As an elementary teacher, I get lots of the same kinds of questions from parents every year, and all of them fall into ghe general category of "How can I help my child to do his or her best in school." With Smart Start I'll be adressing a frequently asked issue realting to education. Feel free to respond in the comments with other questions you may have. My goal is to provide you with answers, tips, and insights to help you support your child as a learner at every stage.

Where I live, the air is fragrant with flowers and newly cut hay right now. It is July, and officially summer. Summer in a child's mind is a time of adventure and family, of lazy mornings and lazier afternoons.

But summer also marks the beginning of an important time in your child's academic career: a time of maintaining skills and progress. Children who do not spend time reading over the summer often show significant losses in their reading skills at the start of the new school year, and boys, specifically find it challenging to sink into a good book over the summer months.

Young boys who have just started reading chapter books often struggle with finding books that engage them. Many tend to prefer nonfiction texts or comics: stuff with a wow-factor and humor rather than character development and plot. Boys are often inclined to put the book down mid-way through and zip off to something more engaging if the book hasn't fully drawn them in, and nonfiction reading or comics caters to this style of reading.

But strong comprehension strategies are built and sustained by reading fictional chapter books that require readers to keep track of characters, monitor plot changes, make predictions, and build on prior knowledge. And it's a worthy summer cause to try and find at least one or two chapter books that belong to a series that your son likes, so that he can practice and build on some of these important reaching comprehension skills.

Lesley Porcelli over at Gourmet isn't a mom yet, but she's well on her way and pondering what kind of eater her kid will be. Like a lot of non-parents, she readily admits that she has strong opinions about successful parenting, particularly when it comes to feeding the child. And when it comes to picky eaters, Porcelli is pretty sure that parents are to blame.

Her theory goes something like this: If the whole family sits down to eat together and nobody makes a big deal out of what is on the plate, the kid will happily chow down without complaint. If a parent assumes the kid wouldn't touch a lasagna with a ten foot pole and therefore doesn't bother to offer it, chances are good that the kid will subsist on nuggets and fries until maturity.

I think Porcelli has it only partly right. Kids aren't blank slates waiting to be molded into actual people. Even as they try their first bites of solid food, they are individuals with their own likes and dislikes. From her first bite of pureed chicken as a baby, my Ellie disliked meat. She gobbled up the fruits and veggies, but spat out anything that tasted of animal. I don't know if her aversion was about texture or taste, but to this day she would sooner eat a plate of green beans than a bite of chicken. For Ellie, it isn't about not wanting to try new foods (she loves crab cakes and calamari), she just doesn't like meat.

That said, I do think parents can - and should - influence what foods their child will consume. The old "just take one bite" routine works well for us and is the reason we can all enjoy a plate of calamari together. But in the end, I don't worry too much about my picky eater. After all, I lived off bologna and mustard sandwiches as a kid and I survived just fine.

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The hype has been building for months, ever since word first got out last fall about Pixar's new film WALL-E. It's the story of WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter -- Earth-Class), a determined robot who falls for a sleek new robot named EVE who shows up one fateful day. WALLL-E ends up chasing her across the galaxy and saving the world in the process.

As a fan of quality animation and a total Pixar groupie, I have been looking forward to seeing this film for quite a while. With all the trailers, adverts, and WALL-E's face plastered all over the streetcars here, my kids have been eagerly awaiting its release as well. They squeal with joy whenever they see him, and my older son has been reminding me that the movie was coming out June 27 practically non-stop.

So, does the movie live up to the hype? Is it as good as we have come to expect from Pixar, the studio that brought us such modern classics as Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., and one of the best children's movies ever, Cars? Well, since June 27 just happened to be my daughter's birthday, I took my son Jared (six years old) and daughter Sara (turned four that day) to find out.

There are generally two schools of thought when it comes to letting kids play with toys guns. Some parents see it as no big deal and shootouts in the living room don't phase them in the least. Others are horrified by the very idea of children pretending to kill one another and forbid toys guns entirely. I think it is a safe bet to assume that Angelina Jolie would fall into the first category.

According to Jolie, her eldest son Maddox thinks war is pretty cool and she wears solid gold proof of this around her neck. ''Mad, our 6-year-old, draws lots of war scenarios,'' she explains. ''He's all into war and guns. So for Mother's Day he drew a machine gun, and Brad had it made into a necklace, which is really sweet. It's really cute. I think it's really good!''

I think making jewelry from your kid's artwork is a fantastic idea. But a machine gun? Considering Jolie's tireless humanitarian work with refugee children affected by war, I would have pegged her as more of the peace-loving type.

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Actress and Blue Lagoon star Brooke Shields knows a thing or two about the paparazzi. Having been a child star and a young person in the constant eye of the media storm , Brooke has taken it upon herself to teach her children how to handle the media.

Brooke's daughter, Rowan, who is five, knows what to do when the paparazzi strikes. Says Rowan, when asked by her mom what to do when the media strikes, "Well, I look straight ahead and I don't look them in the eye." Shields is sorry her daughter even knows what the word 'paparazzi' means.

Shields says that teaching her children to ignore the press is a healthier way of handling them. The actress knows the paparazzi will be there no matter what she does, so better to ignore them than give them what they want, I guess. Shields is also mom to daughter Grier Hammond, two.

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What was supposed to be a fun day of golf for a group of young kids turned in to what one might charitably call a 'teaching opportunity" for parents. Due to a scheduling snafu, the Gold Crown Junior Golf Association tournament at Eagle Trace Golf Course in Broomfield, Colorado overlapped with Shotgun Willie's Charity Golf Tournament. Competing in the Gold Crown tournament: kids ages 7 to 12. Participants in Shotgun Willie's tournament: 70 strip club dancers and their patrons.

Eagle Trace instructor Dustin Moser admits that the girls may have gotten a little frisky out on the course, but insists that nothing untoward happened in the presence of the children. "There was nothing inappropriate going on around the clubhouse when the kids were around," he said.

At least one parent begs to differ. "When I walked into the clubhouse to look for my girls, I saw a woman straddling a male at a dining table," said a mother who picked up her two kids at the club. She says the questions on the way home went something like this: "Mom, why is she only wearing underwear?' 'Mom, why are the girls wearing white and why do the men have water guns?'

The manager of the golf club says Gold Crown officials were aware that Shotgun Willie's tournament was scheduled immediately after theirs. Gold Crown coordinator Jim Hunt insists that he was not informed of the half-naked, exotic nature of the participants. Either way, I think this is a golf tournament these kids won't soon forget.

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Yesterday, my seven year old and I had a conversation about high gas prices. This talk was prompted by my refusal to buy her a new pair of summer shoes and my insistence that we see the cheaper matinee showing of Kung Fu Panda rather than wait for the evening show. I don't know how much of this economic lesson she really understood, but suffice it so say that she has now joined the ranks of those bummed about high gas prices.

I know mine isn't the only family cutting back in response to the rising prices of everything. The Vance family in Salt Lake City decided that cable television was luxury they could no longer afford and had it disconnected. This did not sit well with their kids, 9-year-old Sadie and 7-year-old Pyper. Cut off from their favorite television shows, the girls decided to take it to the streets. Carrying a sign that read "All of my mom's monny goes to the gas tank!" and another asking drivers to honk to lower gas prices, the girls paraded through downtown.

"Gas prices are too high," Sadie said. "I just decided to come and protest so they'd go down."

Ah, if only it were that simple we would all grab up a sign and march. Come to think of it, maybe we should all get together and protest en mass. It might not make a bit of difference, but at least we will have something to do while we are missing our favorite television shows.

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Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has been used for years to track inventory; now, one school district in Rhode Island is planning to use the technology to track students. RFID chips will be put into the kids' schoolbags and read by devices installed in the district's two school buses. The buses will also have GPS units to track their position.

Parents and school administrators would be able to track the location of the buses online and check whether or not particular kids had gotten on the bus. The ACLU, however, is concerned about the plan. Stephen Brown, executive director of the ACLU's Rhode Island chapter, says that "there's absolutely no need to be tagging children." He says the school district ought to know where its students are without tagging them.

I'm not sure I like the idea; there is, of course, the potential for misuse of the system. More importantly, however, I think I'd rather see the kids tracked by humans, however infallible they might be, than have them turned into a number so early in their lives.

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It's a parental nightmare -- a kid who really has to go and no bathroom in sight. A reader of the Consumerist web site wrote about an experience she and her daughter had: "I explained she had diarrhea and couldn't hold it and told them she was about to go on the floor. They refused again and never offered me any alternatives. I begged them to have a heart and that she was 5 but by that time she had lost it all over herself and me."

What makes it worse is that the manager, when she later called to complain, laughed at her and suggested she sue "if it makes [her] feel happy". Now, there are always two sides to every story and we're only hearing one here. Some have suggested that there are insurance issues to consider and that the store may not have even had a bathroom at all. Still, that wouldn't excuse the manager's callous response afterwards. It seems to me that the manager missed an opportunity to turn an irate customer into a happy one just by showing a little sympathy and concern.

It is not often that I have the opportunity or the desire to visit a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory store; reading this story certainly hasn't given me any added incentive to do so. My heart goes out to the mom and the little girl who suffered this embarrassing situation. It's also a good reminder to always keep a change of clothes in the car -- for you and your kids, just in case.

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"She went straight from Disney princess to High School Musical," complains one mom in an article titled "Parents fret as as tots love 'High School Musical."

As Disney shows such as Hannah Montana and High School Musical (HSM) predictably make their way down the marketing food chain, there is growing concern among parents that adolescent themes like boyfriends and break-ups are now being digested by two and three-year olds. Today, it's not unusual for a four year-old to have a High School Musical birthday party or to proclaim Sharpay, HSM's superficial, Jimmy Choo wearing mean girl to be her "favorite character." So long Cinderella.

I have sounded off on this disturbing trend often in my blogs and I stand by my position that the sexualization of childhood via entertainment, toys, and clothes is one of the most insidious forces facing young kids -- especially young girls.

It's not easy to safeguard childhood given the corporate marketing onslaught and the fact that so many kids are steeped in what now passes for "kid culture."

So what's a mom to do? My strategy is to stick to my guns. If I can postpone a premature adolescence by even a couple of years, it will be worth it. I set age-appropriate boundaries and explain them in a way that my children can understand and explain to their peers if questioned about it.

Of course, they want to know why their friends can watch these shows when they can't. I simply tell them that all families have different rules. This won't be the first time where ours differs from those of other families. In our home, I explain, kids watch and play with kid stuff because being a kid is FUN and there is no need to rush it. I assure them that there will be plenty of time for tween and teen things in the future. So far, this explanation has been satisfactory. I used a similar tact with the Bratz Dolls: "I want you to play with a doll that looks like you. This doll looks kind of mean and wears so much make-up. She doesn't look very fun."

This year our 8 year-old daughter attended a party where High School Musical was shown. She informed the girls that she isn't allowed to watch "teenager movies" and an animated G-rated film was played instead. She also left the room when the conversation turned to things she recognized that we would not like her to be part of. I didn't expect that to happen, but it did and I was proud of her. It happened to be the day before Mother's Day and I told her it was the best present she could have ever given me.

This weekend, she attended Girl Scout camp by herself for the first time. Initially, I had flashbacks of all those "camp" movies where the bad girls talk the other girls into compromising dares and rites of initiation involving boys. Luckily, camp came on the heels of her very commendable (and courageous) conduct at the birthday party. I let her go.

As the bus drove off, I thought to myself, "First Girl Scouts, then college." It goes so fast. That's precisely why she should be a little girl as long as she can.

Depending on who you talk to, Summer officially started yesterday evening. In short order, the street fairs and other summer festivals are set to make their debuts, if they haven't already. Amidst all the fun, thrills and excitement, the lights and sounds--and smells--of the fairs, there's another main reason people of all ages travel to such things: The food. It's deep-fried, a lot of it, it's greasy, and it sure is tasty. It also presents some precariousness for a parent of a child with a serious food allergy. After all, who knows what exactly is in that stuff? Most of the time, we'd rather enjoy it and not know.

Dr. Amal H. Assa'ad, a member of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology warns parents to inspect every molecule of food their children may come in contact with, and recommends children with severe allergies such as peanuts and tree nuts carry an Epi-pen with then at all times. I would add to that, from personal experience (I have one of these life-threatening allergies) that you SHOULD ALWAYS WEAR YOUR MEDICAL EMERGENCY ID BRACELET. As my CPR instructor noted, if my throat is closed up and I can't speak, and I'm not wearing my bracelet, no one is going to know I have a nut allergy and to give me the Epi-pen shot.

I hate to say this too, but parents should consider packing and bringing snacks they know are safe to any event, whether it be a potluck or a street fair. Sure, the food is tempting, but most of the people selling it didn't make it, don't know what's in it--oils, for example, are known to be terrible allergens but most servers don't know if what they're serving was made with peanut oil or soy oil--and don't understand how severe the consequences can be when the provide misinformation. Bringing your own food is sure to be healthier, too. Dr. Assa'ad also recommends that parents who suspect a child may have any sort of allergy get it checked out immediately. Honestly, as a kid, I never did. I just had the reaction and we thought, ok, we'll avoid that FOREVER. It's not a great way to navigate through the endless purveyors of things that smell delicious, but could be deadly.

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Some of you may have read recently that the famous chimp Cheeta didn't receive enough votes to earn a star on the Hollywood walk of fame. Tinkerbell, however, animated fairy from Peter Pan, did. She is the most recent cartoon character to be considered for and receive the coveted star.

The Walk of Fame Committee (yes, there is one) for the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce choose the recipients of the stars based on the votes, and their choices are then ratified by the Board of Directors. The recipient of the star must agree to attend a ceremony and shell out $25,000 to the Trust to cover things like security. I assume Tinkerbell's estate will handle all of this.

Other stars of the living kind to receive the star this go around are Ben Kingsley, Hugh Jackman and Harry Shearer, as well as the Village People, The Miracles (you know, Smokey's backup group) and Shakira. Her hips are probably the real recipient, but Shakky will accept on their behalf.

Pic by Photos o' Randomness.

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What would you do if your five-year-old got an application for a credit card in the mail? Well, just for fun, you might have your kid fill it out and maybe even send it in. That's what Amy Christiansen of Aurora, Illinois did. Imagine her surprise, then, when her son was actually approved and received his very own credit card.

Yes, despite the fact that young Bennett Christiansen correctly filled in his income (none) and birthdate (in 2002) in what could only be a child's handwriting, Bank of America issued him his very own credit card with a six hundred dollar limit.

"How can somebody who is an adult who has a job get a credit card denial, and a child who has no income and no assets get one?" asked Mrs. Christiansen. "I would think that they should at least, at the very minimum, look at the income and the birth date of the people applying, and use some sort of common sense," she added.

I hope for the Bank's sake that this was indeed an anomaly and that most such applications would be denied, but it surprises me that even one got past the software checks that one would expect to be in place.

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Education has become decidedly less stuffy since schools and administrators have realized there are others ways for students to demonstrate mastery of a topic besides just writing a report on it. Kids now do things like writing a play about Benjamin Franklin, making a diorama of marsh creatures, and recreating a famous landmark out of Popsicle sticks. (ASK ME HOW I KNOW!)

So it makes sense that it might be time to give physical education class an overhaul as well. A new curriculum adopted by hundreds of elementary schools in more than a dozen states recognizes that not all kids are natural athletes or will be interested in playing team sports. (Did YOU ever play dodge ball outside gym class?)

Instead, individual, no traditional physical activities like rock climbing, skateboarding, unicycle riding, yoga, and even Dance Dance Revolution get kids up and moving without demoralizing by making them the last one picked for a team sport. My sons gym teacher introduced the kids to cup stacking, which required quick reflexes and incredible eye-hand co-ordination and the kids were crazy about it and it allowed kids who weren't the fastest or strongest a chance to shine.

"Most of my class doesn't want PE to end," said Ashleigh Parish a fifth grader who is learning to skateboard at school. I can't think of a more ringing endorsement than having kids actually ENJOYING gym class and wanting to do the activities in their free time.

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If your child is between the ages of five and fourteen, this summer he or she can help change the world by helping to rid it of malaria. According to this, Malaria kills over 3,000 children a day. Malaria is transmitted through the bite of a mosquito. A simple solution? A $10 mosquito net.

Brooke White, of American Idol fame, along with American Idol Gives Back and Malaria No More, are championing efforts to rid the world of Malaria. This summer, they're urging children to use their summer vacations to do the same. White says she is inspired to be a part of the campaign and is amazed by the youth these days--according to her, they're "the most globally-conscious and actively engaged the world has ever seen."

Ideas to help this summer include turning summer-time activities like carwashes and lemonade stands into fundraisers, putting that time in front of the computers to use by social networking to spread info on and awareness of the cause, and designing T-shirts with witty slogans to help spread the word. For more information on how to fight malaria, as well as three other cool ideas to help fight the battle, click here.

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