Long Island Parent Talk

OK teens, what does SAT stand for? Nothing. Really. SAT was initially called the Scholastic Aptitude Test but now it is an empty acronym. Still, year after year, high school students stress over SAT scores, an important factor for college admissions, and parents fork over their savings for private courses so teens can get higher scores.

From Princeton Review, Kaplan, TestTakers to courses...

Today marks National Adoption Day, an effort to raise awareness of the more than 100,000 children in foster care waiting to find permanent, loving families.

In total, National Adoption Day helped nearly 40,000 children move from foster care to a forever family and this year, it's expected that 4,500 children will be adopted today.

Many celebrities, from the Jolie-Pitt family and Madonna...

It’s not anywhere close to Easter, but two bunny-themed plays hit the stage on Long Island this weekend anyway. You’ll have to chose between the two of them, as they both go on during Sunday afternoon.

Life-sized puppets tell the story of “The Velveteen Rabbit,” by Margery Williams, at 1 p.m. Sunday at LIU Tilles Center, Route 25A, Brookville. It’s performed by the Enchantment Theatre Company...

Looking for things to do with the kids this weekend? From a Thanksgiving performance featuring Pocahontas, a mystery with Tom the Turkey, Native American games and more, there's much to do on Long Island. Here are my top five picks for fun, family friendly activities this weekend:

1. Who Took Tom The Turkey at BroadHollow Theatre Company (700 Hempstead Tpke., Elmont). Tom, the Turkey, is missing...

On Oct. 26,  superstorm Sandy wreaked havoc across Long Island and affected our lives and daily routines in a way that brought back personal memories of Hurricane Gloria (Sept. 27, 1985) and the crippling Arab oil embargo of the 1970s.

Gloria left my household without power for a week.  At the time my children were youngsters and my husband had gone on a weeklong business trip in...

In my ongoing quest to find tasty, kid-friendly meals for you that are appropriate for the whole family, this week I chose a recipe that combines two Thanksgiving favorites — pumpkin pie and pecan pie from Kelsey Nixon, celebrity chef and TV host of "Kelsey's Essentials" on the Cooking Channel. Nixon is working with Hershey's Moderation Nation, a program all about finding balance in everything...

The sixth and newest WorryWoo Monster -- Twitch: The Monster of Frustration -- has just launched. Andi Green writes and illustrates the WorryWoo collection of books and produces the adorable plush monsters that go along with each story. Twitch, a purple monster with yellow horns, is the sixth in her line of characters, and Twitch’s book is called “The Very Frustrated Monster.” The book begins,...

Kidville, a popular destination for children's classes, athletics and more, is coming to Long Island.

Set to open in February 2013, the new Roslyn Heights Kidville will be located in the same center as Soul Cycle and Thea Gifts (250 S. Service Rd.).

The 5,400-square-foot Kidville will feature developmental classes including Rockin' Railroad, Run Wiggle Paint & Giggle, Big Muscles...

There are many Sandy relief efforts across Long Island collecting sorely needed supplies aimed to help families get back up and running.

Village East Gifted (VEG), an after-school enrichment program for gifted and talented students in located in Huntington and at the West Hills Day Camp, are running an infant-relief drive to help the littlest victims of superstorm Sandy.

Every year,...

Pacifiers are universally popular with new parents and their infants, but there's one big problem with them: They can get dirty. Very dirty.

Researchers report that they found a wide range of disease-causing bacteria, fungus and mold on pacifiers that young children had been using.

They added that pacifiers can often grow a slimy coating of bacteria — called a biofilm — that actually...