What is the PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest
and who can enter?

It’s a Contest for all kids in K-3rd grade who want to write and illustrate their own stories. You can submit your story for judging, and a chance to win local and national prizes in addition to having your story featured on this website! Plus, everyone who enters gets a Certificate of Achievement. The PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest is produced by WNED-TV, Buffalo/Toronto and PBS.  Details: CLICK HERE

This is an Early Bird announcement (prepare) the contest will officialy open in Jan 2011 at site above.

MrsP.com is holding her second annual  “Be a Famous Writer” contest for children beginning September 1st. The contest will open for submissions on September 1st and will continue to accept submissions through October 15th 2010.

The contest is open to all children ages 4 to 13 — and stories will be judged in two age groups:

1. four to eight
2. nine to thirteen

Stories may cover any topic, fiction or nonfiction, and should be between 250 and 1,000 words. Read the rest…

The internet is a great instrument for learning, so check out Kids.gov for a fun, educational and interactive site that’s safe for your kids. They’ll find great information on history, science and other subjects for their class reports and projects.CLICK HERE

Sometimes it can be hard to get the kids to settle down and do their homework. Experiment with ways that work with your kids to make sure their homework gets done. You can sit with them and do similar work-balancing your checkbook or reading-while they do theirs. And when they ask for help, provide direction, but not complete answers. When they start a report or need to study for a test, set them up comfortably so they can plan their drafts and study in a quiet area. CLICK HERE

• While you can’t protect your kids from everything, you can help them recognize and effectively deal with bullying of all types, including cyber bullying over the web. If someone is trying to bully your children, tell them to stand up for themselves politely, not to bully back and to tell an adult as soon as possible. (2 sources)    Click here and CLICK HERE

There are a lot of activities you can do at home to help your kids succeed in the classroom. When emptying the dishwasher, have your kids sort the dishes. This helps increase their attention to detail and their ability to recognize differences and similarities between things. To improve their listening skills, hide an object and give them precise directions to find it, or have them close their eyes while you make noise with different items that they must identify.    CLICK HERE

The America the Beautiful Quarters Program, new in 2010, brings selected national sites to this popular circulating coin.  Fifty-six different designs make up this series (one for each state, the District of Columbia, and each of five US territories).

For educators, the United States Mint offers free lesson plans (for grades K through 12) based on the new quarter designs.  What a great opportunity to connect history with the coins in the very pockets of your students! All information: CLICK HERE

1. NOAA announces funding availability for Formal K-12 Education Projects

NOAA’s Office of Education (OEd) has issued a request for applications for *Formal K-12 Education Projects* that advance inquiry-based Earth System Science learning and stewardship directly tied to the school curriculum, with a particular interest in increasing climate literacy. To address this goal, Read the rest…

National Grant Program:  Applications Now Being Accepted

The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy is pleased to announce our 2011 National Grant competition.  The Foundation’s grant-making program seeks to develop or expand projects designed to support the development of literacy skills for adult primary care givers and their children.  A total of approximately $650,000 will be awarded; no grant request should exceed $65,000. Read the rest…

A national literary treasure is missing. Someone has stolen the original copy of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, so goes the plot in Nathan Miller’s comical children’s mystery, The Official Librarian: Bessy’s Back!, where a whimsical librarian named Bessy Beebody is forced to become a detective. Readers from 3rd grade to adult, will enjoy joining Bessy and her friend, Huddy, the talking film projector, as they search for Twain’s literary masterpiece. But it won’t be easy, especially with someone… or thing chasing them. Read the rest…