Q: We want to start something this summer to get our middle-school kids ready for the district's rigorous high school service learning program. Many local kids want to volunteer. We just need to help organize them. Where can we find good activities for this age?

A: How great that you're making this effort! Many tweens have informed opinions on serious issues. They want to help, but need guidance on how to make an impact.

Your district's high school program probably makes a distinction between volunteering and service learning. It's important to learn this if part of your goal is to prepare your kids for what is to come. Service-learning experts say volunteering is giving time, talent and resources to help others in need -- all good!

But service-learning programs take volunteering a step beyond. They are designed to get kids to learn about the need they're serving. Kids grow individually and as a team while strengthening the community around them.

For example, your tweens might volunteer to clean a local park, even pruning trees and pulling invasive plants. To turn it into a service learning project, add an educational component, such as researching the long-term impact of invasives, making a proposal on the future care of the park, or publishing a guide on proper tree care.

The YMCA Center for Asset Development has just released a terrific new curriculum to equip youth as change agents in the community: "Seasons of Service: Engaging Youth in Service-Learning Throughout the Year." It's free at theassetedge.net/seasons-of-service.pdf.

The folks at DoSomething.org, an organization for teens dedicated to social change, compiled an interactive workbook for tweens: "Do Something! A Handbook for Young Activists" (Workman, 2010). With action plans and 41 projects that range from disaster relief to bullying prevention, you're sure to find something that will appeal to your kids.

Another book, "How to Be an Everyday Philanthropist" (Workman, 2009), has a practical spin on how to make a difference in the world. It's all about "using what you have, not what you earn," says author Nicole Bouchard Boles. Many of its 330 ideas will appeal to tweens.

When tweens and parents volunteer together, it's the best of all worlds, according to Long Valley, N.J., middle school teacher Matt Marciano. For several years, he has engaged his sixth-grade social studies classes in "Change the World" projects to improve their community. He emphasizes the philosophy of "paying it forward" -- returning good deeds by helping others. His students have created a recycling program, made teddy bears for family shelters, established a pet therapy program in a local nursing home and helped an area homeless family. This past year, parents joined in, allowing students to expand their impact.

Getting tweens to think big about changing the world often starts with small gestures close to home, such as running errands for a sick neighbor.

"I tell students their summer assignment is to perform a random act of kindness every day," says Helena Wright, a Massachusetts middle school counselor. "It helps them be more other-directed and less focused on 'me, me, me.'"

Find ideas at www.randomactsofkindness.org.

(Do you have a question about your child's education? Email it to Leanna@aplusadvice.com. Leanna Landsmann is an education writer who began her career as a classroom teacher. She has served on education commissions, visited classrooms in 49 states to observe best practices, and founded Principal for a Day in New York City.)

Q: We're traveling from Tennessee to Colorado for a reunion. My husband and I didn't go to college, but we want our two daughters to have this opportunity. We hope to visit colleges en route to inspire them. One will be a freshman and the other will be starting middle school. Is it too soon for them to visit colleges?

A: No, not at all. Weaving college visits into a vacation is a great way to give your daughters a snapshot of life on campus without the pressure of applying.

"It's never too early to open kids' eyes to the potential of college," says Jose Ruben Olivares, the principal at Think College Now, a college-focused public elementary school in Oakland, Calif.

Visits ignite what Olivares calls "college knowledge" -- setting goals, thinking about careers and developing study skills to get grades required for acceptance.

The secret to inspiring your daughters is keeping the visits short and informal.

"Don't pack the trip full of tours where your middle grader listens to a stream of data such as what the average GPA of the incoming freshman class is," says Sally Reed, an editor at College Bound (www.collegeboundnews.com), a resource for guidance counselors and parents. "Your goal is to whet their appetites and show them the range of different colleges. That's best done by short visits, researched ahead of time so you can hit the hot spots, and move on."

Where to start? Using a current college guide, find schools along the way that excel in subjects of interest to your daughters. Call the admissions office. Are facilities such as a music hall, pool or student union open to visitors? Are student-led tours offered? What events are scheduled while you're there? Many universities have summer programs for high school students; speaking with peer participants might interest your daughters. Research alumni: Who attended that the girls have heard of?

Let's say you're headed across I-70. Check out the University of Missouri at Columbia, a great college town. Sheryl Crow, Jon Hamm and Kate Capshaw are alumni. Mizzou's campus has a botanical garden with 42,000 plants and trees. The university offers degree programs in 280 fields. Its Columbia enrollment is just north of 33,000.

Compare that to Stephens College, also in Columbia. This small, women's residential institution is known for individualized attention in fields of film, design, theater, interior design and equestrian studies. There's even pet-friendly housing if your daughter doesn't want to leave her kitty behind.

Those two stops alone will show your girls the choices open to them. Just remember that it's a vacation to open eyes and see possibilities, says Reed.

"Don't talk about grades, test scores, SATs and applications," she says. "Just enjoy the campuses."

If you have a good experience, stop at the college bookstore. Get a pennant for a bedroom wall or college sweatshirts for your daughters' soccer practice.

"We have banners from nearly every college in the nation on our school's walls," Olivares says. "These daily reminders encourage students to aspire to college."

(Do you have a question about your child's education? Email it to Leanna@aplusadvice.com. Leanna Landsmann is an education writer who began her career as a classroom teacher. She has served on education commissions, visited classrooms in 49 states to observe best practices, and founded Principal for a Day in New York City.)

Q: Our district needs good after-school activities. A group of us want to start two clubs that use volunteer knowledge, offer cross-age learning, don't require expensive equipment and get kids away from their digital devices. Any suggestions?

A: How about chess and gardening? After-school coordinators I spoke with say communities often have passionate chess players and gardeners who like to pass on their knowledge. Both hobbies have good track records in schools and national organizations that can provide resources and models.

Chess is gaining in popularity in schools. The motto of the United States Chess Federation (USCF), "Chess makes kids smart," is part of the appeal.

New Jersey has added chess to its elementary school curriculum. Oregon's Chess for Success (www.chessforsuccess.org) points to research that shows chess can boost math and reading skills and improve critical thinking. Chess for Success Executive Director Julie Young says kids learn life skills, too, such as impulse control, delayed gratification, strategy and long-term planning.

Kids as young as first grade can learn to enjoy the game. Check out the Scholastic link on the USCF's website: www.uschess.org.

School gardens are popping up everywhere because they're wonderful places for hands-on lessons in a variety of subject areas and offer great volunteer projects to bring together community members of all ages. Two teachers at Park Avenue Elementary, in the North Bellmore (N.Y.) School District, launched a school garden that "grew out of our concern that children's outdoor interaction is diminishing," says Robin Obey, kindergarten teacher.

"Now," she says, "parents see their kids not only growing but tasting fresh foods such as radishes, lettuces, spinach and herbs!"

Obey and art teacher Jill Skelly secured $2,000 from the Bellmore Lion's Club for raised beds. The garden is used throughout the day. Obey says teachers have taught writing workshops, poetry, art, science and math in the garden.

"Kids are very excited to be there!" she says.

This spring's crops were so plentiful that kids participated in a "Grow to Give" program, with harvests donated to local food banks.

The folks at the National Gardening Association (NGA) know what works with young gardeners. NGA's program, KidsGardening: Helping Young Minds Grow (www.kidsgardening.org), offers tips, lesson plans to integrate into the curriculum and ways to connect with master gardeners in your area.

Do your due diligence when bringing in volunteers you don't know. "Districts have processes in place to vet folks working with students, such as finger printing and background checks. Follow it and explain why it's necessary," says counselor Marissa Gehley, founder of KNOW (Kids Need Our Wisdom) consulting.

"And remember, too, that just because someone is a passionate hobbyist doesn't mean they make a good coach," she says. "A gardener who freaks out because someone spilled the pumpkin seeds should become your technical advisor, not the person who shows kindergarteners how to sow them."

(Do you have a question about your child's education? Email it to Leanna@aplusadvice.com. Leanna Landsmann is an education writer who began her career as a classroom teacher. She has served on education commissions, visited classrooms in 49 states to observe best practices, and founded Principal for a Day in New York City.)