As your preschooler finishes their time in kindergarten and ventures off to ‘big school,’ there is bound be apprehension for any young child. Their new adventure will at the very least bring at least a bit of apprehension when starting all over again in a new environment with new faces, places, and activities.

The moment can also be met with a mixture of emotions for both you and your child. While there’s no need to buy their elementary graduation cap and gown sets just yet, there may still be a touch of sadness at how fast they are growing up. Some may embrace this new step with a sense of eagerness and enthusiasm, others, however, may feel overwhelmed at the prospect.

To make their first days easier, we have outlined some helpful tips to ease the anxiety and ensure the transition from kindergarten to elementary school is as smooth and as seamless as possible for your little one.

Engage Practically With Your Child

Take some time to sit with your child, allowing them to express their thoughts and feelings about starting school. In addition to talking together, you can engage your child in this process through imaginative activities such as storytelling where they describe their first day at school or act it out with the help of some toys.

This can help your child to unburden any worries or concerns they may have and allow you to address these beforehand. By continuing to communicate in this way as your child begins school, you can offer them the reassurance and support they may need to get over any initial nerves and settle into their new routine.

Practice Makes Perfect

While kindergarten is often only for a few hours a week, starting elementary school will likely be the beginning of a new, and longer schedule. This can be difficult for any child to adapt to, so it is helpful to ease them into this.

Encourage them to wake up and dress themselves in time, by gradually shifting their bedtimes and wake-up times over the summer to align with the school schedule. You can also help them adjust to a more structured school environment by practicing scheduled activities at home such as an allocated play time, reading time, meal time, and quiet time.

It is also beneficial to familiarize your child with their daily journey to and from school by practicing the school run together. Whether this is by car or by foot, doing so can help them become comfortable with their routine and make their school run a more positive and enjoyable experience.

Create Excitement

Help your young one get excited about their big day by drawing their attention to the positive aspects such as learning new things,  taking part in different activities, and making new friends. You can also share happy stories about your own experiences at elementary school and encourage any younger siblings to join in and do the same.

Whether it’s a brand new lunch box, pencil case or backpack, shopping for school supplies together can also generate excitement in your child as they look forward to putting these things to good use.

By following these suggestions, you can help your child feel ready and relaxed as they take their first steps into elementary school.

Many parents wish they could keep their kids away from every harmful person, thing or event to guarantee their safety. However, in the digital space, there’s limited control over what they may encounter. It doesn’t help that stalkers and bullies are lurking around the web and your child could be a potential victim.

However, there are several ways for people to be careful. Take the initiative to protect your kids from cyberstalking and online harassment when they surf online.

1. Install Protection Software

Most stalkers online will try to launch cyberattacks and access your device. Prevent this from happening by installing antivirus software on your computers. Getting parental protection apps for your kid’s mobile phones and tablets is also ideal.

These digital programs protect your devices from tracking software, which could reveal your and your child’s location. Update them regularly along with the operating system to ensure they’re effective.

2. Create and Set Account Privacy

Anyone can create a social media account. About 81% of U.S. adults favor platforms requiring parental consent for minors who want an account, so stick to those sites.

Remember that all accounts are initially public to almost every user on a social network. Be sure to configure your child’s privacy level. That way, they can only view and interact with people within their space.

3. Educate Your Kids

Talk to your kids about dangers they may encounter online. They’re more likely to abide by your rules when you inform them why they should follow them. Share a few details about how cyberstalking and online harassment can endanger their safety.

You can also give them the following tips:

• Don’t accept requests from strangers: Strangers can still send follow or friend requests to private accounts. Tell your kids to ignore these messages or to notify you about them. 

• Don’t post personal information: It’s vital not to share personal details with people you don’t know online. Discourage your children from posting anything that includes their name and address. 

• Don’t connect to public networks: When your kid goes to the mall or heads to school, they may connect to the public Wi-Fi. Unfortunately, your child’s data is more vulnerable to attacks when they’re on these networks. 

• Don’t add location tags: Location tags help viewers know where a person has been. Cyberstalkers can use them to narrow down your child’s location. Disable these or tell your kid to avoid making posts with these tags.

4. Capture Evidence

Stalkers and harassers may send nasty comments and messages to your kid’s account. If this is the case, avoid interacting. Instead, capture the evidence by recording and taking screenshots. Let your child focus on something else as you do this.

Screenshots can help law enforcement learn more about your experience. Police can also use them to start an investigation and bring the person to justice. File a report and keep a record of cyberstalking incidents for the authorities.

5. Block the Bad

After gathering evidence, delete the messages and block people to remove them from your kid’s account. These users typically appear in a block list on the account settings. You can hide the feature from your kids or discuss it with them.

Parents could explain these incidents to their kids. Enlighten them about why you took those measures. Plus, you can encourage them to do the same and block bad people in the future.

6. Change Account Details

Some stalkers and harassers can go as far as messaging the email address of an account holder, especially after getting blocked. Make it a point to change your address or hide it from your kid’s online profile.

You can also ask your kids to change their screen names and passwords regularly or do it together. Strengthen security when logging using account authentication methods.  Keeping anonymity can make it harder for people to find your account and harass them. It can prevent hacking and accessibility, too.

7. Limit Internet Use

Parents should monitor and lessen internet use. Kids should not be using social media at a young age. Aside from being the target of stalking and harassment, being on these sites too early and for too long isn’t good. It can have adverse effects on their mental well-being.

Discuss this with your children and set limits on what they can and can’t access on the internet. A 2022 survey finds that 16% of U.S. parents believe 16 is the appropriate age for kids to use social media. You can also set restrictions for other sites.

Keep Your Kids Safe Online

The internet can be a wonderful place full of knowledge and entertainment. However, it can also be dangerous territory for young minds. Online stalkers and harassers are always present. Take the appropriate actions to keep your kids safe when using social media.

Navigating your kids’ screen time can be a struggle. Luckily, there are small strategies you can implement daily to enforce limited time on their phones.

Author bio:  Cora Gold is the Editor-in-Chief of women’s lifestyle magazine, Revivalist. She strives to live a happy and healthy life with her family by her side.
Follow Cora on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Many apps use location to work properly, from mapping and rideshare to food delivery and weather apps. These apps rely on the user’s location to offer a satisfying user experience and function. Android and iOS have built-in security features that let you know when an app requests to use location.

Some apps, such as Google Maps, also use location in the background to run their services, which utilizes user location to provide traffic data.

With all these features and countless apps using GPS, it’s normal to wonder if apps can track your location. In this article, we’ll give an answer to this question and help you find out if an app is using your location, as well as how to prevent apps you don’t want from using such features on your phone.

Is It Possible for an App to Track Location?

Yes. Apps can track location through geolocation services on your phone. However, you’ll need to allow the app to use location services on your phone. Unless you give the app the green light (typically when you use the app for the first time), your phone won’t let the app use the location.

Although it’s unlikely for an app to use location services to track where you are specifically, it can happen. If you received a suspicious text message about your location after downloading an app, a reverse phone number lookup can reveal the sender’s true identity.

How Do Apps Use Location?

If an app requires location to work appropriately, you’ll be prompted with a notification as to whether or not to allow the app to use location. This prompt typically appears when the app tries to use geolocation services for the first time and saves your preference afterward.

You’ll typically have two options when allowing an app to use location services. You can permit the app to use location all the time or only when the app is in use. The first option gives the app access to your location even when the app isn’t in use. The second means the app can only use the location when it’s on.

Depending on what services the app offers, you may need to update these preferences. For example, a messaging app providing your live location to another user relies on geolocation services continuously to provide precise location when your phone is locked.

How to Check If an App Is Tracking Your Location?

Checking whether an app is using your phone’s location features is the easiest way to know if an app is tracking your location. Below, you’ll find how to check this on Apple and Android devices.

iOS

1. Go to Settings.
2. Tap Privacy & Security.
3. Select Location Services and select the app you want to check.

Once you select the app you want to check, you’ll know if the app has permission to use location services. If you’d like the app not to use your location, you can do it by selecting Never in the settings.

If you don’t want any app to use location services on your iPhone, you can also turn off location services altogether in the Privacy & Security settings.

Android

The exact steps to check if an app is tracking your location on Android vary due to phone brands using different variations of the operating system.

Generally, you’ll need to go to Settings > Apps & Notifications > select the app you want to check > Permissions > Location.

Following the above, you’ll see which apps are using location and update your preferences. Additionally, you can turn off location using the Quick Settings menu by swiping down from the top of the screen. Simply bring up this menu and tap the location icon to turn off location services for all apps.

Staying Safe While Using Devices With GPS

Most apps rely on-location services to offer a better user experience. The apps downloaded from an official store are unlikely to use your location for something malicious.

However, the same can’t be said for apps downloaded from the internet. Fraudsters and hackers deliberately offer free versions of apps and run different types of schemes in the background to steal your data.

Installing these apps can put you at risk for more than just revealing your current location. It can go as far as stealing your identity and credit card information. Only download apps from the App Store and Play Store to stay safe.

Have you been looking at high schools for your teen and wondering which one in your area is the best fit?  Schools that attract the parents seeking a quality education for their kids are those with an amazing variety of academic programs, top-notch teachers, and a huge selection of sports and clubs.

It’s a school where you are confident your teen will thrive in the positive environment is key.  A school that is focused on bringing out the best in every student.

Our case study of one such school is a review of Ancora High School. The fact that it’s located with in a welcoming and supporting community also adds to the positive benefit when searching for a high school.

Award-Winning Curriculum

You want your teen to get the best education possible to set them up for success. A school like Ancora High School allows your child to thrive in an environment focused on academic achievement.

Rigorous Curriculum: Ancora offers 16 Advanced Placement courses as well as honors classes across all subjects to challenge students. Classes go in-depth and teach critical thinking skills.

Award-Winning Teachers: Over 80% of Ancora’s teachers hold advanced degrees, and many have won district and state awards. They are experts at engaging students.

Technology Integration: From laptops for every student to smartboards in classrooms, technology is seamlessly integrated to enhance learning.

STEM Opportunities: Ancora has an award-winning Robotics Team, coding classes, and partnerships with local tech firms to provide internships.

College Prep:  With a 99% graduation rate and over 90% of grads attending college, Ancora thoroughly prepares students for higher education.

Ancora delivers academic excellence through top-notch teachers, rigorous coursework, and cutting-edge technology. Your teen will be challenged to reach their full potential there.

The school also offers online high school for adults 18 years and older who for a variety of reasons were not able to complete their studies or desire to achieve their diploma online.

Extracurricular Activities

Ancora High offers an incredible range of extracurriculars that will engage and challenge your teen. With over 60 clubs and activities, there’s something for every interest.

Ancora’s nationally ranked debate team has taken home top honors at state and national tournaments. Sharpen critical thinking and public speaking skills.

Join Ancora’s award-winning theater program and act in musicals and plays at our state-of-the-art auditorium.

The journalism program produces an award-winning newspaper and TV broadcast. Hone media and reporting talents.

Make music in Ancora’s jazz band, choir, orchestra or one of many other musical groups. Perform at concerts and competitions.

Get involved in student government, homecoming activities, prom committee and more. Take on leadership roles.

Join a STEM club like robotics, coding or Rocketry Club and apply your science and tech skills. Compete in tournaments.

There are many benefits for students who get involved in extracurricular activities. With amazing teachers leading the way, Ancora’s extracurriculars give students a place to explore passions and develop talents. The variety ensures your teen can find their niche.

Explore why parents of foreign students want their children to study in us high schools.