“Watch out for missing shoes as kids start school - Tri-City Herald” plus 3 more

Watch out for missing shoes as kids start school - Tri-City Herald
School shopping can teach kids spending skills - Grand Forks Herald
School supplies keep improving, getting cooler - Fresno Bee
Dothan kids asked to help needy children - Dothan Eagle

Watch out for missing shoes as kids start school - Tri-City Herald

Posted: 23 Aug 2010 06:13 AM PDT

DETROIT When it comes to back-to-school shopping, parents can learn something every year.

If you're a newbie, you might not know - as we didn't - that some teachers send school supply lists out during the summer. Don't ask me how we missed the list one year, but I sure remember the first day of school when I felt like I had to rush to CVS to fix things.

Or you might not know that some children, really, can get along with just two pairs of shoes during most of the year.

My sister Linda warned me, though, that you are better off with two pairs, not one. Linda, a mother of three, said a child who leaves home in winter boots with a pair of shoes in the backpack might return home with just one shoe. Who knew?

For older parents with children starting college this year, you might not know that many textbooks can be found cheaper online than at the campus bookstore. It pays to check.

In the spirit of always learning more ways to save money, we offer more back-to-school ideas:

Once you get that supply list, stick to it. Teachers report that some eager parents buy interesting but useless items - mini-staplers and trendy erasers that are cute but will never be used.

Dig for last year's scissors, computer headsets, calculators, lunch boxes, backpacks. If you start looking a week before school starts, you won't be rushed.

A new school year doesn't have to mean a new backpack. Last year's may be able to survive another nine months.

Set aside some money for unexpected expenses after the school year begins. We once had to spend way more money than I'd like to admit for a hermit crab and his habitat. The crab outlived my son's project; actually, we're still buying food for a crustacean named Hershey Taco.

Do not buy all your clothes in August or September. Some items will be on clearance racks a short time later.

Go under your child's bed and deep into the closet. You may discover new clothes that your child has never worn. Some items could work for this year; others can be donated or sold at resale shops.

Ask another parent about buying any uniforms or basic clothes that their child has outgrown.

Talk to your child's teacher about age-appropriate supplies.

"Simple is better," said Kathy Anderson, a teacher at Bunche Elementary in Detroit and the mother of three school-age sons. A popular Trapper Keeper can cost around $10 to $15. But Anderson noted that for younger children those fancy binders can be more trouble than they are worth.

Some children don't have the organizational skills to put their papers in the right spots in big binders.

For some grade-school children, she said, it might be better and easier to have 10 two-pocket folders - they cost 10 cents to 20 cents apiece - in a variety of colors.

Give your child some money to buy one or two items. You'd be surprised how well a child can shop or how willing your son or daughter can be to reuse an old item if it means hanging onto some cash to spend on something else.

If your child goes off to school with a phone that's on your bill, pay attention to call and texting costs. It's easy to pay overage charges of $100 a month. Ask your carrier whether you can get a free alert when you're near a limit.

Shortly before your son or daughter goes to college, make sure to have "the talk." Discuss how writing checks without enough money to cover them can lead to hundreds of dollars in overdraft fees.

Tell them that using an ATM outside of your bank's network also carries extra fees.

Take advantage of Sept. 16 - the first ever National Money Night Talk. See http://www.moneynighttalk.com/ for age-appropriate tips.

Get the ISBN number of a text and go online to find better deals. One parent found a physics book for her high school son online at Half.com for $28 - quite a savings when compared with the $93 that the school supplier wanted for a used book. (New was $178!) Try various Web sites: BigWords.com, AbeBooks.com, Amazon.com, Ecampus.com and CollegeBooksDirect.com.

Free is awesome. Kiplinger magazine has highlighted Gutenberg.org, where you can download free e-books, including works by Jane Austen and James Joyce.

Shopping for "obnoxiously colored" Converse sneakers can be fun, but the bulk of your back-to-school budget needs to go for items that will take your child through the year, so think basic, not trendy.

No child - whether in kindergarten or college - needs $50 jeans.

Similar stories:

Deal Diva: Buy school supplies before classes start

Deal Diva: Buy school supplies before classes start

"Back to school" is a phrase even parents dread to hear, thanks to the impact that school supplies have on the wallet.

The key to finding deals is to plan it out. Know what supplies you will need. Most schools now offer supply lists on their websites. Some office supply stores even carry the lists.

Other tips:
Watch out for missing shoes as kids start school

Watch out for missing shoes as kids start school

When it comes to back-to-school shopping, parents can learn something every year.

If you're a newbie, you might not know - as we didn't - that some teachers send school supply lists out during the summer. Don't ask me how we missed the list one year, but I sure remember the first day of school when I felt like I had to rush to CVS to fix things.

Or you might not know that some children, really, can get along with just two pairs of shoes during most of the year.
Take control of office politics: craft a comeback

Take control of office politics: craft a comeback

COMEBACKS: Wish you had just the right quick-witted response for that snarky colleague?

When put on the spot or cornered in conversation at work, it's important to choose a relevant comeback, and quickly, says Kathleen Kelley Reardon, a professor of management at the Marshall School of Business at University of Southern California and author of the upcoming book "Comebacks at Work."

"Words are so easily used against us, and every conversation has choice points that people need to teach themselves to attend to," Reardon said. "If you don't react, reshape, deflect or take control over what is said to you, the people you work with will get to manage you every day, all day."
Back to school for less: Try these five tips to save on school supplies and more

Back to school for less: Try these five tips to save on school supplies and more

It's not too late to take advantage of back-to-school savings. Merchants are offering deals and freebies on everything from clothes to pencils to cell phones.

1. Shop at home first Start with a list of what your child needs that first week of school. Then look around the house. Assess and collect binders, paper, pencils and crayons, scratch things off your list, then start shopping.

2. Stock up on clothes... but not too much Make a list of clothes your child needs now. (For a handy sample list of just how many shirts, pairs of pants and socks your kid actually needs for the school year, visit Scholastic's website (http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=1296).)
Helping with the back-to-school lunch blues

Helping with the back-to-school lunch blues

It's still summertime on the calendar and outside, but the Back to School blues are in the air. Besides the idea of getting the kids up in the morning - which is never fun after the lazy days of summer - it also means time to start packing lunch again. We want to help with that chore, so recipe researcher Sheila Kern got out the lunch box and started preparing new and tasty ways to feed the kids. Some recipes are perfect for school days; others are more appropriate for weekends. Enjoy and happy packing.

Apple Sandwiches with Granola and Peanut Butter

From www.wholefoodsmarket.com

I always had a terrible time getting to sleep the night before the first day of school.

Too excited about new classes, new teachers and new books, I'd stay up organizing my plastic pencil case and getting my subject folders perfectly placed in my Trapper Keeper.

Yet as organized as my school supplies always were, once I arrived on campus, there was always some cool new product other kids were sporting that wasn't in my backpack.

This column goes out to all the adults who longed for the trendiest stuff when they went back to school. It'll tap into the memories of parents whose now-grown-up kids once pitched fits in store aisles because they were denied the one thing all their classmates would have.

This column will amaze those of us who didn't believe manufacturers could do anything else to improve a pencil and have now discovered they can.

Personalization is hot

Remember when the choices for folders were plain oranges, plain blues, plain, plain, plain.

Or maybe you got the coveted classic Pee Chee All Season Portfolios, the yellow card-stock folders with pictures of high school athletes on it? (Mead is now offering a "retro" version.)

But today's kids are more likely to have covers with colorful and eye-catching graphic designs if they couldn't talk their parents into Crayola's new line of customizable Liv folders and binders.

Targeted at 'tween and teenage girls, the folders give them the chance to create their own graphics online or to get prepackaged graphics ($4) that they can use to create a cover for a Liv folder or binder ($4 and $7, respectively). Log on at www.livcrayola.com to get started on creating your own.

I can't help but wonder, though, what students will doodle on while listening to a dull lecture.

Get (back)packing

Backpacks remain one of the most important accessories in a student's school-supply repertoire, but now they're both fashionable and utilitarian.

"Backpacks are a hot item this summer with a variety of new patterns from pink camo(uflage) to peace signs to hearts and butterflies," said Beth Cleveland, a spokeswoman for OfficeMax.

My eyes feasted upon the fetching High Sierra Sport's Loop day pack line (Retails for $70, but you can get it for as cheap as $24.49) with bold colors, designs, gear hooks, mesh beverage pockets and the practically obligatory MP3 player pocket and headphone port. Beats the heck out of hooking your Walkman to your belt, eh?

I'm taking a moment to back away from the day pack and remember that fit is more important than style.

Dr. Harry Khasigian, an orthopedic surgeon at Methodist Hospital in south Sacramento, said backpacks should not cover more than three-quarters of the child's back, nor should they be wider than their back.

"The backpack needs to be balanced on your back so you don't have rotational problems and twisting," he said.

It also should be padded and as lightweight as possible, since once filled it shouldn't exceed 15 percent of the child's body weight.

Rolling backpacks should have handles long enough so the child can stand up straight and pull it. Messenger bags, while they look chic, aren't so hot with the good doc because they can cause ergonomic problems.

Write this way

I used to think those mechanical pencils were cool.

Now, there's the Sharpie Liquid Pencil ($1.99 for a single pack), a new graphite technology that writes like a pen and erases like a pencil. No more sharpening pencils or broken lead.

Dothan kids asked to help needy children - Dothan Eagle

Posted: 13 Aug 2010 01:42 PM PDT

DOTHAN, Ala. --

A national nonprofit wants children and their parents to think of Christmas as their shopping for back-to-school items.

Operation Christmas Child plans to hand deliver shoe box gifts to more than 8 million struggling children in 100 countries this year. The effort is a project of the international relief and evangelism organization Samaritan's Purse, headed by Franklin Graham. Volunteers fill simple shoe boxes with toys, necessity items, school supplies, candy and hand-written notes of encouragement. The gifts are then shared with children worldwide who are suffering because of natural disaster, disease, war, terrorism, famine and poverty.

Step-by-step shoe box packing instructions are available at www.samaritanspurse.org.

For more information on how to participate in Operation Christmas Child, call (770) 777-9342 or visit www.samaritanspurse.org. National Collection Week for gift-filled shoe boxes is Nov. 15-22; however, shoe box gifts are collected all year at the Samaritan's Purse headquarters in Boone, N.C.

Kids Shoes

Monday, August 23, 2010