For a sick child in the hospital, it can be hard to stay cheerful. For a young adult starting college with no family support system in place, it's tough to watch a roommate open a box of home-baked cookies. Connect for Kids intern Diana Strumbos reports on a pair of programs that understand the importance of small things.

If you want to add a mentoring component to your after-school program, the After-School Program Clearinghouse from MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership can give you guidance and tools to get started.

Feeding Children Better offers a list of people to contact for programs to feed your child during the summer months.

Here's a scary thought: 42,819 5-year-olds -- 1 percent of all kindergarteners -- are home taking care of themselves after school. The Afterschool Alliance reports that while most children are in the care of an adult after school, millions of elementary and secondary school kids spend an average of 7 hours a week caring for themselves. Only 11 percent are in after-school programs, though many more would participate if they could afford them or find suitable programs in their community.

The National Collaboration for Youth offers toolkits supporting the need for partnerships between schools and community-based organizations.

The release of the early evaluation of 21st Century Learning Centers sparked heated debate as to what after-school programs should be held accountable for and how they should measure their impact. This Harvard Family Research Project's "Out-of-School Time Evaluation Snapshot" provides a comprehensive listing of the performance measures that programs nationwide are using, and the sources they use to collect data.

For more than 10 years, Agnes Stevens has kept her School on Wheels program tightly focused on doing one thing well: helping homeless children keep up with their schoolwork by providing volunteer tutors. Holly St. Lifer reports on the power of a simple idea in action.

Summer programs that provide students with extra instructional time and remedial support can improve their performance, even those with the most to gain, according to this evaluation of Chicago's Summer Bridge program.

State and local budget crunches and an unemployment rate that has many adults taking jobs usually reserved for out-of-school teens have led to the slimmest summer job prospects for teens in decades.

LDOnline has articles and a directory for parents looking for summer opportunities for children with learning disabilities or ADHD.