Your Child, Ages 7-11

Dear Parents,

Before the colder months arrive and your family is cooped up in the house, get a head start on making your home more comfortable and manageable. Get organized for home and school, so that when frost descends, you can preserve your sanity. You can even make it fun and save some time for other activities.

It's apple season and your kids may be taking school trips to the orchard. Use our activities and recipes, like classic apple crisp, so those apples won't go to waste.

Also in this issue: Help your child improve his social studies skills with printables and activities focusing on geography and history.

From the Editors at FamilyEducation.com

Home Organization
Get your home and family organized with tips from these articles and some handy time-saving tools.

Resources for Getting Organized The Essence of Family Organizing Becoming Organized Busy Mom's Toolkit ADHD and Homework Organization

Kitchen Organization Activity: Organization Kids Getting Organized for Homeschooling Getting Middle-Schooler Organized

It's Apple Season!
Here are some recipes and fun activities to try with apples.

Farm Visit Baked Cranberry and Apple Casserole Pork with Apple-Raisin Stuffing Stuffed Apple Surprise Apple Smile Apple Cheddar Spread

Apple Crisp Sour Cream and Apple Bread Pudding Apple Costume Apple People Apple Candlesticks Fruit and Vegetable Printing

Social Studies Skills
Use our printouts and activities to help your student brush up on her social studies skills.

Social Studies Games Social Studies Skill-Builders: Grades 2-6 Social Studies Printables: K-8 Geography

History and Geography Skill-Builders Online Games Mapping Activity Worksheet World Map Printable

Activities Center

		Our Activities Center is brand-new! Find hundreds of activities for you and your kids to enjoy together. Search by age range and activity type, such as arts & crafts, seasonal, or puzzles & games. You'll find everything you could want to entertain and educate, all in one place.

Tired of the Same Old Menu?
Visit our recipe database for hundreds of healthy ideas to spice things up in your kitchen.

Halloween Activities Slideshow
From monster masks to bewitching decorations, these Halloween crafts will get you and your child into the spooky spirit of the holiday!

		Join in this discussion on our Message Boards about unstructured homework: "My daughter is in 2nd grade this year and the teachers...at her school have given out homework 'packets.' It is simply some lined paper stapled with 4 pages of homework tasks.... It is not the amount of work that is my issue, but rather this 'free choice' and lack of what I would consider structure." — Ruby03

Poll: Vanishing Recess

Should schools be allowed to ban recess? Vote now. 6% Yes. Kids need all the class time they can get. 94% No. Kids need some free time and a chance to relax.