Jackie Ostfeld

Policy Manager, Sierra Club's Mission Outdoors

Today's kids are growing up in an environment very different from that of the generations preceding them. Children are really overdosing on the indoors.

Devon Corneal

Lawyer, Mother

I just didn't realize that even 4-year-olds want to be just like everyone else.

Cory Zacker

Founder, Mosaic Tutoring

We all want our kids to grow both academically and emotionally as the year progresses, but there are almost always bumps along that road. How you will handle those bumps is something worth thinking about now.

Laura Rowley

Executive Producer, Original Video and Partnerships, The Huffington Post

When it comes to working motherhood, it is the small things that break you. September seems to break me every year.

Tamar Chansky

Psychologist; Author, 'Freeing Yourself from Anxiety: 4 Simple Steps to Overcome Worry and Create the Life You Want'

The best things in life come out of change. We don't have to embrace change by diving in to those cold choppy waters headfirst, but if we can start by just dipping our toes in, one foot at a time, before we know it, we'll be well on our way to arriving at our new destination.

Meredith Gordon

The Larry David of Housewives. Writer, badsandy.com

Next time Mom gets one of her really cool ideas, it better come with a Xanax. For me, not for her. She's having a great time.

Caroline Dowd-Higgins

Director of Career and Professional Development and Adjunct Faculty, Indiana University Maurer School of Law

Even if you've never been to camp, or if it's been ages since you ate s'mores under the stars, you can apply these simple lessons to your career for better satisfaction and engagement.

Elena Sonnino

Freelance Writer, Educator,

Fostering confidence in our children will help them not just in school, but it will prepare them for real life... the real life that is, for better or worse, just a few blinks away.

Bridget Edwards

Bake At 350

The month of September and back-to-school time make me think of fresh pencils, new notebooks, and pleated plaid skirts, but they also make me think of COOKIES!

Marcy Winograd

Author, tween novel Lola Zola and the Lemonade Crush

The key question to ask yourself as a parent is "How can I empower my tween?"

Adam Kirk Edgerton

'Urban' educator

I quit teaching because I was tired of feeling powerless. Tired of watching would-be professionals treated as children, infantilized into silence.

Olivia Bouler

Young environmental activist

As you load up your backpack, keep our planet in mind. The three R's of "writing, reading, and 'rithmatic'" can be easily replaced with, "reduce, reuse and recycle."

Christina Anderson

Fashion Editor

This week, my five-year-old daughter starts kindergarten. But the big question on my mind is, with a new school full of unfamiliar teachers and parents, what am I going to wear?

Tom Cramer

Late Boom, Early X

The start of first grade had me happy and confused all at the same time: Ms. Svec was my teacher again, only she was now she was named Mrs. Jennings. Apparently she got married over the summer. Not cool. Didn't she know I loved her?

Dan Brown

Teacher, Author of "The Great Expectations School"

It's not always pretty, but my students have shown important progress toward college and career readiness -- something I could never claim from my rookie misadventure at P.S. 85. What accounts for the change?

Rebecca Gerendasy

Co-founder, Cooking Up a Story

It's not only what is inside the sack lunch that counts, but also how it is put together. In the end, school lunches that are healthy, fresh and fun are the keys to a satisfying lunchtime experience.