Parents Guide of Las Vegas

Features
Best of the Web
The Lost Art of Playing Sports for Fun
Back to School Fashion Show
Children’s Shoe Fitting
Choosing the Right Preschool
Nevada PEP LV Trainings
The Allowance Debate
Are You an Over-protective Parent?
Mark Twain: Vegas PBS Offers Educational Programming

Departments
Letter from the Publisher
Recommended Reading
Dining Out
Child Chare: Parent-School Partnership
The Roper Report: Transitioning from Pool to School
Featured Teacher: Ms. May
Academic Success: Scholarship Search
Family Calendar

By Audrey Sherwood

The Miraculous Journey of Edward
by Kate DiCamillo

Edward Tulane is a toy china rabbit who is self-centered and prideful. When he is unexpectedly parted from his doting owner, he finds himself in a confusing world where not everyone treats him with love and respect. As Edward undertakes an unplanned albeit incredible journey, he learns to value others needs above his own. Eventually his traveling takes him full circle, leaving him much the wiser. Ages 8-12.

Yoko
by Rosemary Wells

Yoko happily brings her favorite lunch to school only to find the other kids laugh at it. Worried by Yoko’s sadness, her teacher plans an international food day to help the other students branch out. But none of the children try any of Yoko’s sushi until Timothy, hungry for more, sneaks into the classroom and tries some. He is hooked and, in turn, introduces Yoko to his favorite coconut crisps. The two develop a friendship and learn to enjoy trying something different. Ages 3-7.

Hoot
by Carl Hiaasen

When middle-schooler Roy moves from Montana to a small Florida town, he struggles to fit in. While trying unsuccessfully to dodge the class bully, Roy’s interest is piqued by a strange barefooted boy he notices running down the road. The problems with the bully continue and Roy finds an unexpected ally in a tall, athletic girl named Beatrice. His awkward friendship with Beatrice leads him to discover that the strange boy he noticed is her runaway stepbrother. The trio discover rare burrowing owls in the construction site of a pancake-house chain. When the teenagers try to stop the construction, they find themselves facing greedy developers, corrupt politicians and incompetent cops. Will three kids and some tiny owls stand a chance against all that? Ages 10+.

This month’s “Best of the Web” award goes to the movie review site www.Kids-in-Mind.com. In their own words here’s what the site offers.

We enable adults to determine whether a movie is appropriate for them or their children, according to their own criteria. Unlike the MPAA we do not assign an inscrutable rating based on age, but 3 objective ratings for SEX/NUDITY, VIOLENCE/GORE & PROFANITY on a scale of 0 to 10. We also explain in detail why a film rates high or low in a specific category, and we include instances of SUBSTANCE USE, a list of DISCUSSION TOPICS that may elicit questions from kids and MESSAGES the film conveys.

In addition to assigning three ratings, we also explain in detail why a film rates high or low in a specific category, and we include instances of SUBSTANCE USE, a list of DISCUSSION TOPICS (topics that may elicit questions from kids) and MESSAGES (what values the film conveys).

Again, unlike the MPAA, www.Kids-in-Mind.com does not make age-specific recommendations. Since our system is based on objective standards, not the viewer’s age or the artistic merits of a film, we enable concerned adults to determine whether a movie is appropriate for them or their children according to their own criteria.

As we never tire pointing out, we make no judgments about what is good or bad or anything else. We do not “condemn,” “critique” or “criticize” movies. And we don’t “praise” or “recommend” movies either. We advance no “beliefs” and we do not “preach” anything. We are not affiliated with any political party, any cultural or religious group, or any ideology. The only thing we advocate is responsible, engaged parenting. If one reads our reviews on www.Kids-in-Mind.com one will often find many instances where our descriptions are so detailed they seem absurd. But we’d rather err on the side of comprehensiveness. It’s up to parents to decide which details are useful to them and their family, and which ones they consider fatuous.

If you would like to submit a “Best of the Web” online site to be included in an upcoming issue of PGLV send an e-mail to editor@parentsguidelv.com.

As a busy mom of four, I know how hectic a parent’s schedule can be. I also know how tough it is to regularly dine out on a budget. With both budgets and schedules in mind, I have scoured the town in search of great dining deals to stretch your dollar and still have an enjoyable meal out with your kids.

Here are my top six picks for August:

Cici’s Pizza on Silverado Ranch/Maryland Parkway – Lunch buffet of pizza, pasta, soups, salads, desserts and unlimited soft drinks for $3.99.

La Focaccia Italian Bistro on Eastern/Pebble – Tuesday night all-you-can-eat pasta for $6.99. This includes a salad and their signature focaccia bread. You can sample unlimited large portions of at least 5 different signature selections.

Tacone Flavor Grill at the District in Green Valley Ranch – Offers free sweet potato fries (which are heavenly) with any sandwich or wrap. Try the Buffalo Chicken or the Malibu Melt.

Famous Dave’s – Celebrating their 15 year Anniversary is doing a “Buck-A-Bone Ribs” promotion.

Bar Louie at Town Square- $1 Burgers on Tuesday nights, and we’re not talking sliders here, 7 oz of beef, that’s 1 oz. shy of a half-pounder!

Pick Up Stix – “2fer Tuesdays”, dinner for two just $9.99 and Wonton Wednesdays, with those addictive cream cheese wontons at only 25 cents.

I hope you’ll join me each month in ­celebrating the best local eats our town has to offer.  Whether it’s a dive bar or a five star restaurant, we will feature the best family dining options each month in Dining Out. 

If you would like to have your restaurant featured in next month’s “Dining Out” column send an e-mail to Dine@ParentsGuideLV.com.

Junior Athletics is a non-profit youth and community sports development organization with a vision of establishing our youth’s discipline and work ethic, and uniting our community through athletics. Through our organization we are educating children from ages 4 to 15 on the two main objectives of our program, the fundamentals of sports and the skills necessary for success in life. Our goal at Junior Athletics is that these young individuals will take with them the understanding of these fundamentals and learn that when applied to their everyday environment, they can impact a better sense of humanity and stewardship towards our community, our country, and our global society.

When you visit a Junior Athletics camp you will find two factors of great importance that establishes our organization. They are mandatory parental involvement and volunteer commitment from our high-school and collegiate aged young men and women. Junior Athletics non-competitive environment encourages youth who have never played, intimidated by team sports, need more fundamental training, need pre-season / post- season conditioning, or simply enjoy the lost art of PLAYING SPORTS FOR FUN to participate.

Currently there are about 73 youth registered and attending our camps, which is tremendous growth from 16 that helped established Junior Athletics last July. Our camps feature soccer and basketball. Each sports camp practices once a week through August. Basketball camp is for ages 5 thru 15 and meet every Monday at 6:30 pm at Paseo Vista Park. Soccer camp meets every Saturday at 10:00am for ages 4 thru 6 and 11:20 am for ages 7 thru 12 at the same park, Paseo Vista.

Junior Athletics is currently seeking individuals or corporations interested in being major sponsors, or donors. For more info about Junior Athletics please contact Jason Williams, founder of Junior Athletics by e-mail at juniorathletics@hotmail.com, or visit www.juniorathleticsinc.org.