As a new academic year begins, students start school with new goals, opportunities, and challenges. After a few months of vacation, it may be difficult for children to get back into school mode. Here are some ways parents can help their kids transition from summer break into the school routine.

Other than perhaps pagers in the 1990s, it’s difficult to think of any product designed for adults which has become as ubiquitous among kids as mobile devices have become. (Tell your kids about pagers. It’ll make them laugh.) Smartphones—and, to a lesser extent, tablets—are a necessity in most children’s lives.

Is your child refusing to eat anything but chicken nuggets and french fries? All too often, kids are bingeing on unhealthy snack foods instead of fruits and vegetables—children today can go days without consuming any greens at all. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) suggests vegetables should be consumed with every meal and snack. However, produce intake can be difficult when kids are picky eaters.

While it seems like summer break just started, it won’t be long before school begins again, which makes this a good time to sit down with your kids to choose a few things they can accomplish before summer ends.

It’s May, which means that kindergarteners and 8^th graders will be promoted, and students will all be making the transition from school to summer break.

School’s out, the little tykes have been on vacation for a week, and they’re already bored. How are you going to make it to August? Here are some ideas on how parents and children can get through the summer and have a good time doing it just by planning fun things to do every day. It’s easier than you think.

On Cinco de Mayo, from 8:45 to 11:45 a.m., celebrate the season with food, games, and jumping castles. Students who pre-enroll for the upcoming school year will receive free admission and one free concession item!

Besides giving kids a fun place to beat the summer heat with arts and crafts, games, activities, and more, the Summer Food Service Program at Liberty Phoenix will provide nutritious meals, from May 22 to July 7, so kids are healthy and ready to learn when they return to school in the fall. No registration or fees required, open to the public.

Whan that aprill with his shoures soote
The droghte of march hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour
Of which vertu engendred is the flour

The development of good reading skills in early childhood is the best predictor of future academic and financial success. The earlier kids learn to read, the better. The challenge is, not to teach kids to read, but to create an environment where kids will learn to love reading.