|
Magazine >
Education > Article
Education
Cool School Stuff
by Heather Smith
One of the highlights of going back to
school is getting new back-to-school stuff. This diversion makes
it a little easier to go back to the drudgery of classes. If
you’re looking for some neat school things for the students in
your life, here are a few suggestions, for kids of every age.
Elementary-age kids might like a Mark-My-Time™ digital bookmark.
This neon-colored bookmark has a small timer on the top so that
children can time how long they have been reading and how fast.
What kid wouldn’t love the novelty of a bright red bookmark in
their favorite book? It’s a great way to encourage kids to read
more and more. Mark-My-Time™ digital bookmarks are available at
about $8.95 at bookstores, discount drug stores, and online at
www.mark-my-time.com. A unique site where you can purchase truly
special, one-of-a-kind personalized gifts www.Frecklebox.com. They
have a growing selection of personalized lunchboxes and
personalized folders, books, coloring books, puzzles, stickers,
journal books, and more.
Lockers, with their tricky number combinations, are a big part of
the middle-school experience. If your middle schooler is better
with words than numbers, try getting him or her a WordLock™ locker
padlock. Available in several colors, these locks use combinations
of letters, as their name suggests. Instead of having to remember
random digits, a kid can easily remember a short word. WordLock™
locker padlocks are available for about $5.98 at Staples and
wordlock.com.
High schoolers who hate to type might like a talk-to-text program,
such as Nuance Communications’ acclaimed speech recognition
software Dragon® NaturallySpeaking® 10. Once hooked up to your
computer, this program will convert the words you speak into text
on the screen, or even open programs, send emails and surf the
web, as you so command. As the programs’ advertisers tout, most
people type 40 words per minute, whereas Dragon® software allows
you to put 120 words per minute on the screen. Dragon®
NaturallySpeaking® 10 is available at various computer and office
supply stores, in addition to amazon.com and nuance.com.
A practical item for a college student is a laptop. In many, if
not all, colleges, students submit their assignments
electronically, type up notes during class, and use Internet
search engines instead of the library. A student who has his or
her own shiny laptop can do all these things without tramping over
to the crowded computer lab. There are many choices of laptop out
there; you might try a Dell Inspiron 1545, available in red,
purple, pink, black and indigo at walmart.com.
These are just a few ideas, but hopefully they give you some
inspiration as you try to make going back to school special for
your kids.
Heather Smith is an English major at the University of South
Florida in St. Petersburg. Currently, she is interning at Families
On-the-go and enjoying the opportunity to write and edit.
back to top
|
