OK. Mind shift. School? It starts when? Like, now.
How did that happen? It feels like the middle of summer. Are you and your kids ready?
Parents: we’ve got so much important information in this issue to help. I’m truly proud of this one (Yes, I feel that every month…but this one, wow!!!)
We’ve got new columns and new writers I think you will love. Please, drop us a line and let us know what you want to see more of.
Some of the hits: we’ve got the story that answers why school starts so soon here, unlike many other places that wait until after Labor Day (which feels right to me). Writer Joanna Jenkins did some digging on this one.
We have two stories that focus on something they don’t teach enough of in school: financial education for kids and parents. In one, Colleen Murphy suggests not using chores as a payment option for kids. It’s one of my favorite tools, but her suggestions really opened my eyes to other ways to motivate.
In the other, our friends at Bay Fed (and who knows more about money?) break the myths that kids see in handling dollars (you mean that credit card isn’t a magic way to buy anything?). If only for those articles, you’d get your value for the $10 you spend on this magazine (what? It’s free? Oh yeah. What a value!)
We’ve got three new columns this month. One, which I’ve wanted for years, is about special needs, the kids who are overlooked and too ignored in our system (and it’s getting worse in a new federal world that scorns DEI). Please send in your questions and suggestions on topics there for Tovah Petra Kolodinski, a brilliant authority. Send them to [email protected].
We’ve also got one on women’s fitness, which will have tips and suggestions readers will love. FInally, we’ve got one on grandparents volunteering in the classroom, an invaluable benefit for our struggling schools. Author Steve Miller (not the rock star, but a star anyway), runs Shared Adventures, which puts on recreational activities for the disabled population, truly heroic work.
Then there’s Susan Tatsui-D’Arcy’s advice for helping teens in school (kids never stop being kids and they need just as much help as they get older). She’s got very important information about AP classes designed not for students going to college, but for learning about the real world. We need these and I wish I had them when I was a student!
On the fun side, Jaime McFaden has a preview of a place to get fit while dancing in lines. It’s becoming quite the fad, right up there with pickleball.
And in a feature you have to share with your daughters, Malia Fort suggests how to pick the perfect outfit to start the school year with, complete with photos.
On the food front, nutritionist and celebrated author Elizabeth Borelli, has recipes to help trick your kids into eating healthy and making treats they will love.
Finally, we have an adoptable pet and advice for how to keep them cool in the summer time, something we all need to know. (Why haven’t they invented sunscreen for dogs?)
And on a very positive note: our cover features the best news in a while: free pre-K for all Santa Cruz children! Check About the Cover for info.
Thanks for reading and we hope to help you ease back from summer vacation.
Brad Kava, Publisher
