Are there guns in houses where your children will play this summer? The American Academy of Pediatrics urges parents to use Asking Saves Kids (ASK) Day -- Saturday, June 21 -- to find out. Brochures and safety advisories are available to help keep kids safe when the answer--in your home or another's--is yes.

Even bright students sometimes miss the mark in preparing for college courses. To help students better prepare for the demands of college courses, the Standards for Success project has developed booklets that identify the academic habits and knowledge expected of college students in English, mathematics, natural sciences, social sciences, second languages and the arts. Hard copies are $18.

Forward-looking business leaders care about the early care of young kids, to stabilize a workforce with more full-time young parents and to make sure young children arrive at kindergarten ready to learn. This report describes how business has become more involved in providing family-friendly workforce supports and engaged in child development and school readiness policies and programs.

Is promoting marriage a good use of public funds to improve the well-being of children? This Center on Law and Social Policy research review concludes that research supports the notion that, on average, children do best when raised by two married, biological parents who have a low-conflict relationship. Yet marriage is no guarantee that families will have the emotional and financial resources to raise children well; and most children not living with married, biological parents grow up without serious problems.

Strengthening families has emerged as a key public policy goal, but few know how public programs can help stabilize and bolster families. Mathematica's new Web site is designed to keep track of the emerging research.

Good child care matters for families; it also makes a difference in the bottom line. Noting that too many children are entering school ill-prepared, the Business Roundtable and Corporate Voices for Working Families are urging lawmakers to protect funding for preschool programs for 3- and 4-year-olds in these tight times. They argue that a government commitment to early childhood education is essential to America's efforts to improve education and develop a world-class workforce.

In contrast to experimental studies that found negative effects of maternal employment on adolescents' school performance, this March 2003 study found no evidence of harmful effects on adolescents.

Civitas produces and distributes practical, easy-to-use tools that assist adults in making the best possible decisions on behalf of children. Visit this Web site for advice about behavior, child care, development, fathering, grandparenting, health and nutrition, play, prenatal and childbirth, sleep, and trauma and maltreatment.

Hang in there for the long haul and keep your daughter out of the middle, advise part-time dads and dads who father their daughters from a distance.

This brochure for parents describes the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), dubbed the Nation's Report Card, which assesses student performance in reading, math and selected subjects for fourth, eighth and twelfth graders.