Last week, a notice came home asking for a donation for the school’s Christmas Fair: $10, plus the purchase of a baby item for a raffle basket.

Soon, the class mom will inform all of the parents about collecting for a holiday gift for the teacher and teacher’s assistant: $20 is usually the standard.

The kindergarten is putting on a holiday performance, and everyone is asked to wear a plain red turtleneck and black jeans… which we, of course, don’t already own.

It’s not mandatory, but goody bags for the class will be distributed if we send them in. My son has 20 classmates. Even if I keep costs low, I’m figuring around $40.

If your kid takes the bus, stays in the after school program, takes piano lessons, or plays soccer, there’s another bunch of Starbucks gift cards to pick up.

Holiday breaks and half days could mean paying for child care on days you must work.

I’m sure there will be more surprises to come (help me out readers — what am I missing?), but in the meantime, I’m on the hunt for money saving and cost cutting tips for the holidays. Here are some of my favorite frugal mom blogs to get me started:

-Suddenly Frugal

-Mommy Savers

-The Happy Housewife

How do you plan on saving a few bucks this holiday season? Share in the comments!

My friends with older kids are still recovering from the back-to-school procrastination-induced rush to help their kids finish those summer reading lists, projects, journals, and reports. In fact, they admit, it’s not just the children who put off their summer work — it was them, too! After all, they felt after a tough school year, they needed a break from homework patrol. And who could blame them?

I’m not saying kids should do nothing all summer. But I’m totally for being a little less regimented. The New York Times featured an interesting debate on this topic recently called “The Crush of Summer Homework,”

The pile of books and other vacation assignments appears to grow every year. Is all this homework beneficial or should children be given a break?

The piece goes on to feature opinions straight from top educators. Quite an interesting range of comments to say the least, from they need time to relax, to put them in school year-round. I fall somewhere in the middle.

For starters, I think summer reading is a great time to explore new books, but I don’t necessarily think those books should be assigned. The whole idea is to get children excited about reading, not to force them to read something they are not interested in. As a former English major, I do think certain books should be read by everyone, but exploring literature should be done with some guidance and accompanied by the type of discussion that could only take place during the school year.

I also think it’s unreasonable to expect the same volume of work to be completed over the summer as during the academic year. I don’t like to go on vacation and bring work with me, so why should my kids have to? But some schools assign in such a way that if you don’t work consistently all summer, you’ll fall behind and have to play catch-up in late August.

I can also remember being stressed out to get my book reports done, only to walk into school and have the teacher not even ask about or collect the summer assignments. How annoying is that? I was duped! Perhaps that’s when my anti-summer work sentiments first surfaced… Hmm…

On that note, I think it’s time to say goodbye to summer mode, and focus on helping my son make this kindergarten year a success.That is, as soon as I hear what you think about this topic!

Parents, please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Happy September!

-Dawn Papandrea

For our kids, though, backpack safety is all the rage, which is why every back-to-school season has news agencies reporting smart bookbag shopping tips and proper backpack carrying techniques. If you aren’t familiar with them, no worries — I did the homework for you and scoured for some of the best tips (ones that go beyond the obvious). Here goes…

First, the scary stat: In 2006, there were more than 7,300 backpack-related injuries in emergency rooms in the U.S., according to The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Pretty heavy stuff!

Now the tips:

I, for one, remember feeling very uncool if I wore my backpack on both shoulders, so I’d sling it over just one. Bad move!  Always have your child wear both straps, and select a bag that has extra padding for the shoulders. For what it’s worth, my right backpack-carrying shoulder plagues me to this day when I’m tense… coincidence?

Does your child walk home from school? If so, choose a backpack with reflectors on it so they are more visible to buses and cars.

Load the heaviest items closest to the student’s back to help distribute weight evenly. Good physics-related tip that makes sense, plus the more delicate items like their must-have Mott’s juice boxes won’t get crushed.

Now here’s some math for you: The 15% rule. A backpack should weigh less than 15 percent of a child’s body weight. So if your child is 50 pounds, the backpack should weigh no more than 7 pounds. Natually, you won’t be pulling out the scale every morning, but if your child has to carry an unreasonable amount of books everyday, speak with the teacher about a possible solution. Perhaps there are books that can stay in school or remain at home.

Look for extra compartments and side and front pockets to stow away pointy objects (rulers and compasses, for starters). But let your child know now to leave anything valuable in a pouch that can be opened behind their backs. When I was in grad school (and should have known better), someone stole my digital voice recorder by simply unzipping my bag while I looked the other way.

And, of course, my number one tip: Let your child choose a backpack that’s affordable for you, but also cool for them. After all, they’ll be hauling it all year, and it may feel less heavy with Spiderman or Hannah Montana on it.

So, moms, what is your child’s backpack of choice this year?

So who am I? I’m a mom of two boys (J.J., and my 4-month-old Dante, who already loves his applesauce!) and a blogger for ParentSociety.com. I’m also a freelance magazine writer who’s written for Parenting, Fit Pregnancy, Pregnancy, and American Baby, and more. In short, I learn something new about being a mom everyday! I’m also the managing editor of The CollegeBound Network, where I get to write about education. Here, I’ll get to write about kids and school, my two favorite things.