GreatSchools Launches Summer Survival Guide for Parents

With popular summer programs filling up sooner each year, GreatSchools.net. has launched its first Summer Survival Guide to help parents jumpstart their summer planning.

Here are five things that parents can start doing right now to sort through the bewildering array of programs and camps, and find the ones that will help their child keep learning and growing:

 1. Figure out your budget. From T-shirts to sleeping bags to    after-camp care: summer can be expensive. Find out how to choose a    program and cut costs:    (http://www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/showarticle/ca/543)  2. Ask questions about a program. You can’t tell a camp by its    brochure. Does it emphasize competition or cooperation? Does the    celebrity athlete on the Web site actually visit the camp? Here    are questions to ask about camps:    (http://www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/showarticle/ca/547)  3. Involve your child in the planning. Experts say kids make a better    transition if you give them choices. What to look for in a summer    program: (http://www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/showarticle/ca/537)  4. Plan now to add some education to your vacation. Your child can    play junior travel agent and learn how to read a map, research    your destination on the Internet. How to add education to your    summer vacation:    (http://www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/showarticle/ca/535)  5. Help your child prepare. Is she going to sleep-away camp for the    first time? Does your family have a complicated schedule that    involves lots of camps and care-givers? Is your child anxious    about the change in routine? Read a few books to help ease your    child into summer:    (http://www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/showarticle/ca/534) 

The GreatSchools.net Summer Survival Guide will be available on the GreatSchools.net web site through April, 2006.

About GreatSchools.net

GreatSchools, Inc., founded in 1998, is a national, independent nonprofit organization that is improving K-12 education by inspiring parents to get involved. GreatSchools.net offers comprehensive school profiles for more than 120,000 schools, powerful school search and compare tools, newsletters, and informative advice to help parents navigate the challenges of a K-12 education. More than 25 million users visited GreatSchools.net in 2005 and its content powers the Internet’s leading media organizations including AOL, Yahoo!, Knight Ridder, the Los Angeles Times and more than 85 top Web sites nationwide. For more information, please visit www.greatschools.net.