Parent Resources

This page contains a variety of resources for parents, including information on youth organizations, learning materials, parenting materials and more.

INDEX 

Click on a link in the list below to quickly jump to that section.

Children Get Involved
Action for Nature:  Encourages young people to take personal action to make this a better place for humans and nature. 
ASPCA's Animaland:  Learn to care for your own pet and learn what you can do to help all pets.  Site includes advice for choosing a pet, an animal encyclopedia, global issues,and  games and cartoons.
Boy Scouts:  Learn all there is know about this organization.
Girl Scouts Just for Girls:  Find out about Girls Scouts, but find much more.  Section on careers, science projects, and links for girls.
Camp Fire Boys & Girls:  See what other kids are doing and find out how you can participate.
National Wildlife Federation:  With activities for children of all ages, this fun site encourages knowledge and appreciation of nature.

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Celebrate the Holidays
Billy Bear 4 Kids! Holidays:  Find games, word searches, coloring pages, interesting websites, and activities of every kind on this award-winning website.
Children's Judaica:  Explore the Jewish holidays with these coloring pages, quizzes, stories, crafts, and more.
Education World's Holidays and Special Days Center:  Filled with links to great websites to help celebrate the holidays, this website offers everything to make your holiday special.
Holidays on the Net:  Learn the history of our holidays, find recipes and crafts, plus find reasons to celebrate every day. 
Kids Domain Holidays:  Learn about the holidays, how they are celebrated, and find fun activities to do.

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Explore Our World
Afghanistan for Children:  Learn about this interesting country by reading stories, coloring pages, and more.
Culture Quest World Tour:  Visit countries around the world and learn about their culture.  Play the games they play, cook the food they eat, and speak their language.
Greatest Places:  Explore the Amazon, Greenland, Iguazu, Madagascar, Namib, Okavango, and Tibet. Includes photographs and QuickTime movies.
Say Hello to the World:  Learn to say hello in all the languages of the world.  Hear greetings in many languages, follow links to additional websites to learn more about the languages and cultures that speak them, and much more.

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Children and Computers
Parent Guidelines for Safe PCs:  The greatest risk our children face online is being access denied.  They need computer skills for their future success.  These resources help parents make informed decisions that help to keep their children safe yet allow them to learn.
Get Net Wise:  Helps " Internet users to be only "one click away" from the resources they need to make informed decisions about their family's use of the Internet."
Safety Net for the Internet:  Created by the New York Public Library, this guide helps parents be more informed and offers tips for child safety.
Online/Social Media Safety & Cyberbullying: Tips for teens & tweens on safety when accessing social media websites (MySpace, Facebook, etc) and in conducting online searches, including personal information, forms, etc.
Superkids Educational Software Review: For teacher and parents, this site provides review for children's educational software. 
WiredKids Parents:  The World's Largest Internet Safety, Help and Education Organization.
Net Smart Kids:  Fun, interactive games teach the rules of the Internet.  
PBS Kids Web License:  Answer the questions correctly and earn your Web License.
Basics of Computing:  Designed for children and teens, learn computer terminology and basic how-to's like creating a desktop shortcut.
Learning HTML:  Brought to you by Internet Public Library.  Learn the basics of web page design. Find links to fun things to add to your website.
Lissa Explains It All:  Learn how to make your own web pages.  Learn about HTML, finding graphics, and posting your site.
Mouserobics:  Follow the numbers and learn to use the mouse.  
Mrs. Cannon's Computer Lab:  Designed for elementary age students, there is a wealth of activities, games, links and quizzes available.
TechMom Resources for Students:  Search several child-safe search engines and see the different results; see how to cite an Internet source; and learn computer ethics.
Good Typing:  An online typing tutorial that requires that you register first.  Kids, always ask your parents first before entering any personal information.
Mr. Kent's Typing Tutor:  Learn the basics, then try the speed tests.  Be certain to read the instructions first.  You can practice typing numbers using the ten-key pad as well.
Typer Shark:  Type fast or the sharks will get you.  A fun, fast-paced way to practice your typing skills. 

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Early Childhood
Early Childhood:  The professional resource for teachers and parents.  Find arts & crafts ideas, activities and curriculum suggestions, plus many articles on a wide variety of subjects.
KinderStart:  Indexed directory and search engine for parents, teachers, and other caregivers searching for information about children ages birth to seven years.
Parenting of K-6 Children:  Find parenting tips, activities, party ideas, advice, and support from other parents.
Resources, Lesson Plans & Activities for Kindergarteners:  An Internet hotlist providing resources for parents and teachers of kindergarteners.
Technology & Young Children:  Brings together articles that discuss and demonstrate the best practices for introducing technology to young children.  

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Health & Nutrition for Kids
Girls Health: A website from the USDA for girls ages 10-16, with information about healthy habits and peer issues
Helping Kids Fight Obesity: PDF document with online info sources about kids health
Kidnetic: A site from the International Food Information Council with fun, easy and healthy recipes for kids
KidsHealth: This site offers advice and recipes for parents, kids and teens who have dietary challenges, such as diabetes, lactose intolerance or celiac disease.
Nourish Interactive: Site has puzzles, games for kids to teach nutrition concepts; information on how to keep whole family active and healthy
SmallStep Kids: A website from the USDA to encourage better health with fun games, quizzes and more

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Homeschooling
Home Education Magazine:  Online newsletters, discussion boards, articles, additional resources, and much more can be found of this site.
Home Schooler's Curriculum Swap: Find used books and resources, join online forums, and swap recipes.
Home Schooling Information and Resource Pages:  Provides links to sites with useful information for parents and children.
Jon's Home School Resource Page:  One of the largest homeschooling websites providing a source of neutral, non-commercial homeschooling information.
Kaleidoscapes: Provides support and resources for homeschooling parents as well as a kids page where kids can learn to make animated graphics and webpages.

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Learning Difficulties
National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities:  provides information to the nation on disabilities in children and youth; programs and services for infants, children, and youth with disabilities; IDEA, the nation's special education law; No Child Left Behind, the nation's general education law; and research-based information on effective practices for children with disabilities.
Parent's Guide to Helping Kids with Learning Differences:  Provides information, resources, and support for parents.
Social Security's Benefits for Children with Disabilities:  Illustrates the kinds of Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits a child with a disability might be eligible for and explains how SSA evaluates disability claims for children.

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Parenting
Commonsense Media:  "Your trusted source for family friendly reviews" provides reviews of TV shows, movies, games, music and more.
Kidsource:  In-depth & timely education & healthcare information that will make a difference in the lives of parents & children.  Includes lists of recall notices.
Parent Soup:  An award winning site with something for every parent.  Find activities, articles on children's health, discussions on discipline, and much more.   
Parenting.com:  Online home of Parenting Magazine, this site offers useful tools, in-depth information, reality-tested advice, and quick tips.
Parenting.org:  Provided by the professionals at the Girls and Boys Town National Resource and Training Center, specializing in training, consulting, and researching parenting practices that parents deal with the day-to-day care taking, guidance, and development of children.

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