Q: My daughter is a fifth-grader. On her teacher's website, it says the class will have "Maker Days" once a month. Students should bring "raw materials for tinkering." My daughter professes ignorance. What's this about?

A: You have one lucky daughter! Her teacher has joined the "maker movement," a growing initiative among educators to provide students with more hands-on activities to stimulate their imaginations.

A couple of events accelerated the movement. A Los Angeles boy, Caine Monroy, made an entire game arcade of used cardboard and tape. A neighbor's video of it went viral. (Visit cainesarcade.com.)

Joey Hudy, a 12-year-old from Arizona, demonstrated a marshmallow cannon he constructed at the 2012 White House Science Fair. When President Barack Obama used the cannon to launch a marshmallow across the State Dining Room, the maker movement made national news. (See Make Magazine to recapture the moment: makezine.com.)

The maker movement is fueled by a sense that schools are focusing too much on testing and not enough on creativity, draining students of opportunities to explore, imagine, problem-solve, design and invent real things in the arts and STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and math).

The movement is also fueled by parents who want kids to learn to create with technology, rather than simply consume it. A fast-growing array of technology tools -- like robotics programs, coding websites and 3-D printers -- makes it easier than ever for young people to dream up cool projects.

A new book, "Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom," by Sylvia Libow Martinez and Gary S. Stager (Constructing Modern Knowledge Press, 2013), gives educators and parents guidance on how to support young makers in learner-centered activities.

The authors say, "Projects are what students remember long after the bell rings."

They add that the "maker movement overlaps with the natural inclinations of curious children and the power of learning by doing." They say that middle school, "where students can shift seamlessly between childhood play and preparation for serious academics," is the perfect time to engage in the real work of mathematicians, scientists, composers, filmmakers, authors, computer scientists, engineers and so on.

Edsurge.com contributing editor Marie Bjerede runs a local makers club with her daughter. In an Edsurge blog post, she writes about ways parents can inspire and nurture kids like hers: "What does it take to inspire, raise and nurture young makers? Do they need lots of 'stuff' lying around the house to create with? Do they need Internet access to connect with and learn from other makers? Do they need parents who respect and protect their need to make?

"Let (young makers) go their own way, support the accumulation of maker treasure, and help (only) when asked (and provide the minimum amount of help needed to make it possible for them to take that next step)."

Heather Russell, a Seattle mom says, "Our boys learn so much by tinkering. Neighbors save junk for them to cobble together into spaceships, submarines, robots, whatever. But it does accumulate, so our rule is to triage every few weeks.

"That, too, is a learning opportunity. What to save? Toss? Trade with friends? It's worth it though. Each project becomes a memory maker."

(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: I overheard a mom in a checkout line tell her kids that she had little money for school supplies this year, and they'd have to "scrounge." I wanted to offer to pay for some, but it was awkward. Her comment haunts me. Getting new supplies was always huge for me. How can I donate to help kids in our community get what they need?

A: You've just had a vivid reminder that many children in this country won't head back to school with shiny new pencils and the many other items on their class-supply lists.

More than 16 million children in the United States -- over 20 percent -- live in poverty, says Connie Matthiessen, who blogs on education at greatschools.org: "Poverty is defined as income below $22,811 for a family of two adults and two children. Many more Americans who don't fit this definition are, by any measure, very poor."

Matthiessen says the crisis has turned the back-to-school season into a season of giving: "Around the country, organizations, schools, churches and individuals are donating clothing and school supplies so low-income kids can start the school year with plenty of pencils and notebooks -- and maybe even a brand-new outfit or two."

If you want to make a difference at a particular school, what works best is to contact the person who heads the PTO or PTA, says Tim Sullivan, publisher of PTO Today (ptotoday.com).

These organizations often work with a school guidance counselor or resource officer to coordinate getting supplies to kids who lack them. "It makes good sense to keep the volunteers a notch away from the very private information about the neediest of students," says Sullivan. "Once you find the appropriate staff member who can determine who is eligible and be the go-between, this is a great service to families and the school."

If volunteers don't pitch in, many teachers dip into their own pockets for those supplies. Sullivan suggests checking TeacherLists.com, where thousands of teachers post items they know they need that school budgets won't cover.

Matthiessen says you could contribute to a community organization in your area that sponsors back-to-school drives. She cites examples: Each year Northern Kentucky Harvest distributes hundreds of free backpacks filled with school supplies at its annual Backpacks and Breakfast event. In Scottsdale, Ariz., local police team up with a community center to create a back-to-school "store," where 500 students shop for free supplies. In many communities, the Salvation Army operates a "Clothes for Kids" program.

A donation to the Kids in Need Foundation (kinf.org) helps provide free school supplies to many of the nation's lowest-income
schools through a network of resource centers and teacher grants.

Adoptaclassroom.org enables you to supply specific classrooms. At donorschoose.org, you can help fund a learning project that interests you. Once a project is funded, all donors get thanks and photos from the classroom they supported.

Small donations from "citizen philanthropists" like you can provide a big back-to-school boost for many of our nation's poorest students.

(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: My 14-year-old stepdaughter says she only needs seven hours of sleep, though her moods suggest otherwise. How much sleep do teens need each night, during the school year?

A: If her moods suggest otherwise, more than seven hours! Experts at the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) recommend that teens get 8 1/2 to 9 1/4 hours, every day of the week. (They recommend 10 to 11 hours for children ages 5 to 10 and seven to nine hours for adults.)

In a recent survey, A-Plus Advice Teacher Advisors said that if there were one back-to-school tip they wish parents would heed, it's "Make sure kids get enough sleep."

"Parents, please establish an appropriate sleep schedule and stick to it," says California educator Marianne Maloney. "Students are more sleep-deprived than ever. I blame our 'rushy-rushy' culture and the fact that they sleep with their smartphones. It's making them dumb!"

When teens don't get enough sleep, their problems can go well beyond the occasional cranky mood or dozing off in class.

According to NSF research, lack of good sleep affects brain development. It impairs students' ability to listen, concentrate and solve problems; it leads to forgetting important information like names and homework assignments. It decreases creativity. It can even cause acne, weight gain or other health problems.

The NSF's studies of teens found that those who sleep less than the recommended time are more likely to express unhappiness or sadness, feel nervous or hopeless about the future, or feel depressed.

Sleep gives the brain a "spring cleaning," says Penelope Lewis, author of "The Secret World of Sleep" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013). It helps us filter out unimportant things weighing us down and creates "space" for new brain connections.

Technology can rob teens and children of good sleep, according to a recent study by University of Helsinki researchers. They found that the more children play on the computer or watch TV after school, the later they go to bed and the less they sleep on school nights. They found that having a TV or computer in the bedroom disrupted sleep, especially for boys. They recommend keeping TVs and computers out of the bedrooms of children and teens.

As you establish a sleep schedule for your stepdaughter, try to stick to it seven days a week, rather than allowing late nights and "sleeping in" on weekends and vacations. Trying to catch up on lost sleep can make for worse sleep, not better.

Consistency is key, says Dr. Kristin Avis of the Pediatric Sleep Disorders Center at Children's of Alabama in Birmingham. "It keeps their clock set so they can go to bed at a certain time, sleep well through the night and wake up well-rested the next morning."

While it's good for teens to participate in a broad range of activities, experts warn that clubs, sports and programs shouldn't come come at the expense of sleep.

Parents need to explicitly teach children and teens how to have healthy sleep. Sit down with your stepdaughter and review the healthy sleep tips here: www.sleepfoundation.org/article/sleep-topics/teens-and-sleep.

(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.)