School

Bag it or Buy it?

Making the right choice for the lunchroom. Making sure children eat a healthy lunch at school can be challenging, whether they eat in the cafeteria or pack a lunch from home.

Get on the Bus

It is a parent's nightmare that their child may get lost in the school bus shuffle of the first day. We worry kids won't recognize their bus number or the driver, or think to look for buddies. We offer some tips to calm first-time rider jitters.

Engaging Young Minds

Discovery Place helps kids 'think it up.' With schools cutting budgets across the Charlotte region, parents are taking a more active role in their children's education.

Back to the Books

It's almost time for alarm clocks, busses, notebooks, and schedules, which means it's back-to-school time. It's been a super hot summer, so many may be ready for the coolness of the classroom.

The Virtual Playground

Are online fantasy worlds too enticing for your child? Webkinz. Whyville. Club Penguin. Poptropica. These virtual worlds, and many others like them, create simulated environments for kids to interact with other online kid users or to create imaginative worlds of their own online.

The Multicultural Classroom

Preparing young students for a global future. Back to school means back to the basics, and in Carolina classrooms today, this means more than just reading, writing and arithmetic.

12 Terrific Teens

In June (2009), we began seeking nominations from our community of parents in homeschools, educators, administrators and school counselors in both private and public schools, and even our readers, to find 12 teens whose outstanding character, leadership and heart, distinguished them from the rest.

Music Readiness

Children’s experiences of singing, dancing, listening and exploring instruments from birth to age 7 shape their musical aptitude for the future.

College Savings 101

There’s an interesting juxtaposition when a child goes to college. The child celebrates the successful culmination of years of academic pressures, while the parents grapple with a different kind of pressure: how to pay for a higher education.

Cash for College Tips

The College Foundation of North Carolina advises:

1. Open a N.C. 529 college savings plan. In addition to federal tax advantages, the state offers a tax deduction for contributions.

Spelling and Social Studies

My son, a third-grader, has a difficult time spelling many of the words he uses in his daily work. However, he does great on his weekly spelling tests — all "A" grades. Can you explain this? How can I help him?

Reviving Letter Writing

"Did I get any mail today, huh Mom, huh?" my 10-year-old asked impatiently.
"What makes you think you’re going to get mail? Did you write someone a letter?"

How Much Homework Help is Too Much?

My fifth-grader has never found school to be easy. In the past, he has kept his head above water because I have worked with him a lot. This year, my son’s teacher doesn’t want parents to help with homework. He can’t always handle it on his own, so I’ve had to explain some of the work to him.

Wake Up Kids' Writing Skills

Is there a way I can improve my 9-year-old daughter’s writing skills? She is a brilliant reader, but her writing skills are below average according to the teacher. She never is "in the mood" to write, even on my laptop.

Cursive Writing - Is It Obsolete?

The fundamentals of handwriting are still introduced to children as early as age 3. But the progression of penmanship education — from print to cursive — is being interrupted by technology.