Ten Back To School Ideas for Grandparents

Thank you for sharing...

We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post, which is at no additional cost to you. :)

School is starting for some of our grandkids and has already started for others. For those of us babysitting grandchildren often, we may also be involved in helping with different aspects of their education – from tutoring after traditional classes to being involved in homeschooling projects. It can be a big help for our families and great brain exercise for all of us. And it can even be downright fun to learn new things along with the grandkids!

Some of the ways I proactively work at helping with my grandkids homework are:

1. I find out if they have a list of books they have to read and include those in our reading times together. I've even been able to do this with my long distance grandkids – either reading to them over the phone, or even more fun -during FaceTime with an iPhone or iPad. Then you can even show them the pictures. One caveat on that – if the book doesn't hold their attention well, they are more likely to get bored via phone or FaceTime then when we are cuddling together so you may need to read in shorter spurts over the phone.
2. As my schedule permits, my kids know I am available to be a backup volunteer for field trips.when their parents can't make it. This was especially helpful when little brothers and sisters were about to pop out any day as well as when work scheduled kept parents from being able to help.
3. I made "homework help times" a regular part of  my grandkid time from the beginning. I've found that as they grow older, they are used to that and it's easier to work with them when the homework gets tougher. The hard part is when their homework gets tougher than granny nanny can handle. 🙂
4. I always watch the "back to school" sales (going on RIGHT NOW) and stock up so that I have plenty of school supplies like pencils, pens, markers, glue, paper, etc. on hand for homework AND for times they spend the night before going to school the next day. Makes for much less stress during the visit – especially last minute visits.
5. I keep locker, class schedule, and other pertinent information in a file in Evernote. That way, if an unexpected need arises for me to pick up a grandchlld or drop off items or pick up schoolbooks on a sick day, I am much better prepared. I also keep any calendars there so I don't miss important dates like Grandparents Day at the school. (Now if I could just add a jet planet to Evernote so I could attend the long distance grandparents day festivities…)
6. I keep my iPhone loaded with the best educational iPhone apps I can find like Hangmath for the younger grandchildren and a cool graphing calculator for the teen dealing with algebra. It may be a bit above my head (I was NEVER great at math) but that calculater should be a big help. 
7. For that matter, I also have some helpful resource books in my Kindle for English grammar and math, along with a good dictionary and thesaurus. It can definitely pay to be prepared even when you are not at home.
8. Also, any time the grandkids have any kind of CD with info that they need to memorize, I add it to my iPod and play it regularly in my car to help them with their memory work.
9. I love setting a positive example for my grandkids. They cheered my on when I earned my AA a few years ago. Now they see me studying a textbook for a nursing assistant class that is proving to be a wealth of information for caring for aging parents not to mention a big help for general colds and bugs, as well as any special needs that may arise in any of our families.. And when they complain about hard homework and tests, I can truly empathize yet point out if this here aging grandma can do it, their young brain cells certainly can too. 🙂 
10. As with most, if not all. grandparents out there, I'm a mega cheerleader for all my grandkids – sharing with them practical reasons for learning the various subjects at school and encouraging them to keep working hard and learning lots and cheering at all they do and accomplish. 

Well, those are some of the ways I get involved with helping the grandkids during the school year. Got more ideas? We'd love to hear them. And to all of us grandparents, in AND out of the Sandwich Generation – HAPPY SCHOOL DAYS!