Back to School

• Back to School Brain Boosters
  A child with good brain health has the opportunity to be more successful in their schoolwork. There are many factors that affect brain health, and in this article we'll focus on a few things you can do to make a positive difference in your child's learning and memory function.

• Help Reset Your Child's Internal Clock before School Starts
  While buying our children new school supplies may help tip the scale towards eager anticipation, it's much more important to help children to prepare for their school year by making sure they're well rested. Parents can help their children get off to a good start by readjusting their sleep schedule before school begins. Patti Teel shows us how.

• Getting Your Children School Ready
  Perhaps getting your child school ready involves more than buying things. Maybe supplies are not what you need to supply for your child to get them off to a good start this school year. Learn more from Thomas Haller and Chick Moorman.

• SCHOOL SHOPPING: Less is better for your wallet and your kids
  It's back-to-school shopping time. This year, do your kids a favor by NOT buying them everything they claim they need. Pauline Wallin, Ph.D. explains why.

• Back To School Basics
  At the start of each new school year, new (and sometimes old) challenges tend to crop up. This year, make your parenting efforts pay off and use your energies to make lasting changes in your home for a smooth and productive school year.

• Twelve Must Do Rules for Back to School!
  Some parents will wait to the last minute to get everything in order but it need not be that way. Here are a few tips by author Jodie Lynn to squash back-to-school stress... before it gets the best of you.

• Backpack Safety for the Back to School Crowd
  Did you know that backpacks can cause headaches, back shoulder and neck pain, muscle spasms and tingling in the extremities? Did you know this pain can and is occurring in children across the nation? Find out what you can do to ensure your child stays safe with the right backpack and proper usage.

• Nutritious Back-to-School Breakfast
  With kids heading back to school, it is more important than ever that they eat a balanced breakfast to help them focus and behave well. If your child is nervous about new courses, classmates and teachers, a special meal will ease jitters and honor the special day.

• Practical Off-to-School Routines
  There are simple routines you can add to your child’s school day that will create a stress-free learning experience for your little one. Vicky Lansky shares her tips with us.

• Pack a Healthy School Lunch Your Kids Will Eat
  Are you sick of making the same ol' lunch for your kid everyday? Is you kid sick of eating the same 'ol lunch everyday? Start the school year out right by getting creative while helping your kids stay healthy.

• Organizing Your Teen Daughter for School
  Girls' fashions can be rather frightening to her parents these days. How can you do your school shopping with her and keep your sanity? Rachel Paxton shows us how.

School/Education Issues

• Handling Homework
  If you feel as if your child is unduly overloaded with homework that is either too difficult or lengthy, don't try to solve the problem by doing his work. What can you do? Patti Teel explains.

• 10 Tips for Helping Your Child Adjust to School
  So she's off to school every morning now, like a big kid. But instead of the exuberance you expected, you find many days - especially Monday -- starting with tears, or maybe a tummy-ache. Don't worry, it's not unusual for kids to need a little extra help adjusting to the start of school. What can you do? Learn more from Dr. Laura Markham.

• How to Encourage Your Struggling Reader
  When you have a reluctant or struggling reader on your hands, it fills you with anxiety and concern about how best to intervene. If reading is a problem for your child, seek help--reading problems rarely resolve themselves without extra attention to specific skills. Here are some simple things you can do to encourage your child.

• What To Do if Your Preschooler Hates School
  Many preschoolers who are going to school for the first time may be reluctant to spend time away from their parents, or they may be frightened to interact with other children and adults. Here's a step-by-step plan to help your preschooler.

• How to Help Your Child be Successful in Kindergarten
  Your child's first year of school should be a fun and exciting time. Since parents are children's first and most important teachers, you can play a key role in preparing your children for a successful school experience by pre-exposing them to key concepts they will experience in school.

• Simple Rules For Saving (or NOT SAVING) Schoolwork
  Do you have boxes of saved schoolwork spilling out of closets and under the bed? Do you have so many art projects and magnets on the front of your refrigerator that you don't know what color it is? Too many saved school projects and crafts take up precious space and cause clutter. Valerie Zilinsky shares her rules for saving and not saving schoolwork. Start now when school starts!!
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• Helping Your Child Fit into the New Social Scene
  Making new friends at a new school, new town, new camp, or a new team can be difficult for your children. As parents, we can help them find ways to make new friends. So think positively, and stay focused on what you can do to boost your child's friendship quotient and get him through this tough time. Michele Borba, Ed.D. shows us how.

• Teach Your Children to "Suck it Up"
  Popular culture conveys to children very unhealthy messages about responsibility that suggests if something isn't fun, easy, or interesting, they just shouldn't have to do it. Part of being a responsible adult is accepting that there are a lot of things in life that we don't care to do, but we do them anyway because we have to. To prepare your children for that real world, teach them that sometimes they just have to suck it up!

• Coaching Your Teenagers on the Quest for Good Grades
  Grades are important but sometimes the quest for good grades can become an obsession. It is vital that your teenager realize that you don’t judge by grades alone and that you value motivation to improve. Author V. Michael Santoro, M. Ed shares his expertise for coaching your teen.

• Holding Back the Years
  Today's Family Man columnist Gregory Keer asks, "What’s the big rush to have my kids achieve?". As the school year starts, Keer suggests we stop overscheduling our kids as we push them to rush through childhood. He says he "plans to appreciate my children’s individual progress. They are remarkable and, whether they prove to be Einstein and Gates or Beavis and Butthead, I’ll celebrate their successes, one step at a time." StorkNet agrees!

• PTA Fundraising – Tips to Lighten the Load
  If you are one of those special parents who have decided to put time and effort into fundraising for your child's school, so that the school can afford to do some extra things, you may have some butterflies, or even downright trepidation about what you've signed up for. Here are a few thoughts by author Anh Vazquez that may help to make the fundraising process more efficient and effective.