You may think that the U.S. Census merely counts people. Interestingly, it also collects behavioral information. For example, questions on the 2009 Survey of Income and Participation asked questions about television habits and rules, family dinners, and reading with children, among many others. The recently released data suggests that parents are spending more time with their children than they were ten years ago, and the interactions are of the high quality that researchers like to see in child development.

This data shows that parents, including lower-income parents, are reading with their children, playing with them, and eating dinner with them more frequently than was reported in the previous census. Educators are encouraged by this news, as parent involvement is crucial to success in school.

Reading to and with children is one of the most influential factors in their future reading success. At Learning A-Z, one of our most important goals is to provide affordable and developmentally appropriate reading materials for children to take home and read with their parents.

The census report's finding is heartening news. I hope that in some small way, we at Learning A-Z are contributing to the high-quality interactions between parents and children.

It's a digital age, and most kids are light years ahead of their parents and teachers regarding technology. More and more, schools are being equipped with smart boards and classroom computers. Some schools issue laptops to their students to make the learning relevant to the world we now live in.

It's also an economic reality that many students have no access to computers in the home, and there are still many schools that have few computers available in the classroom. So how do teachers fulfill the mandate to integrate technology into their lesson plans?

Just in time for the new school year, blogger Jennifer Barnett, who is part of the Teacher Leaders Network, shares some useful ideas in her blog High-Tech Teaching in a Low-Tech Classroom.