problems from being over encumbered by a stuffed backpack.
"A lot of times I’ll see kids pack backpacks like they're going away for a month on vacation. So, you want wide straps and the bags should contain no more than 10 to 20 percent of child’s body weight," he said.
As for the start of school, that all depends on where your child goes. Some districts in the Philadelphia suburbs already welcomed back students this week, while others like the School District of Philadelphia won't start until the traditional start time after Labor Day. Private schools can opt to start on their own timetable.
On Tuesday, NBC10’s Brenna Weick provided details about the stresses facing a child as they head back to the classroom and signs to look for if your child is struggling.
She featured Dr. Ryan Connolly, senior medical director for Independence Blue Cross, who said that the next generation of kids have a number of stresses that parents need to be aware of.
"Over the past several years we've seen diagnoses go up quite a lot in young people," he said.
He noted that parents need to "be on the lookout" for changes in their kids.
"The real important thing is that if there's a kid you know well, they aren't acting like themselves. It's probably time to have a talk about how they are doing and check in with their mental health," said Connolly.
For Wednesday, NBC10's Lucy Bustamante shared a look at an innovative partnership between the Main Line Chinese Cultural Center and Gentle Swing Preschool in Wayne that provides a full language immersion option for families interested in Mandarin Chinese.
The program gives children aged three to five a full immersion into the Mandarin Chinese language to help children learn not only during lessons, but during play, as well.
"It's going to be very good for my daughter," said Vamsi Vummadi, whose daughter is enrolled in the program. "I'm excited she's going to learn a new language, a new culture."
For Thursday, NBC10's Randy Gyllenhaal has a look at how artificial intelligence is impacting the education system.
"I don't think we can just hide from it, so, we are talking about it," said Philadelphia School District superintendent Tony Watlington.
Watlington said that, this year, the district will be studying how artificial intelligence, like ChatGPT, could help -- or hinder -- students' educations. Last year, schools limited access to that program.
"We don't want kids having access to software that writes papers and things like that for them because we want to do some rigorous teaching and learning," said Watlington.
Still, there could be ways A.I. could be used in a classroom and schools are working to find a balance.
Look forward to more stories to help you get your loved ones ready to head back to school all week long on NBC10.
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