This week First Book is sharing stories about science and engineering from some of our friends at Lockheed Martin. Today's guest blogger is Amanda Tippey, a mechanical engineer with Lockheed Martin in Dallas. I didn’t grow up tinkering with cars or fixing things around the house with my dad. I was always creative and methodical, but my tiny hometown didn't boast many engineers, and I honestly wasn't sure what they actually did when I headed to college for an Interior Design degree. And yet, here I am, a mechanical engineer helping design the PAC-3 MSE Missile at MFC. In the end, the drive to design – to visualize and create incredible things – made engineering the perfect fit for me. Read More

This week First Book is sharing stories about science and engineering from some of our friends at Lockheed Martin. Today’s guest blogger is Karolyn Evans, an aerospace engineer with Lockheed Martin in Colorado. Hi, my name is Karolyn Evans and I’m an aerospace… Read More

Today’s blog post is by Chandler Arnold, First Book’s executive vice-president and director of the First Book Marketplace: Not long ago, First Book introduced a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) section on the First Book Marketplace, our award-winning online site for programs… Read More

Today’s guest blogger is Anita Merina, the National Coordinator for ‘Read Across America’, a National Education Association initiative. Every year on March 2nd educators, parents, grandparents, athletes, actors, politicians, and kids join together for Read Across America Day to celebrate reading. Read More

Photo by Saverio Truglia for TIME During the lazy, hazy days of summer, between the pool, video games and everything in the middle, children risk losing a significant portion of what they learned during the previous school year.  While some children have access to resources to curb their summer reading loss, many, unfortunately do not.  Without activities to keep these children’s minds sharp, they risk falling behind in school and beyond. In Time Magazine’s “The Case Against Summer Vacation,” author David Von Drehle argues that students should have access to a school’s resources all year long so that children who cannot attend summer camps or educational field trips retain their knowledge. If the school year were extended over the Read More

Ever wonder what your dog would say to you if it could speak? (Some possible ideas: “Must you always speak in baby-talk to me? That’s insulting.” and “Under no circumstances should I be forced to wear a cardigan.”) Well now you can check out what’s on… Read More

In 1996, in a synthesis of 39 separate studies, researchers found that the average student, returning to school in September has lost the equivalent of 1.0 to 2.6 months of previous learning—in effect, erasing this amount of learning from their mind. According to the report, the biggest losses occur in the areas of spelling and computational math (multiplication, addition, etc.).   The good news for both parents and students is [by having a summer learning plan and acting on it] that this “academic atrophy” can be reduced and even eliminated. -    Rob Stringer, Educational and Parenting Consultant, July 15, 2005 Many parents are unaware of the effect summer break may have on their childs learning achievement.  The "summer slide" describes what happens when young minds sit idle for three months. Experts agree that children who read during the summer gain reading skills, while those who do not often Read More