Literacy and Reading: Just 20 minutes a day will set your child up for success

by Sara Howell, Kids Soar Three out of every five children grow up struggling to read. They fall behind in school making them more likely to drop out of high school, hold a low paying job, and live in poverty as an adult. Kids Soar, a local nonprofit, provides an after-school literacy program so that…

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Life Lessons along the Baseline – September 2020 Lance Beheler

by: Gene Marrano Lance Beheler is headed to Roanoke College this fall and plans to play tennis for the NCAA Division III school while pursing his studies. He’s already played team tennis for 7 years – all four years at Cave Spring High School and three before that in middle school. He was the number…

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Back to the Movies: Tangled

Watch This, Do That: Tangled In this crazy pandemic world we live in right now, we figured this was the best movie to start off our new weekly column with! After all we can all relate to Rapunzel now: stuck in one building for weeks and years with no end in sight. That’s the life of…

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Roaming Roanoke: Glazed Bisque-It

This week’s Roaming Roanoke destination is Glazed Bisque-It!  My first introduction to Glazed-Bisque-It was in December. I took my two daughters to “Clara’s Tea Party” with the Southwest Virginia Ballet.  One of the activities was painting a ballet slipper ornament to bring home. My four-year-old loved it! The ornament had a special place on our…

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The Ultimate Online School Supply List for Kids

As parents prepare their kids for more remote learning, school supply lists are looking a little different this year. Skip the back-to-school wardrobe shopping and instead, purchase some new tech accessories or organization tools. We’ve assembled a list to spruce up your child’s at-home learning space before school starts. Workspace Essentials A dedicated learning space can…

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13 Books to Help You Explain Racism to Kids

13 Books to Help You Explain Racism to Kids One step to teaching kids about race is to introduce other cultures into the media you present: books, movies and music. Another way is for kids to read and understand racism directly. These books are age appropriate for readers of all ages and levels to understand racism…

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9 Anti-Racism Resources for Kids and Families

Not being racist is a good start toward creating real equality in our country but it’s not enough anymore. If we really want to see change, we need to learn our country’s history, acknowledge privilege, realize we all have our own implicit biases, work toward overcoming those biases and confront bias and racism — no…

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11 Learning Activities to Help Discuss Race with Kids

As we continue to talk about race at home, many parents are focused on resources and books to dive into the subject. You can also easily get creative to start the conversation early with your kids. Try these hands-on learning activities and crafts focused on diversity and anti-racism. M&M Experiment Photo Credit: Crayon Freckles Sometimes visual examples allow children to…

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A Guide to Safe Travel During Pandemic

A Guide to Safe Travel During a Pandemic Our experts have been inundated with questions about travel during COVID-19. The bottom line is, if you do not need to travel, it is best to stay home and socially distant. If you must travel, here are some tips about how to do it safely. These tips are…

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Planes, Trains, Automobiles and Coronavirus

Courtesy of Carilion Clinic   Summertime means travel, even in a pandemic year. In fact, having been under quarantine or stay-at-home orders for several months, people are more anxious than ever to get away from it all on a much-needed vacation. Epidemiologists and infectious disease experts agree that this year, a staycation is a better idea. The…

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