As mentioned in a previous OH Guide it's our goal this year to move our son's packed school lunch towards zero waste, something we started last year and have received a lot of satisfaction from doing. Not to mention the bonus karma. In order to accomplish this goal he'll begin taking reuseable cloth napkins as opposed to paper napkins.

"Teacher From the Black Lagoon" is the Mike Thaler book that began his very funny series of "Black Lagoon" books. This is the book I always read my students on the first day of school.

A recent Scientific American article "Gifted Children: How to Bring out Their Potential" examines whether acceleration or enrichment is the best path for bringing out a gifted child's true gifts.

I think this must be a common thing for iPhone-owning parents--wondering if it's OK to let your two year-old old use it as a video game console... Once they get their hands on it, they're addicted. Kinda like their parents... A friend of mine at work even proposed we create a line of educational iPhone apps for kids. Victor Agreda, Jr. discusses this phenomenon on tuaw.com:

PsychCentral.com has some tips about sending the right message to kids in this age of waif models, weight obsession, wii fits, Skinny Bitch diets and radical stomach surgeries. Even my eight year-old son recently asked if he was "too fat" -- and he's as thin as a rail...

Only a few days left--vote now for your favorite items in the Handmade Kids Challenge for a chance to win one of 14, $350 Etsy Shopping Sprees! Voting closes September 8, 2008 at 11:59pm EDT.  

A Los Angeles Times article claims that Los Angeles Unified School District plans to set up an Internet program that will enable parents to monitor and manage children’s lunch-money spending, how many times they're late to class and just how poorly they're doing in algebra... Is this an empowering form of transparency, or another slide toward a culture of surveillance?

What's not to love about Wired's "10 Geeky Movies to Raise Your Kids on"? It's one of those childhood memory inducing/"Oh yeah, I forgot about that one"/we desperately need a quality movie for our Family Movie Night type of lists. Or what I like to call a good "free movies in the park" list. And the geek in me is loving the shout out at #4 of "My Neighbor Totoro" and all thing Miyazaki.

The beginning of each new school year brings new adventures and routines. As the first day of school approaches we find ourselves anxious and excited about all the possibilities. This includes the making of the school lunch or "brown baggin' it" if you will.

Why bring a lunch?:
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), a group committed to making changes in school lunch programs, has an informative site

Who needs math and reading games, when kids today are just so darn rude? That's the point of these Hasbro games. The three games focus on a different lesson--sharing, listening and good manners--and are each accompanied by a book and CD. They take place at either a pizza parlor, amusement park or picnic and follow a group of kids in the fictional town of Noodleboro as they navigate sticky social situations that teach them proper behavior.

Found via the Seattle Times, another entry in the "kid tested, mother approved" line of healthy-yet-appetizing recipe books for kids: Real Food for Healthy Kids. From the publisher:

"In an era of McDiets, packed schedules, and stressful jobs, it's harder than ever to incorporate nutritious food into our children's daily lives. But you no longer have to rely on microwaved hot dogs and frozen pizza. In this essential cookbook, food—and parenting—experts Tracey Seaman and Tanya Wenman Steel offer help and hope, whether you're experienced in the kitchen or more inclined to head to the drive-through.

For the taking, Spitefuls is offering two excellent, downloadable "Disaster Dioramas" paper crafts, Titanic and Hindenburg, with promises of more down the road like the Alamo...SWEET. "All your favorite disasters.... now in smaller paper form!" What a great way for you kid to fill some of those after school homework free hours during the first week of back to school.

The Falcon Theatre in Burbank, Ca. is somewhat known for their pop-musical interpretations of classic stories like their popular "Alice in One-Hit-Wonderland" series.

Holding regular living room "jam sessions" with our kids using their collection of kid-friendly instruments and homemade noise makers, attending family-friendly concerts and classes, etc...we attempt to surround our kids with music even if our own musical talents are lacking(sadly mine is really lacking). Hoping to create a life-long appreciation for music we try to educate our kids the best we can with what resources we find.

I recently completed a dress-up fairy apron using this awe-inspiring fairy apron tutorial courtesy of super-fabulous Wee Wonderfuls. The tutorial is helpful with precise, clear directions and hand-drawn pictures. Being a beginner sewer I appreciate the simplicity of this tutorial even if it took me three different times to master a gathering stitch.