Recent Articles
Digital Revolution: How Technology’s Transforming Teaching
As another school year gets under way, classrooms everywhere are being disrupted like never before, not by misbehaving kids, but by expanding use of technology. It’s disruption through innovation — a hallmark of the digital age — and it’s transforming how teachers teach and students learn at every g
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Ten Ideas for Shaping up School Lunches
The return to school means a new round of schedules, homework and hassles; but worse for some is the return to the grind of making school lunches every day. Although a seemingly innocuous task, making lunches that kids will actually eat ranks near the top of the list of daily drudgery for many of us
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Back-to-School Cool: Mom-Approved Style Trends for Kids
Since your child’s clothes usually don’t last two years — they are constantly growing, after all — it’s time to start shopping, updating their wardrobe for the coming school year. And just like the trends you see in magazines that make you want to whip out your credit card, your kids’ clothing comes
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Whose Pet Is It, Anyway? Getting Your Kids to Walk the Walk (and Walk the Dog)
We know pets can be man’s best friend, but can they be your child’s best teacher? Wet dog kisses and warm kitty cuddles aren’t the only things kids gain from furry friends. Caring for pets fosters responsibility and a whole lot more. “Loving something that needs you and depends on you teaches empath
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Happy Backpackers: Planning a Family Wilderness Trip
Our first backpacking trip with our young daughter was to the popular Third Beach on the Olympic Coast, a mostly level, 1.5-mile hike through trees to a sandy Pacific beach. During the day, the beach was crowded with day users. But as evening approached, the crowds dispersed and left us with a wide
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Family bike-riding basics
Updated June, 2012 Karen Axon can’t wait for the arrival of warmer weather and sunnier days so her family can resume their favorite summer pastime: bike riding.On summer days, Axon, her husband, Troy, and their two boys frequently escape from their Bothell home for a riding adventure to the beach o
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Great hikes for kids in Washington state
You’re stuck inside staring at your computer screen — or watching your children stare at one of their own screens. Enough! you say. We should be hiking! But can you manage hiking with your kids? Author Joan Burton says yes. In her book Best Hikes with Kids: Western Washington & the Cascades, Bu
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Why Your Child Needs More Time Outside
Does your child have "nature-deficit disorder"? In his 2006 book, Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv coined that phrase, and it's been inspiring discussion ever since. More than ever before, Louv says, children are out of touch with nature and outdoor play, instead staying inside, plugged in to
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