This Chapin Hall guide can help you determine how your out-of-school program is serving young people's healthy development, how you could improve it, and how it measures up to several critical indicators of program quality. Register for free at and then scroll down to find A Self-Study Guide for Managers and Staff of Primary Support Programs for Young People in "downloadable publications."

What if we looked at the teenager hanging out on the corner not as a problem waiting to happen, but as a youth about to develop? Would we begin to think in terms of what he needs to thrive, instead of what he needs to just stay alive? That's the "paradigm shift" underlying the youth development movement. Public/Private Ventures' new book takes stock of this movement, its promise and challenges.

We know a lot about the importance of children's early development and about the promise of high-quality preschool programs, but our growing knowledge "stands in stark contract to practice in many—perhaps most—early childhood settings," according to an upcoming text from the Committee on Early Childhood Pedagogy of the National Research Council. The executive summary includes recommendations for improving professional development, teaching materials, public policies and public knowledge about the promise of the early years.

It's no surprise: Dads make a difference! The nonprofit DADs offers tip sheets, advice and resources to help fathers understand and respond to the landscape their girls face every day as well as leadership on improving the social environment of girls.

The American Association of Retired Persons created this site for grandparents who have the responsibility for raising their grandchildren.

When a young boy found himself in a strange land, where his words meant nothing, he found a way to bear the change with help from his imagination—and his dog. And he reminded his parents that helping children through the rough patches requires listening to them. Managing editor Susan Phillips explains.

Parents who remember lazy summer afternoons at the swimming hole, or evening games of kick-the-can, are often dismayed when they consider the scheduled, plugged-in lives of their own children. Senior Editor Richard Louv says we must work to bring children closer to nature.

Learn how to help your child—or any child—learn to appreciate the performing arts, and help promote a lifelong appreciation of cultural events and activities.

Richard Louv explores how faith-based organizations around the country are reaching out to support children and families in new ways. The idea is community: not just within the place of worship, but beyond.

Deficiencies in character education and support are putting American boys in a "moral emergency," says family therapist and author Michael Gurian in his new book, The Good Son: Shaping the Moral Development of Our Boys and Young Men. In a conversation with Richard Louv, Gurian shares insights from his professional life—and his own unsettled upbringing—to argue that parents and society must do better by boys.