With school starting many kids get a little apprehensive about being alone at school. They worry that no one will like them or want to be a working partner with them in class. There are a number of things that you can do to help squash the fears of your youngsters as school starts.

Tip One: It's the First Day of School for Everyone

Everyone has jitters on the first day and during the first week or so of school. Let your child know that everyone in the class is going to have the same fears as your child. Everyone is worried they won't have friends or that they will be the last one picked as a partner.

Tip Two: Encourage them to be Themselves

While everyone wants to fit in, it is important that your child knows the best way to make friends is to be themselves. Let them know that it is okay to pick up a new "like" such as if their new friend likes the Jonas Brothers, it is natural for them to have an interest in the Jonas Brothers, but they don't want to go out and buy everything that their new friend has.

Tip Three: Encourage them to Speak Up

It is never okay for one child to make another child feel like they are less important than someone else. That is true for adults as well; we are all equally incredible in our own ways. If your child is being bullied by someone at school tell your child how important it is that they let their teacher know. They also need to let you know. We had an incident with our son being bullied on the bus. He would complain to the bus driver and the bus driver would just tell him to sit down. We called the principal of the school and transportation to complain. The other child tried to say it was the other way around. THANKFULLY, the bus had video on it and we requested that the video be pulled so it could be viewed and it showed what was happening.

It is sad and scary how frequent bullying happens. If your child is acting like they don't want to go to school or get on the bus, or they come home with bruises or missing items, talk to them and find out what is going on.

Tip Four: Don't Embarrass Them

As much as it kills you (as it does me) don't kiss them goodbye in front everyone if they don't lean towards you first. Our son is such a momma's boy… unless there are others around. Actually it was last school year that he even stopped saying "I love you," if anyone was in ear shot. It broke my heart, but at the same time it was a growth moment. He still hugs and kisses me at home and tells me he loves me, so the world is still okay.

Tip Five:  Teach them the Importance of a Smile

Chances are pretty good that on the first day of school there are other shy kids that are afraid to be the first to talk to anyone. So tell your child if there is another child that they want to talk to they should smile at them and say hello. It is amazing the impact of a simple smile and the small phrase, "Hi."

Tip Six: Talk to their Friends Parents

If your child has a best bud, take a moment and talk to the parents of that best bud. Find out what class their child is going into, what bus they are riding, if they plan on having their child buy lunch or pack. These things can help make it so that your child is able to spend some time with someone familiar the first few days of school.

Tip Seven: Ask About Their Day

Be excited about their school day. Ask how their day was and then listen to what they tell you. I should note that you need to actively listen. Show them that you are interested in what happened at school so they know that you are really excited about what excited them.

Here are some tips to save on School Supplies from More4kids:

Follow these tips to keep more of your money in your wallet as your kids head back to school:

by Stacey Schifferdecker

When my children were young, we started a new holiday reading tradition. We would put aside our traditional night time books for the month, and every night of December, we would read a Christmas book. This was a great to have some calm and peaceful moments together at the end of the day. If you'd like to start a similar tradition, here are some of our favorite Christmas books for you to try (in no particular order) — enough to get you through the first half of December.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

by Dr. Seuss

The Grinch Who Stole Christmas

Yes, it was a book before Chuck Jones made the fabulous animated version we all grew up with and Ron Howard made the live action version starring Jim Carrey. Why read this book? Well, it's got those great Dr. Seuss rhymes, a funny story line, and amusing illustrations. On top of that, it's a sweet story about the transformational power of love. (It does send the erroneous  message that the purpose of Christmas is family togetherness. I make a point of telling my kids that being together as a family is a Christmas bonus, but that the real purpose of Christmas is to celebrate Jesus' birth.)

Country Angel Christmas

by Tomie dePaola

The Last Straw

Fredrick Thury

A grumpy camel ends up carrying too big a load as he plods on the Bethlehem (sound familiar to anyone? Not the camel part — the carrying too heavy a load part). He ends up carrying not only the gifts of the Wise Men, but also pastries, wine, and other presents people give him to carry to the new king. A piece of straw, the gift from a young child, finally brings the camel to his knees, right in front of a baby in a manger.

A Wish for Wings that Work

by Berke Breathed

A Wish for Wings that Work

I don't know if it's because I have such great memories of the old comic strip Bloom County, but this book is one of my Christmas favorites. Opus the Penguin wants to fly, and he writes Santa asking for wings that work. On Christmas Eve, Santa has an unfortunate sleigh accident and ends up sinking in the lake outside Opus's house. Opus flies through the water to rescue Santa. Santa teaches Opus to appreciate the gifts he already has — but then, in a fabulous twist, Opus does get to fly on Christmas morning.

The 12 Days of Christmas, The Night Before Christmas, and Cookie Count

by Robert Sabuda

Robert Sabuda does the most awesome pop-up books. They are gorgeous, intricate, and, of course, fragile. These are books we keep up high, where little kids can't reach them and tear them apart.

Chicken Soup for the Soul Christmas Treasury for Kids

by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Hansen, and Irene Dunlap

Christmas Chicken Soup for the Soul

My kids are getting older and outgrowing some of the books on this list. Last year, we did something different, reading from this Chicken Soup book. It includes one story a day from December 1 through December 25. The stories shared about love, traditions, Christmas spirit, and more. It was fun to hear the real-life Christmas stories in this book.

If you Take a Mouse to the Movies

by Laura Numeroff

This was Jocelyn's favorite book in first grade, coincidentally the year her teacher collected mice (figurines and stuffed mice, not real ones). This book is in the same vein as other Numeroff books, in which a kind deed goes awry and ends up in chaos. Just a fun read.

The Legend of the Poinsettia

by Tomie dePaola

I always enjoy learning about how other countries and cultures celebrate Christmas, as well as learning about the meaning of Christmas symbols. This book combines both interests, sharing a legend about how poinsetttias came to be with a description of the Mexican celebration of Las Posadas. Throw in the idea that gifts should come from the heart and don't need to be expensive, and you have an ideal Christmas story.

Carl's Christmas

by Alexandra Day

Carls Christmas

These almost wordless books are especially suitable for young children. In this Carl story, the rottweiler and the baby have grand adventures downtown on Christmas Eve. My kids have long outgrown the Carl series but I have fond memories of looking at these books with a little one cuddled in my lap, making up our own words and sound effects. The kids and still joke about Carl being their babysitter when I go out at night.

The Polar Express

by Chris Van Allsburg

Another great book that your kids may only know through the movie. Mix up a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy the book – it's even better than the movie.

These books are all for the younger kids. As my kids are getting older, I think this year we'll try some chapter books. They are already familiar with The Christmas Carol, so that may make our list. I have also heard good reviews of Madeleine L'Engle's The Twenty-Four Days before Christmas: an Austin Family Story. Maybe next year I'll have new books to recommend!

Schools out and summer is finally here. How are you going to keep your child occupied and at the same time stimulate their young minds? Summer can be a fun and exciting time for children and their families. Generally, a break is given over the summer months and educational lessons are ceased until the fall. If you are a homeschooling parent, and interested in supplementing your childs education, it is important to know and understand that while the traditional lessons do not fit into the scheme of summer, it does not mean that learning has to cease. There are many fun summer projects you can do with your child! Here are some fun summer activites and projects for your child. If you are at a loss for extra projects and activities, this may the right read for you!

Plant a Garden

Planting a garden is a very popular fun summer projects for homeschoolers. The family can decide together what type of garden is to be planted. They may choose to plant an herb garden, a flower garden, or even a vegetable garden. Then, all of the supplies should be gathered and everyone should play a large role in creating and planting. Family members should also take the time to assist in the maintenance of the garden as well. Not only can children enjoy learning about how things grow, they can develop a sense of accomplishment once they see their gardens grow! Don’t forget to take plenty of random pictures while the children care for the new garden!

Create Family Movies

Creating fun, fact filled family movies can be a lot of fun for the entire family! You will need a computer that has Windows XP or higher, a computer with a burn function for DVD’s, a scanner, and all those old family photo albums. Now, what you will be doing is using Windows Movie Maker in order to create a DVD movie of people in the family. The children should take active roles in all the steps that are necessary when it comes to creating the film. It should also be required of the kids to learn a little something about everyone that is placed in the movie. Once completed, they can add music to the film and then burn copies of it onto the blank DVD’s. You may suggest that the children save copies in order to distribute as gifts for Christmas.

Visit Flea Markets

Believe it or not, selling at a local flea market can be a fun educational summer project! This type of project can help clean out all the excess from your home, and can help add to the family’s finances with the profits that are experienced. Children will be able to socialize with other people, learn the importance of financial transactions, and will learn many other valuable lessons as well! In addition to selling old items in the home, many children may elect to create items to sell. This can be a wonderful experience for everyone in the family!

Form a Neighborhood Car Wash

Are your kids always searching for ways to make a little extra cash? Are they always complaining that they are bored? If so, maybe you can encourage them to start up a neighborhood car wash. Encourage the children to not charge for the car wash, but allow them to put up a sign that says that tips are welcomed. Good deeds like washing someone’s car for free allows children to grow as individuals, develop character, and build good relationships with those that they live near. This is an excellent method of encouraging community service.

Start a Food Drive

There are many organizations throughout the world, and even in your local community, which provide foods for those who cannot afford to purchase it for themselves. If you are looking for a fun and rewarding activity for your children this summer, you may encourage them to have their own food drive for individuals who are needy. They can get the names and addresses of those who wish to contribute and set a time and date of when those individuals should place their bags of food by their front doors. Then, you can drive them around to pick up the food. Once this is done, you can drive it to the family or organization that needs that food. This can be a very exciting and rewarding activity for the entire family!

Visit Museums and Zoos

Here in Chattanooga TN we have the Childs Discovery Museum. It offers a science theater and many fun and educational exibits. My son loves the Evacuation Station for example where he can dig in the sand and uncover dinosaur bones. You may be suprised what your local community has to offer and museums, zoo's, sea aquariums, butterfly parks like that one in Coral Springs Florida where we used to live, all provide a fun and educational opportunity. Who knows, mom or day may learn a thing to!

Summary

There are many fun and educational summer projects and activities you can enjoy with your kids. If you are searching for activities that will build your childs education, sense of community, a sense of self, these activities are sure to be a big hit! While not all projects bring a monetary award, it is important for children to know and understand that there are many different types of awards in life.

This article is the copyright of More4kids Inc. No part may be copied or reproduced in any form without the express permission of More4Kids Inc © 2008 All Rights Reserved

Without a doubt global warming is one of the biggest problems that the world is facing today, and will continue to be a large problem in our kids lives. However, many of its effects will fall upon future generations – unless it is stopped or slowed down dramatically. There is a lot that we can do right now, but it is also important to get the children of today involved in the fight against global warming. 

Teaching kids the dangers of Global Warming

Educating and involving our children is one way to get our kids interested. We need to involve them through conversations and activities and show them what they can do to help the cause. Education through involvement is key. We must find creative ways to show children what problems global warming has already caused, and what problems it could, and most probably will cause in the future. This will help bring forth curiosity about what contributions out kids can make to help change things.

Experiments are a fun and interesting way to get kids' attention when it comes to global warming. Greenhouse gases are a particularly thought-provoking topic, and finding a way to incorporate them into experiments and analysis will often pique kids' interest. Even simple mathematical projects, such as determining how much the sea level might rise in a particular scenario, are great.

Global warming can have a devastating effect on many animal species. Showing kids videos on these subjects can foster an interest in stopping global warming. A trip to the zoo to see these animals or their close relatives is another way to make the issue hit home.

Show Kids That They Can Do Something About It

For children, it may be hard for them to understand that one person can make a difference in an issue as big as global warming. Even for adults this can be hard to accept. Showing children that there are things they can do that will make an impact may be all it takes to get them to take action.

For example, it's hard to comprehend that something as simple as using different light bulbs, or making sure that there is adequate air pressure in the tires before a family trip, can make a measurable difference. Or, something as simple as not throwing away plastic and paper, but recycling them instead. But the truth is that it can. If you're not up on the numbers, there are websites where you can find information on approximately how much small actions like this can reduce the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. This type of knowledge can really make an impression on young minds. Small steps can really help reduce global warming.

Check out this article on things you can do NOW, and how much impact it will have. Little things do add up.

Another thing your kids might enjoy doing is helping educate others on the things they can do to help fight global warming. If they can make a measurable difference by making small changes in the way they do things, convincing others to do the same can multiply their impact many times over. The people they persuade to make changes might talk other people into doing the same, and so on and so forth.

Educating and getting our kids involved in the fight against global warming is very important. Doing so requires explaining to them about the dangers and helping them understant what course of action they can take to make things better for the world. Once they realize that global warming is an important issue to us all, there's no telling how big a difference they might make. We all want out kids, our grandchildren, and future generations to grow up in a healthy and beautiful enviroment. The time to start is NOW!

by Stacey Schifferdecker

“Mom, can I play on the computer?” I’m sure I hear that at least once a day from each of my children. Fortunately, there really is a lot of good internet content for kids. Here is the More4kids list of what we think are some of the best websites for kids, whether you want craft projects, educational content, or just plain fun.

KidsClick is another search engine for kids, run by librarians.
http://www.kidsclick.org/

Kids love crafts! These are some of the best sites to find craft projects to keep your kids busy and creative.
http://www.crayola.com/

On these sites, your kids can learn and have fun at the same time. They offer math games, reading and writing activities, puzzles, and more.

Let your kids try out these sites the next time they are bored. The sites are full of games, puzzles, recipes, riddles, magic tricks, experiments, and craft projects.
http://www.funology.com/

For children who have attended preschool, starting school for the first time will involve less of a transition than for those who have not. However, in either case, school is typically quite different from preschool. Added to that is the unfortunate fact that many public schools are often – whether through lack of funding, bureaucratic bungling, bad philosophy or factors outside their control – far less than ideal places to educate children. However, there are many great public schools too, but we don't often have the choice due to the fact of where we live.

But whether parents are enrolling the child in a good public school or private school, there are many similar new factors parents will do well to prepare for. Here are some ideas that may help make the transition a little easier. 

Some children (and parents, too) will naturally experience a certain amount of separation anxiety. If you are such a parent like I am, one effective way to deal with this is to avoid the false alternative of 'Stiff upper lip' versus 'Yes, isn't it horrible'. Children are neither soldiers nor made of Jello.

An honest recognition that new experiences can be difficult, without over-dramatizing, is healthy. Children should be helped to see that the new environment isn't threatening, but without dismissing their valid concerns.

Meeting the teacher before the first day of school is extremely helpful. Introducing the child to a new adult, one whose goal is to help them develop, with the parent present helps everyone relax. Many schools will hold special events to do just that, but don't expect to have a long period alone with the teacher. They often have many parent-child groups to meet.

Explaining to the child that attending school is a natural, indeed an exciting, part of growing up will help prepare them for the experience. Most children are naturally curious. Making school a continuation of the home process of developing the child's mind and confidence by exploring the world will help school seem less strange.

Most schools will assign some form of very simple homework before long. Here again, parents can help avoid any anxiety that may occur in the face of this new challenge by making it not new. Giving the child age-appropriate tasks to complete before school begins helps build confidence, especially when the parent demonstrates eagerness to help overcome the humps.

Beware of giving too much aid or too much comfort, though. Allowing the child to experience difficulty, and seeing first hand that they are competent to meet the challenge, creates those early self-esteem building blocks. Shielding a child from any and all possible sources of discomfort is both unrealistic and harmful to the child.

Demonstrating excessive parental concern can inadvertently suggest to the child that there is something real to be feared in the new environment. That's contrary to the message the parent wants to convey.

More fundamentally, every aspect of human development needs some kind of challenge to build strength. That's true not only for muscles and bones, but for mind and emotions as well. When those challenges are within the reach of the child's real potential – given his or her individual nature – confidence and intellectual capacity grow simultaneously.

Back to School – Back to Schedules

If this is the first time your child is off to a day care or preschool it can be a nervious time not only for the child, but the part as well.  This is a time when both you and your child will face the issues of separation and independence. These are very normal feelings, but it is also a very important stage in your childs development.  A child that is at the age of four or five years old will probably go off without much difficulty, but many children under the age of three have a very hard time with leaving their parents. Here are some ways to help make the transition a little easier.

The best way to help your child begin the transition is to begin talking with her ahead of time about what is to happen.  You must also patiently reassure them.  Begin preparing your child three or more weeks before the date that the preschool program or daycare center is to start.  Be sure to take her with you on little trips to the facility and show her all of the other kids and the toys that she will be able to play with.  Always be reminding her of your visits every day by asking her to remember how “fun” it all looked.

If your child is under the age of two, then it will be difficult to fully prepare her for what is ahead with her daycare time because of the lack of understanding your child will have at such a young age.  Although she will not understand much of what you tell her, you can still describe whatever you think will interest her.  But even though you may do your best in describing to your young two-year-old child what is to come, she will invariably have to experience the new program and the separation that goes along with it, first hand. 

When that first day of school comes you will have to explain to her that you will have to leave her with the rest of the children once you get there.  You may say something like “Amber, after we get to the classroom I am going to sit with you for a little while, but then I will have to leave and come right back after lunch time, ok?”  Tell her what time you will be coming back and what the driving arrangements will be in case you are in a position where you are having somebody else pick up your child from school, perhaps another family member or a neighbor.

Be as patient as you possibly can during the first few days that you have to say “good-bye” to your child.  Many children have such a difficult time that it may take up to thirty minutes and at least a dozen “bye-byes” until you are able to leave.  And until she gets used to your leaving, each day will be just as traumatic as the last, for at least a week or so.  This is where your practice of patience must come in.  Do not threaten your child when she bursts out in tears and do not say anything like “Stop crying and be a big girl” or “Only bad girls cry, please stop it”.  Your child needs support instead of pressure.

Museums – maybe now that you've had kids, you think the only museums you can visit are the children's kind with fire poles and mini grocery stores. But while those kinds of museums are certainly fun, you don’t need to cross art or zoological museums off your list until the kids go away to college. Instead, you just need to plan ahead and change your approach.

• No Touching any exhibit
• Use walking feet
• Use inside voice

Earth Day will be celebrated this April 22nd. It is a very important day for everyone who inhabits this planet. Every day, we are becoming more aware of the affects of global warming. As we strive to keep our eco-system in tact; and keep our rainforests from being destroyed; as a practical matter, there is more we can do on an individual basis. Teaching your kids the importance of Earth Day is the first step, as they will be our legacy and the caretakers of our planet in years to come.

It is important to explain to your kids what Earth Day represents, and what you do as a family; not just one day, but every day can keep the environment free from further damage.

• Plant a tree in your yard.
• Recycle as much as you can.
• If age appropriate, have your kids walk or bike ride to school.
• When not at home, keep lights off. 
• Make posters with your child and display them at school or at home. 
• Ensure you are preserving water by checking leaky faucets. 
• Conserve water by not leaving water on when brushing teeth. 
• Limit time in the shower. 
• Wash car less often. 
• Replace filter in air conditioner often.
• When shopping at grocery store, use recyclable bags. 
• Volunteer to help clean up your local park 
• Teach kids how to grow plants and herbs 
• Build a birdhouse in your backyard

By implementing these suggestions, you are teaching your kids energy conservation; recycling; increasing plant and tree growth; respect nature; save water; reduce toxins in the air; keep the environment clean; planting trees and flowers to increase oxygen; reduce air pollution; and love and respect all animals who inhabit the earth.

Imagine if everyone took the time to implement just one of these suggestions, we would truly be able to save what little we have left, and preserve this precious earth for our kids and generations to come. Teaching your kids the importance of Earth Day has become necessary to the future of our planet.