To prepare and for help this school year for any student, I've put together an Essential Homework Helpers for you.

About Education chock full of resources to keep you on top of the latest developments in curriculum, technology, shopping and just fun!

 Back to School graphics for your newsletters and reports are free at Back to School Clip Art and another.

To get online SAT and college preparation help, these mostly free sites will help!

• Scholastic Training Systems Helps level the playing field for all students.

• College Power Prep Start your preparation here with free software, tips, trainers, and advice.

• SAT Math See exactly which areas need help the most.

• Vocabulary Syndicate Word puzzles, vocabulary games and competition for prizes makes education fun!

MSN has some sites to help: MSN Back to School Guide and MSN Homework Learning & Research and A Parents Guide to Homework Help

For a power-packed list of Science, Math, and mind-expanding topics that are, I promise you, FUN! visit My page and get ready to launch to the next level. Need homework help, it's here. Need an innovative project, it's here.

For those parents who home school, the Family Education Network is full of resources.

Had a Big Idea lately?

Crayola is a fun site full of activities for the little ones.

McGruff’s Safety Tips: has hints for your children’s school days.

Recipes for Kids from Brainy Breakfasts to After School Energy Boosters and give that lunchbox a nutrition makeover with these 10 TIPS (Notice this page is from 1999, and still relevant today!)

Kids Domain has Back to School printables of activity pages.

Geosense is an online, one-two player geography based game. Play alone or compete against an online opponent to locate cities as quickly and accurately as you can.  Simple, competitive, addictive.

And it’s Back to School time for teachers, too. For them, there’s Education World and A to Z Teacher Stuff and the Teacher’s Corner has good resource material.

For study reference, there is the World Fact Book And another good study resource is the Fact Monster. Do you want to know what famous person shares your birth month and day? Check out their birthday facts. One of mine is Martha Stewart!

One fun and scary website is the Population Calculator  Learn how many people there are today in the world and how many there were when you were born.

For some information about Arizona's schools, the School Reports, and this year's AIMS scores, The Arizona Department of Education has it all and then some. Learn all about the public schools, charter schools, the university sites, the community college sites, with their website addresses.

Raising Arizona Kids is a local magazine full of articles, home schooling resources, schools for special needs students and lists all the Valley Public School districts with their phone numbers and websites. They also offer an Education Book 2007, that lists the schools, charter schools, daycare, babysitting sources, etc.

And another resource guide is the The Valley Parent’s Resource Guide with lists of preschools & child care, before & after school care, party planning, youth sports and groups, summer camps, education enrichment, special needs, tours & field trips and more. Yet another magazine geared to Parenting is Arizona Parenting

Back to School Trivia:

• $8.8 billion on textbooks
• $3.2 billion on clothing and accessories, $2.6 billion on dorm or apartment furnishings, $2.1 billion on school supplies, and $1.5 billion on shoes.
• More money is spent on clothes for back-to-school shopping than at any time of the year except the winter holiday season
• $2.2 billion is spent in bookstores.
• One-in-four Americans over the age of 3 is currently a student—or 74.6 million students!

In décor for this year:

• Microfridge (a combination of refrigerator, freezer and microwave.
• Extra seats – loungers with modern design.
• Mesh cubes for shelves.
• Tapestries with bohemian prints used as wall hangings or bedspreads.
• $2.2 billion is spent in bookstores.
• One-in-four Americans over the age of 3 is currently a student—or 74.6 million students!

There’s some awesome statistics from the Census Bureau, put together by Blanche Evans of Realty Times.

For a full list of websites and sports in the Valley, the MARICOPA COUNTY SPORTS COMMISSION has revised their site listing all the major leagues, other leagues, golf, and a calendar of events.