education

Sending your baby off to kindergarten, whether it’s your first or fifth, is a momentous occasion for any parent. For many of us, it is also a nerve wracking one. Parents – and let’s be honest, usually moms – worry A LOT.

It’s no secret that kids learn best by doing – by using all of their senses to explore and discover through exciting, hands-on activities that truly engage them with the material at hand.

When it comes to the future of our children, and the future of our economy, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) education has well, gained steam among educators and professionals.

The Foundry Art Centre kicks off its new Children's Book Club in October, offering kids a chance to mix reading and art. Kids ages 3-8 can join the club, which meets once each month, and explore the world of books through fairy tales, sharing opinons and themed art projects.

Does your child love to tell stories? Kids ages 8 to 18 who want to test their storytelling and writing ability can enter the St. Louis County Library's "Write Stuff' contest and win cash prizes. The topic is family road trips, and who doesn't have a funny story about that?

(And if your child doesn't, they can make one up! In other words, both fiction and non-fiction stories are accepted.)

The contest, part of the library system's Art @ Your Library series of events, challenges participants to write an original story beginning with this sentence, “It started out like any other family road trip...”

Entries can be truthful, fictional, funny, sad, serious, sarcastic or anything, so long as the writing is original and completed by the entrant. Winners will be chosen from three groups: ages 8-10, ages 11-14, and ages 15-18.