Make a Difference...
You and your child can lend a hand at school in many ways. It can be as simple as baking a dozen cookies for a school bake sale or as complicated as helping your teen start a tutoring program for younger students. Other possibilities: spend part of your child's lunch hour together sorting books in the media center, assist with a school fundraiser, or start a family service initiative. (If you're interested in the latter option, contact Doing Good Together for more information.)

Talk About It...
Even if your activity is as fun as setting up a school carnival booth or collecting school supplies for kids in need, take some time to let your children know that they're supporting the betterment of education and why that is critical. Tell them that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights includes this statement: Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Talk together about all the reasons that the right to an education matters so much.

Learn About It...
Read It's Back to School We Go: First Day Stories from Around the World by Ellen Jackson. Discover what the first day of school is like for children from 11 countries, including Kenya, China and Peru. The book's message: There are fun and interesting differences among children around the world, but all of them share an excitement for learning.

Photo: It's Back to School We Go: First Day Stories from Around the World by Ellen Jackson

I wake up every morning determined both to change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning the day a little difficult.

~ E. B. White

Tina Blair, a single parent living in Minnetonka, Minn., understands well that we all can be givers and receivers at various times in our life. When Blair needed school supplies for her two children, the Hopkins Minnetonka Family Resource Center provided both the supplies and the support she was looking for. This year, Blair was thrilled to return the favor by volunteering, along with her 14-year-old daughter, Sierra, at the center's back-to-school supply drive.

During the drive this past August, the center provided supplies to nearly 1,000 families. Blair and her daughter spent five days registering families who needed assistance, sorting supplies, and helping parents and their kids choose the right items. "By volunteering, we showed the people at the center how much we really appreciated their help," says Blair. She especially enjoyed meeting other families in the community and seeing the smiles as children found the perfect backpack, notebooks and clothes for the upcoming school year.

Photo: Tina and Sierra Blair