Summer Camp: FREE Service to Help Parents find the Best Camp for their Child

Believe it or not, NOW is the time to start your summer camp search.

Especially if you are interested in teen travel camps, they can fill up very fast.

Not sure where to start, or what is available?  South Florida is home to Camp Finders!  Though they have assisted families thoughout the country, they are located here and know our community firsthand.

Since 1994, Camp Finders® has personally visited approximately 175 overnight camps and various teen programs. During this time period, Camp Finders™ has been placing children in sleep away camps and in the following teen programs: teen tours; wilderness camps & outdoor adventure; college enrichment; community service; sailing, SCUBA, & marine biology programs; foreign language programs and more.

Camp Finders encourages parents to think about the following questions when considering their child's summer experience:

*What type of community does the camp try to create? (this is an important question)
*What is the size of the camp?
*Is the camp more on the competitive or non-competitive bent?
*Is there a religious focus with the camp?
*How does the camp handle new campers, cliques and bullying?
*What is the communication policy for parents and their children?
*Connected with the communication policy, how do camps handle homesickness?
*What is the level of instruction in most of the activities (experienced staff/teachers)?

 Camp Finders® is a free service which matches children ages 6-17 with appropriate sleepaway camps and teen programs.Click here for your free information request.

Green Your School Challenge: DoSomething.org

Going green for your community and the future!


Take it to your school and you could earn grants, scholarships and other great prizes!


DoSomething.org is challenging all schools from February 1, 2012 - April 22, 2012 to participate in the Green Your School Challenge!

1. Register your school to take part in the challenge! Get your friends to sign up too.
2. Browse projects ideas for your school to tackle to increase recycling, save energy, promote green agriculture, and more!
3. Report back on your completed projects to be judged by our panel of celebrity and expert judges!
4. Bring the challenge home! You don’t have to just green your school, you can green your home too!

This is a great opportunity have your school participate and be part of a national campaign to make a positive difference in the environment.

Greening your school has never been easier. They will you helpful tips, resources, and guides, to make your environmental effort seem effortless. The team that makes the biggest impact on their school could win big. HINT: What's white and green and on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave?
Text GREEN to 38383 to learn more. Watch the video.

Children of Alcoholics Week 2012

February 12-18 is designated to honor children of alcoholics.


An estimated 25 percent of all children in the United States are affected by or exposed to a family alcohol problem. SAMHSA supports the National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACoA) during its Children of Alcoholics (COA) Week. COA Week celebrates the recovery of the many thousands of children (of all ages) who have received the help they needed to recover from the pain and losses suffered in their childhood, and it offers hope to those still suffering from the adverse impact of parental alcohol and drug addiction.

During COA Week, we acknowledge the millions of children affected by a parent’s substance use disorder and celebrate that there is hope and healing for these children now and throughout their lives. This week—and throughout the year—remember to ask, “What about the children?” when speaking about recovery from substance use disorders.

You can support Children of Alcoholics Week 2012 by visiting their site for more information.

About NAcoA (National Association for Children of Alcoholics):

The people hurt most by drugs and alcohol don’t even use them; they are the CHILDREN of alcoholics and other drug dependent parents.

The National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACoA) believes that none of these vulnerable children should grow up in isolation and without support. NACoA is the national nonprofit 501 (c) 3 membership and affiliate organization working on behalf of children of alcohol and drug dependent parents.

Our mission is to eliminate the adverse impact of alcohol and drug use on children and families.

• We work to raise public awareness.
• We provide leadership in public policy at the national, state, and local levels.
• We advocate for appropriate, effective and accessible education and prevention services.
• We facilitate and advance professional knowledge and understanding.
To help in these efforts, we:
• have affiliate organizations throughout the country, and in Great Britain, Germany, and Canada
• publish periodic online and print newsletters
• create videos, booklets, posters and other educational materials to assist natural helpers to intervene and support children
• host this site on the Internet with information about and ways to help children of alcoholics and other drug dependent parents.
• send information packets to all who ask, and
• maintain a toll-free phone available to all.

It’s the innocent children (1 in 4 under the age of 18) who suffer when their parents abuse alcohol and other drugs. The worst part is, they can’t help themselves. But you can. Join us in our critical work for these vulnerable children. Email or call us (toll-free) at 1-888-554-COAS to learn more about their daily plight and what small steps can be taken to make a great difference in their lives.

Join them on Facebook.

College Applications: 5 Tips for Applicants and Parents

As second semester is sailing into spring, juniors are now prepping for their SATs, ACTs and looking at colleges.  This summer many are planning their trips to visit colleges they would like to attend for their next step in education.  A special guest post by Debbie Lawrence from Schools.com has some very good tips for both parents and students to take advantage of.

5 Easy Ways to Help Prepare Your Kid(s) for College Applications

The end of junior year of high school is a time for both celebration and organization. While the end of the year allows students to breathe a collective sigh of relief, they don’t get to relax for too long before being submerged into the deep waters of the college application process. It can be an exciting time for students, who can finally see college on the horizon, but for many it can also be a daunting experience. This is why it’s important that parents play a supporting role in the college application process, whether their son/daughter likes it or not. While many students think that parental advice and encouragement is akin to nagging, students usually come to appreciate all of the help they received.

As a parent, you play a pivotal role in helping your student streamline the applications process and while it can be time-consuming, it is also worthwhile. There is an easy way to approach this nerve-wracking
experience though – it’s called thinking ahead.

Here are five simple ways to help prepare you and your kid(s) for the college application process without the unwanted stress:

1. Help them make a checklist

College applications usually require a number of different pieces to come together, and that is often difficult for a high school student who has limited experience managing their time, which is where you come in. Don’t make the list for them, but help them make a list of all the different essays and transcripts and recommendations they will need to complete the applications. That way, when it comes time to actually submit the application, your student can refer to their list to ensure they aren’t missing a crucial part of the application.

2. Research the financial aid possibilities with them

Let’s face it, unless your student is Justin Bieber or Dakota Fanning, the money for college is either going to come from you, from financial aid, or from a combination of the two. Also, most high school students understand the cost of college, but because they aren’t paying the bills themselves, cost is low on their list of priorities.  If you want your student to be fiscally responsible, involve them in the financial aid research and decision-making process, and work with them to guide their decisions.

3. Use the common application for as many schools as possible.

According to its website, the common application now has 456 member schools in 46 different states as well as France, Germany, Italy, Scotland, and Switzerland. This means the chances are high that, if your student is looking at a bunch of schools, some of those schools are common application members. Gathering all the information that the common application requires is quite the undertaking, and most schools still have additional, school-specific requirements. But once you have collected all of the information, you can use that same information to apply to as many member schools as you want. This will save you and your student countless hours of tedious work and will make the application process more efficient.

4. Discuss interests and options with your student

This can be tricky because some students will see this as nagging, but it is still important to get your student thinking about their future, especially because high school students tend to live in the present. Trying to push them towards a school or program will undoubtedly backfire, so just listen instead. Let your student decide what programs and extracurriculars he might be interested in, and then present him with some schools that fit his/her interests best. Moreover, this is a great opportunity to find a tutor in order to give them some SAT help or help them improve any weaknesses in subjects that they might be struggling with. 

5.      Always offer your help and be supportive of their decisions.
Some kids don’t want any help from their parents and respond negatively when they try. They want you to trust that they will do their own applications while also offering help if they have questions. Maintaining a positive atmosphere is essential when the deadlines are just a stone’s throw away and your student is experiencing all-time stress levels. Remember, you were there once too, and the same things you wish you had done differently could be the same things your child may regret in the future. We all know you just want the best for them, and they will have it, once this process is all over.

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Distracted Driving: Txting - It can wait....

Distracted driving kills.  Whether it is drinking and driving or texting and driving, if you are not driving and paying attention to the road and your car, you are not only endangering yourself, you are a danger to others on the road.

AT&T has been committed to bring awareness and helping prevent distracted driving.

Below is a link to a video that AT&T shot last week during a teen safety fair in Washington D.C., sponsored by a DC TV station and the National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS) — a network of national associations and federal agencies focused on youth safety and health. (You may recall, last May AT&T announced a $1 million commitment in the fight against texting and driving. That commitment involves a contribution to NOYS to develop and train student ambassadors on anti-texting-while-driving education. The students then host summits on the topic within their schools and hometowns throughout the school year.)

As part of the D.C. teen safety fair, AT&T had a TWD Simulator on site to give teens a first-hand experience at just how much of a distraction texting and driving can be.  As you’ll see from the video, the simulator is a full-sized car. Kids get in the simulator, put on goggles and start driving, using a heads-up street display in their goggles. They then send a text message and the inevitable result is the kid crashes into a car or a pedestrian.

Link to TWD Simulator:  http://silo.mediasilo.com/weblink/FBF9900EF2686B78BA344B8D06D55ECC/22455/

Background on our “Txting While Driving … It Can Wait” campaign:

While distracted driving is an issue for all motorists, teenagers are particularly at risk.  Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for teens, and the proliferation of distracted driving among teens is a huge challenge.
That’s why AT&T”s “Txting…It Can Wait” public awareness campaign is especially focused on educating teens about the risks of texting while driving and spreading the message that text messages can wait.  Not even red lights, professionals say, signal a “safe” time to text.

As part of its campaign, AT&T has developed a powerful documentary called “The Last Text” that examines the real world consequences of texting and driving.  Each of the eight individuals in the video — whose lives have been impacted tragically by texting while driving — volunteered their stories to help educate Americans — particularly youth — on the risks of texting behind the wheel.  The documentary can be viewed online on the AT&T “It Can Wait” website and on the AT&T YouTube page.

Texting is so dangerous because it takes a driver’s eyes off the road for an average of 5 seconds.  At 55 mph, that’s like driving the length of a football field completely blind.  Studies show a driver’s reaction time is doubled when reading or sending a text, and that motorists sending a text while driving are 23 more times likely to be in a crash.

Cyberstalking: A Growing Problem

Anderson Cooper and Sue Scheff

Do you  know what a Google bomb is?

We are in 2012, if you don't, you should!

A Google bomb could cost you your job, your career, your personal life, and possibly your friends!

So what is a Google bomb?

Google Bomb (n) or “link bomb”: Internet slang for a certain kind of attempt to raise the ranking of a given page in results from a Google search. (Wikipedia)

Don't wait to be hit by one to realize what it means, like I did.

Anderson Cooper recently interviewed me on my experience with a Google bomb.  Like many of you reading this, I didn't know what one was.  Watch here.

It nearly destroyed me!  Especially in today's troubling times, people out of work, the competitiveness of jobs, businesses, etc - people are stooping to all levels to survive financially.  Even if it means ruining others with a few keystrokes!

Order today

Don't let it happen to you! 

To learn more about protecting yourself, order Google Bomb.  It offers tips and advice to help you maintain and polish your online profile.  Co-authored with a prominent Internet attorney, John Dozier Jr., Google Bomb not only offers my story, it offers sound advice that you will understand and use to help you and your kids keep your digital lives safer.

Remember, what goes online, stays online.

What you post today, can haunt you tomorrow!

Has Text Replaced Spelling? Online Games to Help Teach Kids to Spell

With this generation being the texting generation it’s more important than ever that they learn to spell words correctly.  There are many different ways to do this, but the most fun are online games.  It’s more fun than just rote memorization.

Check out 10 online games that help kids spell.

1. www.spellingcity.com: This is a great site with at least 25 games related to spelling and grammar.  This site allows you to type in your child’s spelling list from school and then it will use that list in all of the games.  There’s a straight spelling test that allows you to see if they are learning the words or not.  Then there’s a game like hang man, matching games, speed games and many more.  There are even crossword puzzles that you can play.  
2. www.kidsspell.com:  Some very interesting and different games on this site.  There’s one called Farkle Frog that is just like Frogger and the frog jumps through traffic and onto logs and then jumps on the letters to spell the words.  There’s a city called Miaopia where balloons go when they are released by humans and you create your own character and then find letters and unscramble them to spell words.  This world is extensive and when you learn you earn coins and then you are able to go to the store and buy clothes and things for your online self.  This world is elaborate and has earth science, math as well as history lessons.
3. www.funbrain.com/spell/: This site does not allow you to put in your own list, but it does give your child various lists so they can just play and practice spelling.  Spellaroo features a kangaroo and you click on the misspelled words in the sentence.  When you get finished you can go to the land of the joeys and play.  This site has math and reading as well as other fun games on it.  The arcade games are particularly fun.
4. www.spellingbeethegame.com: This will challenge even an adult so if your child is a very accomplished speller this site is the place to send them.  Strange words are used such as zuuzuu and kraal. 
5. gamequarium.com/spelling.html: There are 32 different spelling games on this site and there are a lot of different ones.  You can type in your own spelling list.  All of the games have to do with water so that is the tie in to the aquarium part of the name. 
6. Eduplace.com:  Fun, but limited on the number of games that it offers.  This site breaks apart words to help you spell them correctly based on the sounds.
7. www.bigiqkids.com: A totally different approach is taken on this site.  There are animated characters that go through lessons to teach the spelling words.  First the child is asked to spell a word and they can see it.  Then the next lesson they spell the word for a robot.  The following lesson the child writes the words on paper and then moves on.  The next lesson they are in a spelling bee situation.  A final quiz is given.  If any words are missed an e-mail is sent to the parents.  The kid cannot advance to the next lesson without scoring 100% on their test.
8. www.spinandspell.com:  Some children learn better one way over another.  This site has a big wheel that the children have to click on the letter on the wheel and it spins as it spells the word.  Then you submit the word and see if you got it right.  When you get it right you move on and when you get it wrong you get another chance to spell it.
9. http://www.manythings.org/cts/: Different than the other sites and has a lot of different choices.  All of the games are the same in that the letters are dropped from above because it’s called Catch the Spelling.  They differ in how hard the words are and how much help is given to the child.  You cannot enter in your child’s own spelling list so this would be a site to use when they just want to play and learn.
10. Spellit: There are 42 different spelling games to go to on this site.  The games are linked to other sites.  Word turtle will allow you to enter in your spelling words and then it will turn them into a word search puzzle.  Critter Jumble is another fun game where you can use virtual fridge magnets to spell out the words.    

Source:  Live-InNanny.com

In reality this is becoming more of serious concern than most think.  Teenagers need to realize when they apply to colleges they need to type in full sentences and interview in person! Yes, in real life!
Be an educated parent, you will have smarter kids!

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Sex Crimes and Stopping Child Abuse

Stacey Honowitz

“Sex crimes know no boundaries. It’s black, it’s white, it’s Catholic, it’s Jewish.” – Stacey Honowitz

Stacey Honowitz, who I consider a good friend and devoted crusader for children,  is a twenty-two year veteran of the State Attorney’s Office, seventeen years dedicated to the Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit where she is currently serving as a supervisor.

She has written two books that target this sensitive and ugly topic of sex abuse and sex crimes.  As the fastest growing crime in the country, Child Sexual Abuse is a national problem. “My Privates are Private” and “Genius with a Penis: Don’t Touch” aim to help parents educate their children in a fun and comfortable way.  Both books Stacey Honowitz authored to help educate parents, teachers and children to better understand this ugly crime that is despicable.

She is also a frequent legal commentator who has provided legal analysis for CNN Headline News, Good Morning America, Dateline NBC, CBS News 48 Hours, MSNBC, CNBC, Dr. Drew HLN, Larry King,  as well as Fox News and Court Television. She has prosecuted several high profile cases in south Florida and is also a guest lecturer who speaks about child sex abuse, the sensitive nature of these cases, the navigation of the criminal justice system and the importance of frank and open communication with children about this important and difficult subject matter.

She has provided important information for several years to both parents and children on the issues of child molestation and continues to send the message that the importance of reporting the abuse is the first step in healing. To contact Stacey, email: info@staceyhonowitz.com .

Stacey is available for speaking engagements focusing on Child Sex Crimes, how to discuss sex abuse with your children, adult rape cases, investigations for child pornography, navigating the criminal justice system and the medias role in high profile cases.  Contact her – click here.

Learn more about Stacey’s books and don’t forget to order them today!  Her website is full of valuable information!