Ohio is offering its first-ever sales tax holiday in August to help back-to-school shoppers reduce the cost of clothing and school supplies. The holiday is Aug. 7-9 and applies to clothing and footwear items that cost $75 or less and to supplies and instructional materials that cost $20 or less. Items priced higher than those…
When I attended Parent Night for my third grade son, I was surprised when the teacher said that she would not be emphasizing math facts during third grade. She said it was not a priority of the math program they use. Why would this not be considered important? Some math programs place a heavier emphasis…
As a parent you probably have a pretty good guess about what your teenager would name as his or her favorite food, color, entertainer or TV show. When it comes to more in depth topics however, do you have a sense of what’s going on in their world? See if you can answer these questions…
We’ve all heard the joke: what are the three best reasons to become a teacher? June, July, and August. And it’s funny because it’s (partly) true. This summer was my first real summer “off” with my kids, and I enjoyed it immensely. We took a vacation to Florida, visited parks and the library, and crammed…
It turns out that you do not have to travel to the most exotic places in the world to explore caves. You have plenty right here in your own backyard – Ohio that is. Right here in Ohio there are caverns waiting to take you into their depths and show you a whole new world!…
There’s been a lot of buzz lately about online bashing and bullying, specifically regarding military families, with scenes playing out on Facebook and other social media websites. Spouses and family members, including children, are tagged and labeled with the term “dependapotamus” – a nasty word for a completely stereotypical military dependent who doesn’t work, wears…
Studies have shown that children have an easier time reading words that they already know than words that are foreign to them. In addition, the more words a child knows, the better she is able to comprehend what she’s reading. So, it seems to follow that building a child’s vocabulary is an extremely important part…
The other day, my kids and I headed to Home Depot to buy two items that, in most parts of the country, you’d never need to purchase at the same time. We bought a bag of rock salt for de-icing our driveway and a bag of charcoal for cooking on the grill. As we waited…
When my son first laid eyes on our new car, a crossover vehicle intended to accommodate our toddler and soon-to-arrive infant, he cried, “It’s a blue police car van!” As the weeks went by, I adopted the new nickname myself. I didn’t think much of it. We have a lot of little names for things…
I have two toddlers, which means I have two heads, two necks and four little hands to keep covered in winter gear – not to mention the four feet, which seem to require so many socks and boots! I don’t know about other moms out there, but I think that keeping those appendages cloaked in…
