Education.com recently got together for a staff baby shower. Everyone was asked to share their favorite children’s books to help start a library for the mom-to-be. We’re a group of perpetual kids at heart, so getting together this basket of children’s classics was a total blast. And since we just can’t get enough of these fantastic books, we also decided to share our picks with the community!

With child development gurus and expert moms among us, many opted to pick out a sensory baby book, filled with colors, textures, and shapes. Some top picks include:

If I were a giraffe (Aneta’s pick), Colors and Shapes (Jyothee), Colors (Daniel), Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfisterand (Candace), Peek-a-Who? By Nina Laden (Danielle), and That’s Not My Dinosaur (Amanda).

Richard Scarry’s word books (Denise and Lorri) were popular picks for verbal development, with images and words to match. Another favorite was First 100 Words (Seema).

Not surprisingly, many picked out timeless children’s books that many grew up reading and adored. These popular picks included:

Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney (Alex)

Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina (Kristi)

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown (Ron)

Are you My Mother? By P.D. Eastman (Vicki)

Love You Forever by Robert Munsch (Julie)

Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey (Carol)

Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans (Jenny)

The Hungry Little Caterpillar by Eric Carle (Yale, Beebe and Ariana)

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (Patrick)

The Little Prince by Antoine De Sant-Exupery (Seann)

If you Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff (Carlee)

Many of us grew up reading the imaginative poems of Shel Silverstein, so our staff pick was A light in the Attic (Jody), which is filled with his classic poems and drawings.

Some parents in the group highly recommend the Caldecott Honor Mo Williams’ Pigeon books, including Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! (Kat) and Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus (Todd), guaranteeing lots of giggles!

There were a handful of newer books that are sure to be classics in their own time, including the Caldecott Honor Book Zen Shorts by Jon J Muth (Bob), Olivia Saves the Circus by Ian Falconer (Jackie), and Duck! Rabbit! By Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld (Graham). Also a great way to read the classic fairytales and stories is to buy a new collection such as The Family Storybook Treasury (Jeremy).

Dr. Seuss holds a special place in many of our hearts. Our favorites were Green Eggs and Ham (Miguel) and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish (Brandon).

Finally, a few of us picked out holiday classics, because the baby will arrive just in time for Christmas! The favorites included The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore (Johanna) and The Berenstein Bears Trim the Tree (Lauren).

I have to admit it…I woke up kind of giddy this morning.  It’s December and that means it’s officially Christmastime! (I respectfully abhor disagree with the retail world’s attempts to have Christmas start two weeks before Halloween.  Sigh.)  Yes, I know it’s an overwhelmingly busy time of year.  And yes, I know I’ll spend too much money this month.  And no, I don’t know how I’m going to avoid gaining 5, 10, a lot of pounds in the wake of all the festivities.  But I don’t care.  I love it.  I love, love, love, love, love, love it.  I love the lights and the music and the smells and the…well…the giddy!

What I don’t love, is what happens to my children in the face of all the wonder that’s available to them this month.  It’s not their fault.  When else do I actually encourage them to sit down and write a list of every material thing their hearts desire?  When else do I allow them this much sugar and TV time? (I could watch that Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer every night of December).  So it’s not their fault, but it’s only December 1st and they’re already acting more like Halloween monsters than Christmas angels. (”I want….”, “I want….”, “I want…”). How do I turn them back into angels without taking away all the giddy?!?

Like so many of my parenting struggles, my solution has come from a quick phone chat with my fabulous sister-in-law.  Yesterday she introduced me to RACK (Random Acts of Christmas Kindness) and I haven’t been so excited about anything since I can’t remember when.

RACK is very simple…you just set a goal, with your kids, of celebrating the advent season with 25 acts of selfless generosity.  One kind act a day.  Doesn’t have to be complicated, shouldn’t be expensive, just a moment of their time to help brighten someone’s day, make them smile, and help them remember how delicious this season really is. Ideas my SIL suggested include gifting an extra coat to someone on the street who needs it, shoveling a neighbor’s walk, taping a quarter to a gumball machine, or buying a cup of coffee for a stranger.

To help us keep track of our Acts, I created a little calendar.  And to help make RACK contagious I made these simple cards to hand out to our “victims”.  (I chose not to include our names to keep the idea of doing good without getting rewarded).  I’ll share them both here.

I hope lots of you will join us in “RACKing December”.  Let me know how you put your own spin on this ideas and what Acts your kids come up with.  And happy, happy holidays!

Did you know that October is National Bullying Prevention Month? While bullying is an age-old problem that’s going to take more than a month to solve, it’s thrilling to see the media and society put a focus on eliminating bullying during the month of October.

It’s hard for me to imagine re-living one of the most difficult periods of my life: middle school. While nobody put a name to the issue I was experiencing at the time, it was definitely bullying. I was neither the victim nor the perpetrator, but there were always “jokes,” verbal abuse, and even physical aggression that surrounded me. But middle school isn’t the only time bullying goes down. Studies show that kids as young as preschool experience bullying, and bullying at any age can affect adults for the rest of their lives.

In whatever capacity you’re involved in the life of a child, it’s never too late to educate yourself on the signs, effects, and dangers (yes: life-threatening dangers) that go along with bullying. Here’s some key information to help you and your family combat bullying.

• There is no single factor that causes a child to become a bully, but family and peer factors such as lack of supervision, lack of warmth and involvement, aggression, and positive attitudes about violence can all play a role.
• Kids who are personally victimized may show signs of being the target of bullying, or they may not, so communication is key. If you become aware of depression, anxiety, safety concerns, poor peer relations, lost belongings, etc. it’s definitely time to start asking questions.
• If your child tells you he is being bullied, it’s important to first focus on supporting your child, and then work with the child’s school to ensure that administrators and teachers are properly intervening.
• Next, focus on the 4 R’s: Recognize what’s happening, relate to the school, report the incident, and then record what occurred and how it was handled.
• Take preventative measures. There are ten key ways that parents can do their part to address bullying. Together, parents (along with teachers and students) have the power to eliminate bullying!

I’ve tried clicking my heels together and chanting “there’s no place like summer.”  I’ve tried pulling the covers over my head when the alarm goes off.  I’ve even tried letting my kids eat ice cream for dinner on a Tuesday.  Nothing is working.  Despite all my best attempts to hold on to summer for a little bit longer, it seems the new school year has started and intends to stick around for the next 172 days (but who’s counting?)

Summer at the Eden House

I always mourn the end of summer a little.  As a mom who works part time, I can’t claim that summers in my house are filled with long lazy days (like the summers of my childhood), but I can say that life’s a little easier in the summer.  Schedules are more flexible, nutrition standards are less rigorous, bedtimes are bendable.  All in all things are just a bit more relaxed.  And I LOVE relaxed.

Part of my panic around the beginning of the school year is thinking about what it’s going to take to get up to speed for the new school year.  What do I need to know?  How do I reverse the brain mush my kids have developed during the relaxed summer?  How do I get us all re-engaged?

Lucky for me I work for Eduation.com and was given the opportunity to help create something that would help my family and others like us get a Great Start to the new school year.  The result is the Great Start Challenge which is being graciously sponsored by Kumon Learning Centers.  When you sign up for the Great Start Challenge, you’ll get access to our new Great Start Kits.  There’s a different one for each grade and they include a few articles for Mom and Dad (to help us see what’s coming down the pike this year), a few worksheets, games & coloring pages to help our kiddos clear out some of that brain mush, and a few activities for our families to complete together to get the whole gang back in the swing of having fun learning together.

Just print out one kit for each of your kids and work together to complete it (complete instructions are on the first page).  When you’re done, return to the Great Start Challenge Page, click the orange “Complete the Challenge” button, and answer a few questions about your family’s experience.  When you’re done, you’ll be entered to win a shiny new iPad 2 or one of ten $100 Amazon.com gift cards we’re giving away and your family will receive a personalized Certificate of Achievement.  Most importantly, you and your kids will be one step closer to accepting the end of summer and getting a Great Start to the new school year.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about the Challenge - send your ideas and feedback to ActivitiesChallenge@education.com.

Good Luck - and have a great year!

Kat

A few weekends ago, I had the opportunity to travel to San Diego with my talented and fun coworkers Danielle and Alex for BlogHer ‘11.  We’re so grateful for all the amazing bloggers who share Education.com with their readers (more than 50 each month!) so we were excited to get to meet (or reconnect) with some of them at this zany, inspiring, exhausting event.

While it was great fun to meet all those amazing bloggers and to attend all those amazing sessions, the real highlight of the weekend for me was working with Alex and Danielle to create the Education.com Fun Zone at the Ford Family Picnic on the last day of the event.  After a kind introduction from the BlogHer team, Ford’s social media head genius Scott Monty invited us to be part of Ford’s event and gave us the goal of helping them “make sure bloggers have a kickass time and feel welcome to bring the whole family”. 

Were we up to the task?  You betcha!  And so was born the Education.com Fun Zone! 

The day of the event was spectacularly gorgeous and the Ford gang - led by the brilliant David Scully -  had scouted out a beautiful park in which to hold the event.  The Education.com Fun Zone was set up right in the middle of the action and we had three stations:  The Wiggle Zone was a taped off area chock full of hula hoops, balls, bubbles, rocket balloons, and other things to get all the little bodies busy.  Masterpiece Central was an area on the ground where kids could get messy with lots of painting activities (including the crowd pleasing salad spinner art station).  Finally, we had my personal favorite - the Make Your Own Rainstick Center. 

It was so fun to see all the kiddos (and their blogging parents) enjoying Education.com activities.  Their creativity and boundless energy were inspiring. 

We ended the day exhausted and covered in paint and grass stains.  And yet, when we finally sat down at a bar with the Ford team for a hard earned, um…lemonade.  We all said the same thing…”We can’t wait for our next outing with the Fun Zone!”  

Got a great idea for where we should break out the Fun Zone next?  Let us know about your favorite family event and we may just make an appearance!

If you’ve browsed Education.com lately, you may have spotted a brand new addition to our articles, activities, and worksheets - a bright orange “Collect it!” button! As pretty at it is, it serves a purpose far greater than decoration.

We know parents and teachers don’t have much time to spare, which is why I think you’re going to love this new tool. It’s a quick, efficient, and fun way to create groups of your favorite Education.com content, and share the wealth with other parents and teachers. So while you’re making your own life easier, you can help others, too!

Don’t have time to craft your own collection today? Browse some of my personal favorites below - or click on collections you see throughout the site to see what they have to offer.

ABC Tracing Sheets

Creepy Crawly Activities for Kids Who Love Bugs

Weird Science!

This Quiet Car Could Be Yours

Bullying Lesson Plan

Physical Science

Shark Week with the Kids

Counting that Works Activities

A Home School Moms World

Well, what are you waiting for? Start collecting content, sharing with friends, and inspiring others today. And stay tuned for an expanded version of Collections in the very near future. We’ve got exciting things in the works!

Oh, wait, one more thing! Since Collections is hot off the presses, we’d love to hear from you about your experience with this new feature. Please let us know by emailing webmaster@education.com.

Haven't been in a photo booth in awhile! Courtesy of Pfizer.

One week later, and I feel like I’m still getting back on track after BlogHer 2011. I loved the aura of energy, enthusiasm, and genius that surrounded me on that fine weekend in San Diego, but as a blogging (and BlogHer) newbie, I have to admit: it was A LOT to handle! Luckily, I had my good friends and coworkers, Kat and Danielle, there to show me the ropes (that’s us on the left).

I’m also thankful for the new friends (and beautiful blogs!) I was introduced to. Here are some of my favorite new blog finds and insightful posts I’ve come across after scrounging through the notes and business cards that I acquired that weekend:

• Maybe one of the most well-written (and funny!) blogs I’ve come across in awhile: Mommy’s Pen. I made a mental note to check out this blog after sharing breakfast with Sue. Read the rest of this entry »

Having fun at the Gatorade booth

After months of thinking about it, it’s finally over. We came, we saw, we got drenched in Gatorade and loaded up with all sorts of goodies. But swag aside (and there was lots of it), my favorite moments at BlogHer had to do with the people I met– sometimes just for a few seconds (speed dating!), other times over a long lunch.

Before I left for BlogHer ‘11, I made myself a rule: always sit down next to people you don’t know. So first off, thanks to all the ladies who let this stranger plunk herself down at your tables. Loved talking to all of you- but here are a few of my favorite moments:

Speed dating! What an amazing way to meet a chunk of interesting people, one after another. Loved quick introductions to Sarah of Tech4Moms- a woman who truly knows how to translate tech-speak into mom-speak; the crafty Carolina of Moore Craft Time — I want her fabric notebooks for back to school; Tech Savvy Mama Leticia  (Holy cow! Just checked out her blog and I feel like a total slacker–how can one person do so many jobs at once?!); Kate (whose Adventures in Parenting blog inspires me to be a better mom); and Mandy Gresh of My Six Months Off, who like me, took a big break from normal life and stepped off the treadmill for awhile.

Loved bonding over super-active 2 1/2 year olds at the Sallie Mae Saving for College breakfast with Jennifer of Mami2Mommy.

Such fun to watch my friend, TechMama Beth Blecherman, run a session on all-things-gadget.

And thanks to Dollar Store Mom for doling out great advice and keeping it real as we grabbed a quick bite in between sessions.

Big (but low calorie) shout out to Ellen from Love that Max who made my heart sing when she said I gave her “the best parenting tip ever”. I just have one small bone to pick– the cheesecake yogurt is the best.

And thank you, thank you to Natalie Villalobos and Katherine Gramann for my first sips of Google+ Kool Aid. Now I believe.

Believe it or not, it’s not too early to prep for the SAT. For those students who will be taking the SAT or ACT in the fall, experts recommend preparing for the test before students are fully consumed with homework, projects, and class reading.

My favorite part: the map that shows you different test prep courses in your neighborhood.

Junior year of high school is full of new challenges — changes that can be overwhelming for kids. Don’t let preparing for the SAT or ACT put extra stress on your teen. To minimize test anxiety, you may decide to enroll your teen in an SAT or ACT prep class. That’s why we’ve put together a comprehensive directory to help you find test prep classes nearby that fit your budget.

The Education.com Test Prep Finder allows you to easily compare local SAT and ACT classes. In one easy place, you can view classes and prices from major providers, look at full course schedules, and choose between different class sizes and prices to find the best fit for your teen (and your wallet!). Get started now by checking out test prep classes near you.

In addition to this class directory, we also do our best to stay on top of the newest research and expert recommendations for getting high school students prepared for the transition to college. Don’t know where to start? Check out our Parent’s Guide to High School.

If you’re looking for information specific to preparing for the SAT, here are a few of my favorite articles:

• 50 Words the SAT Loves
• SAT Math: What It Is and How to Prepare
• Ready, Set, SAT! A Plan to Prepare
• Want Your Kid to Ace the SAT? Advice from Someone Who’s Taken it 25 Times!

Wow! There are just days left in the Summer Activities Challenge and I, for one, really don’t want it to end. The nearly overwhelming stream of enthusiastic comments and emails about the Challenge are a Community Manager’s dream. But, I guess there are lots of families out there who can’t wait to hear if they’re one of the lucky winners of a $500 back to school splurge or one of ten indoor/outdoor kids croquet sets… so, I guess I’m okay with it.

A yummy way to get kids excited about early arithmetic.

If you haven’t joined the Summer Activities Challenge yet, it isn’t too late. Or maybe you simply need your kids (who, believe it or not, will soon be back in school!) to brush up on their math skills. Well, either way, look no further! Here’s a collection of some Education.com members’ favorite math activities for each grade that will surely get the job done:

Preschool: Craft a Cereal Abacus

Kindergarten: Button Math! Have Fun with Buttons

First Grade: Bowling for Addition

Second Grade: 10 Card Games to Boost Second Grade Math Skills

Third Grade: 8 Activities to Help Your Child Master Third Grade Math

Fourth Grade: Practice Math with the “Guess the Groceries” Game

Fifth Grade: Explore Circumference with Your Bicycle Wheel

Middle School: Face Off! An Integer Card Game

High School: Snake Eyes on the SAT

As you can see, between card games, biking, and grocery shopping there are many inventive (and sneaky!) ways to make math a much bigger part of summer break. Chances are, kids will get so caught up in the competitive challenge of these activities, they won’t even realize that they’re practicing important math skills.

If you and your kids complete any of these activities, make sure to enter them into the Summer Activities Challenge by clicking the “We did the activity!” button below the title of each activity. Yep, it’s that easy!