books, etc.
	fyi
	web

97 Things to Do Before You Finish High School
By Steven Jenkins and Erika Stadler
There are a lot of “have to’s” when you get to be high school age -
schoolwork, job, studying, plan for college - but it is also a great time to
start figuring out your “want to’s.” Acknowledging that free time is at a
premium, this fun little book challenges teens to fill it up with the
practical, the out there and the I-never-thought-I-coulds. Some are basic -
get your drivers license and some are potentially life-changing - join a
political campaign, but all are offered with a sense of fun and actual
details of how to accomplish the goal. Chances are, if your teen tackles
even a few of these suggestions, they are likely to gain some
valuable knowledge and maybe a bit of insight about themselves as well. Ok,
maybe not from number 15… (How to throw a house party). www.zestbooks.net,
$14.95.

American Girl Library
Pre-teen girls are a tricky bunch. One minute they are sweet little girls,
all about dolls and cuddling. You turn your back for a minute and they
suddenly are blushing about boys, fretting about perceived weight issues and
don’t get me started about the speed-of-light temperament changes! Finding
appropriate resources for this age can be quite a feat. The American Girl
bookstore, a subdivision of the American Girl Doll company, has managed to
straddle this wavering line between childhood and adolescence with a whole
range of books (historical and contemporary fiction), crafts, games and
self-help style books. The historical fiction books, which spin yarns about
the plucky characters that make up the American Girl doll line, are probably
best known. Tweens seem drawn to these characters whether they own the dolls
or not and the books can actually be great teaching tools as well as an
engaging read. But don’t overlook the “fun” books and kits either. These
titles deftly offer girls a big helping of self-esteem and can-do attitude
in a lively format designed perfectly for their age. Most books range
between $6.95-$19.95, available at www.americangirl.com (click Shop, then
Bookstore).

Time Soldiers® Series
By BiG Guy Books
Reading, as an engaging and fun pastime, has never really caught on with
many of today’s youth, particularly, as statistics show, boys. Parents of
these “reluctant readers” search vainly for the storyline, genre or style of
writing that will spark the love of reading that they enjoy and want so much
for their children to have in their lives as well. BiG Guy Books, Inc, is
built on the belief that “literacy is a birthright for every child, but in
our world of highly visual, fast-paced video entertainment, we are losing a
generation of young readers.” Their mission is to create books that are
stimulating and engaging enough to recapture these children and instill in
them the joy of reading and the thrill of learning. They appear to be having
success.
BiG Guy Books’ Time Soldiers® series books are specifically designed to
stimulate more of the brain by adding realistic and complex graphics to an
ongoing mystery, set in different times in history. They are not comic
books, nor illustrated storybooks; rather they are something like a movie
between two book covers. The action-oriented, adventure plots are designed
to appeal to first through fifth grade boys, but interestingly, almost half
of BiG Guy Books’ readers are girls. Books run from $3.95 to $22.95 and are
available online at www.BiGGuyBooks.com, Amazon.com, or can be ordered
through any bookstore.

Stay In the Know
In many families the technology divide between parents and kids is becoming
a chasm. Increasingly a parent’s ability to stay on top of the ever-evolving
technology that is their children’s preferred means of communication is
waning and with it, their ability to protect their children from the
potential dangers of the Internet. Protecting Children Online: A Handbook
for Parents is a free, downloadable booklet from Webroot Software that is a
first step in empowering parents to get involved. In addition to best
practices, tips and resources, the handbook’s glossary educates parents on
Internet terms and phrases, such as “POS” (Parent Over Shoulder) or “LMIRL”
(Let’s Meet In Real Life), commonly used by kids online. Available at:
www.webroot.com/pdf/sois _pco_0207.pdf?id=RESOURCES_SOIS-OnlineSafety.

Better Than a Spoonful of Sugar
If you are a parent of a baby or small child, you are probably all too
familiar with the difficulty of getting the proper dose of medicine into a
sick, fussy little one. With current recommendations from the FDA suggesting
that improper dosing can actually be dangerous, finding a solution to this
ongoing problem becomes more urgent. ReliaDose is a unique medicine delivery
system that was actually invented by a mom to tackle this real problem. The
bottle has a dual-chamber nipple, so each dose of medicine is received
separately from the other fluids. Because the medicine doesn’t mix with
bottle contents, ReliaDose allows medication to be delivered without
dilution or contamination, while also masking the taste and showing
accurately how much medicine was consumed. More information at:
www.reliadose.com.

The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
Though some may believe that young babies are not very discerning about who
takes care of them, recent studies have suggested that they have an instinct
to distinguish the well-intentioned from those who are not. A study in the
Journal “Nature” in November 2007 looked at babies aged 6-10 months. They
were shown a wooden puppet trying to climb up a hill and assisted by a
second doll shaped like a triangle who helped the doll climb, or hindered by
a third doll shaped like a square who blocked the path and pushed the
climber back down. After the babies watched the dolls interacting, and were
offered a doll to play with, 12 of 16 of the six month olds wanted only the
triangular doll. Of those aged 10 months, 14 of the 16 wanted to play only
with the triangular doll.

Learning Healthy Ways
By now, most parents are aware of the alarming statistics regarding
childhood obesity in this country and the accompanying increase in health
concerns. Parents who are struggling to turn unhealthy food and exercise
habits around for their families may be interested in Take 2, a program
developed by Pediatric Home Service in Roseville to educate kids and their
parents on healthy lifestyle choices. During the program, children and
parents work individually with separate instructors trained in pediatric
health and wellness to address exercise, nutrition and behavior. The
program, which is not a diet, is designed to motivate and educate
participants to help them understand how to lose weight, gain energy and
live a healthy lifestyle. There are limited numbers of students in each
class. Winter classes begin in January and will meet for 10 weeks, every
Monday and Thursday from 6-7:30 pm in Roseville. Parents can learn more and
register online at www.take2kidshealth.com or call 651-642-1825.

Easing the Strain of College Costs
Buying Cheaper Books
One of the ways college students can save is on the high costs of their
textbooks. According to the Government Accounting Office, since 1994 the
price of textbooks has increased at nearly four times the rate of inflation
with students spending on average about $900 on textbooks annually. With a
little homework, students can save up to 72 % off the list price of
textbooks at www.BestBookBuys.com, an online price comparison site for
college students and a service of Best Web Buys™. Students can quickly
compare the price of textbooks across dozens of online bookstores and more
than 20,000 sellers. Steve Loyola, president of Best Book Buys also suggests
checking to see if your school has a book swap program; ordering used books
early - the best deals and selections are when the supplies are at the
highest and, finally, planning to sell your books back when the semester is
over. A number of online bookstores will buy used textbooks. Best Book
Buys has a link to participating sites at
www.bestwebbuys.com/books/buyback.html.

Start Saving Now
There are plenty of detours, excuses and hurdles when it comes to saving for
your children’s higher education. But whether you start when Junior is in
diapers or when he is taking the SATs, there are numerous ways to reduce the
cost and implement a realistic financial plan. For those who need some
direction and perhaps a bit of nudging, Tuition Without Tears is a financial
planning system for K-12 parents to teach them how to make saving and paying
for college affordable. The program provides parents of any economic status
with a detailed step-by-step guide and helps them develop a workable
college-funding action plan. Available
at www.tuitionwithouttears.com and www.amazon.com.

FAFSA4caster
The FAFSA - or Free Application for Federal Student Aid - is the form that
students must fill out to be eligible to receive federal aid for college and
cannot be submitted until after January 1 of a student’s senior year in high
school. Initiated last spring, the FAFSA4caster instantly calculates a
student’s eligibility for federal student aid and can be completed at any
time. It also automatically fills in half the questions on the FAFSA,
making it easier for families to complete the real form during the student’s
senior year. The FAFSA4caster can be accessed from the U.S. Department of
Education’s web site at www.federalstudentaid.ed.gov.

Just Say No to Debt
As college costs have risen sharply over the past several years, higher
education has become synonymous with a lifetime of debt for many students,
especially those from lower and middle-income families. Some colleges have
changed their financial aid policies and communications strategies to
minimize or eliminate burdensome student loans for low- and moderate-income
students. In order to help parents and prospective students understand and
compare these policies, the Project on Student Debt has created a new web
feature that outlines in a concise format with clear language, the programs
at individual schools. Click List of Pledges at:
http://projectonstudentdebt.org/pledges.

return to top

www.play-activities.com
Stuck in an activity rut? This website offers an assortment of free
activities for parents and their kids under age 5 sent via daily email. The
activities, developed by an experienced schoolteacher, use everyday objects
and are designed to be educational, fun and adaptable for babies, toddlers,
pre-schoolers and kindergartners.

return to top