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"Smartphone controlled toys are the new cool tech toys that everyone wants. Remote controlled toys are cool, but app remote controlled toys are in another league. These toys are really impressive not just to kids but even to parents, and most families these days have an iPad or Android tablet or access to downloaded apps through their smartphones. Developers are fostering the latest craze by connecting toys to smart technology and letting kids use their mobiles as controllers. Here are the 10 coolest app remote controlled toys available today that parents and kids will have so much fun with."

"We parents know that science is everywhere and why it's so important. So we always love tracking down some of the best science apps for kids each year, to show kids how fun science can be, and how it's a part of pretty much everything they already do and see. The focus on STEM in the past few years has given rise to incredible products and apps for kids to explore science from a very young age. But it's likely that our pick's for this year's best science apps for kids will answer many of them, and provoke many more, too. We're betting a lot of parents will also learn a thing or two."

"Being able to create your own robot gives students and kids a great sense of achievement, with the added bonus of allowing children to develop patience, imagination and problems solving skills. There are a number of impressive kids robotics kits on the market that even parents will enjoy playing with. Plus, these types of projects provide valuable bonding time for kids and parents as it's a toy that both can really relish. In classrooms, robotics are perfect for teaching coding to kids, there are many programmable robot kits that use a simple drag and drop programing language based on Scratch. Making your own robot is also a creative a process, where kids and students utilize their design skills to come up with interesting robot designs. The 10 best make your own robot kits for kids on the market are listed below."

"As any parent or teacher knows, tests can create crippling anxiety in students-and anxious kids can perform below their true abilities. But new research in cognitive science and psychology is giving us a clearer understanding of the link between stress and performance, and allowing experts to develop specific strategies for helping kids manage their fears. These potential solutions are reasonably simple, inexpensive and, as recent studies show, effective. Some work for a broad range of students, while others target specific groups. Yet they're unfamiliar to many teachers and parents, who remain unaware that test anxiety can be so easily relieved. Here, three such approaches:"

"Before the advent of the uber-popular show Mythbusters or the push for more STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) in schools, parents and their kids were doing at-home science experiments. Now, the trend continues to blossom, although many of the experiments have remained somewhat the same…and always awesomely exciting! If you're a parent and you want to do something with your kid that isn't related to cleaning the toilets or forging through homework, check out these 20 great science projects that you can complete in the confines of your humble abode. Most of them use around-the-home items that you probably have on hand, although some will require a little bit of shopping ahead of time. To help you decide which are best for your children's needs, the 20 have been divided into projects for younger students and projects for older ones."

"Experts at a panel discussion in New York last month entitled "Baby Brains and Video Games" urged parents to set limits on electronic device use - while acknowledging the magnetic appeal of iPads in particular."

"Discover the tools and techniques today's teachers and classrooms are using to prepare students for tomorrow -- and how you can get involved. What should collaboration, creativity, communication, and critical thinking look like in a modern classroom? How can parents help educators accomplish their goals? We hope this guide helps bring more parents into the conversation about improving education. (And when you're done, don't miss our Home-to-School Connections Guide.)"

"Whilst this blog post isn't about the iPad specifically, although the iPad was used, it is about the power of technology and how myself and Mr Williams used technology to keep parents up to date on their child's residential trip to Kingswood, Dearne Valley Outdoor activity centre."

"A Teacher's Guide to Communicating with Parents"

"I've started a list of educational iPad game apps for parents. I've got a special affinity for these games as I originally started my career in technology as a first generation educational software designer. The list contains casual, fun games to use at home. They don't necessarily help you master long division or prepare for an upcoming geography test. The accent is primarily on having fun. If your child isn't going to enjoy playing then the app won't make the list. The second important criterion is that time spent playing is productive and that something of value is learned while playing the game."

"Parenting In The Digital Age Presentation"

"K-12 Teachers Uncertain About How to Connect with Students and Parents via Social Media"

"Imagine students' artwork hanging in your school's hallway and beside each masterpiece is a QR code. When parents, students, and other teachers scan the code using a mobile device, they hear the student telling about themselves and the relevance of their art… Or what about a QR code in the back of a library book that allows you to hear a student's review of the book? Or a QR code sent home to parents that allows them to listen to their 1st grader reading or telling a story? Sounds difficult, doesn't it? Well, don't worry - it really isn't hard at all! I'll give you two options for recording the audio files and will show you a couple of ways to "embed" them into QR codes."

"Google Buys into STAR/Accelerated Reader Parent Company By Dian Schaffhauser02/19/1"

"Most educators, policymakers, and parents agree that today's students need a mix of knowledge, skills, and dispositions to prepare them to be successful and engaged citizens. Given that students need a mix of these things, iknowledge, educators, policymakers, and parents are also askng, "How do we know if students are learning both what we are teaching and what they need to know to succeed?""

"The difference between assessment of learning and assessment for learning is a crucial one, in many ways indicative of an important shift in education. Traditionally, tests have told teachers and parents how a student "does," then offers a very accessible point of data (usually percentage correct and subsequent letter grade) that is reported to parents as a performance indicator. Class data can be gathered to imply instructional effectiveness, and the data from multiple classrooms can be combined to suggest the performance of an entire school, but a core message here is one of measurement and finality: this is how you did. This was the bar, and you either cleared it or you didn't. And it's all past tense."

"It is that time of year. Across the nation, teachers are saying goodbye to their students for a few months, while parents are tasked with helping their children avoid the pitfalls of the well-documented "summer slide." What many parents may have overlooked is the fantastic opportunity right at their fingertips -- Internet research."

"Hi everyone, I have been looking at the future of play for about 5 years and have spoken about the topic at MIT and written about it in Fast Co. Design, Parents Magazine and The Atlantic. Recently, I summed up the research into a poster for parents and teachers to help them frame the value of play in education (see below attachment). I think this excerpt from my Atlantic article said it best, "Someday, rather than measuring memorization as an indicator of progress, we will measure our children's ability to manipulate (deconstruct and hack), morph (think flexibly and be tolerant of change), and move (think "with their hands" and play productively). Standardized aptitude tests will be replaced by our abilities to see (observe and imagine), sense (have empathy and intrinsic motivation), and stretch (think abstractly and systemically). We will advance our abilities to collaborate and create." The future favors the flexible. And that's another reason this poster has + signs at the top of each category - because the superpowers of play we will need for a constantly evolving world is always changing and it encourages everyone to add their own powers of play. I look forward to your thoughts and comments. Laura http://www.lauraseargeantrichardson.com LinkedIn: laurasgt "

"It's a familiar classroom ritual - every June, teachers assign summer reading. And every September, students come back to school having read too few books. This is frustrating for teachers, and challenging for students. When kids aren't in school, they forget crucial skills they learned during the year - at least a month of reading achievement, on average. This so-called "summer slide" is particularly pernicious in children from low-income families. Low-income students often walk through the door of their kindergartens already behind their more fortunate peers because of a mix of poverty, poorer health, less parental education, and higher rates of single and teenage parents. With limited access to books and other academic opportunities in the summer, these children experience the summer slide threefold. Over time, this adds up. By third grade, children who can't read at their grade level (a whopping 73 percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch) begin to struggle with other subjects. Students living in poverty who cannot read proficiently by third grade are 13 times less likely to graduate from high school. By ninth grade, some have estimated that two-thirds of the reading achievement gap can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities. There is good news: Stemming the summer slide isn't impossible. Students who read just four to six books over the summer maintain their skills (they need to turn more pages to actually become better readers.)"