Make It Better Back To School Guide

Give your child a most successful back to school launch with our best advice, ideas, tips.

And help keep your school strong with our "Help Your School Toolkit."

Preschool Skill Building

Tech Mama: 25 Best Apps and Websites for Summer Skill Building
Even though this is a summer list, these apps will keep your little ones learning all year long.

Elementary School

Helping Kids Help Themselves with Homework
How to help a disorganized child get better organized.

Elementary School: 10 Things Your Child Can and Should Do
A child’s education is very important to most parents. But it is easy to become too focused on academics and forget that there is another set of skills our children need to become functioning adults: life skills.

Middle School

5 Steps to Creating a Cozy Homework Zone
Homework spaces can be carved out of any location in the home—kids’ bedrooms, a family room or a finished basement.

9 Tips to Help Your Child Cope with Stress
As parents, we can help our child negotiate the school year with these 9 strategies that help reduce stress for your child and for your family.

Middle School: 10 Things Your Child Can and Should Do
A child’s education is very important to most parents. But it is easy to become too focused on academics and forget that there is another set of skills our children need to become functioning adults: life skills.

High School

Moving From 8th Grade to High School: Advice for the Transition
Scary as it may be, it is possible to survive the fearsome transition from 8th grade to high school.

High School Textbooks: Avoid the Sticker Shock
The first day of school is just around the corner—and for many parents, the cost of high school textbooks makes us long for the day when we complained about the cost of 6th grade school supplies.

5 Ways to Curb Your Child’s Cheating Ways
We have to face a simple fact about students today: as technology has evolved to provide a vast wealth of information anytime, anywhere, cheating has never been easier. Here are five ways to prevent your teenagers from cheating.

Sports

Are You an Overzealous Sports Parent
If you’re asking yourself whether your enthusiasm for your children’s sports activities is motivating or monster-making, here’s a checklist for you.

4 Tips for Raising Scholars and Athletes
Help your kids find success in both school and sports with these tips from some of the area’s top athletes.

Bullying

Empowering the Bystander: Give Your Kid the Courage to Stand Up to Bullying
Whether passive or active, willing or unwilling, a bystander is a participant in the bullying. Only when we teach and empower our kids to stand up and speak out can we break the cycle.

Back to School Fashion

Saving Money on Back to School Clothing
Fashion doesn't have to cost you an arm and a leg—here's how to save.

Prep’s Cool
Our August 2011 Make It Better magazine fashion piece, featuring the latest back to school trends.

Supporting Your School

Make Your School Better Toolkit
Schools count on and actively encourage parents to get involved in their child's education. Here’s how to get started.

Local Resources

These categories from our Better List have lots of useful companies and organizations for Back to School help.

Education, including counseling, gap year, private consultants and tutors

Extracurricular Activities

Sports

Internet Resources

Back to School at USA.gov includes resources for parents, students and educators.

Back to School Transition Tips from the National Association of School Psychologists

Homework Help—National Geographic offers a homework help search for answering geography and science questions.