Sharing and caring at the December Family Tech. 

Children and computers...a good match! 

Holiday fun in Family Tech for December! 

General: Snow and Snow Crystals: All ages

http://www.its.caltech.edu/%7Eatomic/snowcrystals/

Tis the season...and snow is a big part of it in a large part of the country. Here's a web site called Snow Crystals.com...yes, a site dedicated to snow. Here's what they say about it...
"Welcome to snowcrystals.com! This site is all about snow crystals and snowflakes -- what they are, where they come from, and just how these remarkably complex and beautiful structures are created, quite literally, out of thin air."
This site can help answer some of the questions kids ask about snow...or perhaps make think of new questions, after viewing.

Child and Family Web Guide

http://www.cfw.tufts.edu/

For parents, students and professionals: a directory of sites rated by experts from Tufts University" on family/parenting, education/training, typical child development, health/mental health, resources/recreation. You can browse the annotated, rated links by the complete alphabetical index, age level, and special topics (ADD/ADHD, healthy eating, behavior problems, etc.), and find research news sites and ask an expert sites. Quite comprehensive.

Computers and crafts, all adding up to Family Tech fun! 

Parent and child sharing computer time... 

Thanksgiving in the AELC Family Tech...gobbling up the fun! 

Family Tech Saturday, November 19th

The next Family Tech will have a Thanksgiving theme, and will be held on Saturday, November 19th from 12:30-2:30 in the AELC, Room 312. There will lots of fun things for children and families...Gobble Gobble!

Thanksgiving Fun

http://www.primarygames.com/holidays/thanksgiving/thanksgiving.htm Primary Games

Coloring pages, stationery, place cards to color, games and other neat things to celebrate the holiday.

American Thanksgiving for Kids and Families

http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/thanks/ This site explores some of the history of the first Thanksgiving, fun things to do, recipes and some Thanksgiving traditions to share.

Thanksgiving

http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/thanks/ A cute site with jokes, recipes and other fun things for kids on Thanksgiving.

Halloween at the WCC Family Tech weekend....we were treated with the smiles! 

General: History: Virtual History Exhibit

http://www.hbook.com/exhibit/

The Horn Book Virtual History Exhibit In honor of the 75th Anniversary of The Horn Book , the premier magazine of children's literature, the editors have assembled memorabilia, correspondence, groundbreaking articles, interviews, letters, and more. Highlights include Laura Ingalls Wilder's recipe for gingerbread, an original Beatrix Potter illustration, and Johanna Hurwitz' membership card to the now defunct "Horn Book League" for budding child authors. There is also a brief history of the founding of Horn Book . A site for all fans of children's literature to peruse.

Children's Literature Database

Database of Award-Winning Children's Literature (view record) -->Search this database to locate award winning juvenile books that fit your criteria. Many features can be specified including age, genre, award, ethnicity of protagonist, gender of protagonist, historical period, and more. Produced by librarian Lisa R. Bartle.
http://www.dawcl.com/ Topics: Librarianship, Literature & Books, Magazines

Book Reviews Quarterly: The Five Owls

http://www.fiveowls.com/index.html

THE FIVE OWLS
A quarterly online publication that helps librarians, teachers
and other professionals select the best new children's books
published. Our blue-ribbon committees of librarians evaluate
more than 3,000 books each year, but select only 60-80 titles. Check out the
list of books of merit http://www.fiveowls.com/reviews/reviewssearch.html

The links section http://www.fiveowls.com/links.html is an excellent resource.

Commentary: Sotir: Just When You Thought...

The one thing I know about technology is that it can always surprise me. Today I was reading Edutopia (http://www.edutopia.org/) Yes, this mag is produced by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, but this is not some science fiction blockbuster. These are real, though sometimes not yet available, products for learning. The new products include one that is wonderful and another that is simply amazing, and that I can't wait to try. The wonderful one is something I think students have forgotten about, but hopefully will rediscover.

Visual Thesaurus (http://www.visualthesaurus.com/) is $29.95 for a desktop edition (Hybrid PC/Mac CD), or $19.95 a year or $2.95 a month online. It's animated and truly seems to make language come alive. Type in a word and a host of related terms pop up on the screen. There is a visual trail to follow, uncovering dozens of linguistic links. A trial version on the website is available where you can input any word and see how the program works. I was absolutely fascinated seeing the word develop beyond the uses normally associated with it. For example, I typed in 'fantastic' and was immediately shown an array of words from 'phenomenal' to 'wondrous'. It will pronounce the base word, and you can click on any of the words to make it the base word as well. There are definitions and uses included. It is 'marvelous' tremendous' and 'extravagantly fanciful', but hardly 'foolish'. Perhaps it can even excite children (and adults) to expand their use of language again.

My choice for 'simply amazing' is the Fly Pentop Computer (http://www.liveonthefly.com/). Go to this site and you can try it out for yourself. It's about $100 but that buys a lot of wow for your money. It's a combination of pen and...paper. So how is this a computer? By giving audio feedback as you write and draw on special Flypaper, of course. For example, you can draw a calculator, touch the handwritten digits and functions with the device to perform an operation, and then hear the answers announced. Or draw drums or a piano keyboard and record your own tunes. You can even add Flyware cartridges to add games and adventures. What kid isn't going to want one of these (and Santa...if you're reading this...at least one adult would like this in her Christmas stocking too...) This is way too much fun for just kids!

Reading: Fairy Tales

A fun website about a select few Hans Christian Andersersen's fairy tales can be found on www.AndersenFairyTales.com. You can read a fairy tale, and then do a fun game. I read about the Emperor's New Suit, and then I did the game where you get to pick out the clothing you want the king to wear. It was cute!

posted by Kristy Laurx

Web Site: Hurricane Sites for Kids

http://www.miamisci.org/hurricane/disasterquilt.html Miami Science Center "healing quilt:" I love that a science center remembered that storms, while intellectually interesting from far away, affect the real lives of children who live through them. On these pages, kids who have experienced natural disasters tell their stories.
http://www.wildwildweather.com/hurrican.htm Lots of good stuff, including hurricane names, learning activities, and the Safford-Simpson scale (Categories 1-5).
Not just for kids, but interesting, is http://hosted.ap.org/specials/neworleanssatellite/: Here you can view before-and-after maps and satellite images of New Orleans. If you click "View labeled map" you can see where the levees were breached and how much of the area was flooded.

Gas Math

Gasoline Prices
http://www.gaspricewatch.com/new/
Get your child involved in scouting out cheap gasoline with this web site. They can type their zip code and the distance you're willing to travel ("radius" - use a map and a compass to explain how the term "radius" is the same one they've learned for the distance from the center of the circle to the outside) and get a list of stations with the lowest prices in your area. If there are savings a few miles away, have your child figure out how much you'd save on a whole tank by paying, say, five cents less per gallon. Figure out how much gas you'd use to drive to the far station, and whether or not you'd actually save enough to make it worth the trip.

History/Current Events: Today's Front Pages

Today's Front Pages

http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/

Each day, Washington D.C's Newseum museum site brings you front pages from newspapers around the world - over 400 of them. See how the same story is covered in different places or compare news from different regions. Roll over each thumbnail to see a larger image, click on it to see one large enough to read the headlines. PDFs are available if you want to read the part of an article that's on the front page (Acrobat Reader software required). This is an interesting way to get discussions on current events in the classroom. Since there are over 400 front page resources available, students can read about it from their home town or country.

Reference Tools

Reference Tools --------Some of these can be used for grant writing as well as information.

REFDESK - In a library, if you don't know where to look for a reference book, you go to the Reference Librarian. On the Internet, if you don't know where to look for answers, you go to Refdesk.com. At first glance, the sheer amount of useful links on the Refdesk home page can be overwhelming. But it's really quite well organized and useful.
RefDesk - http://www.refdesk.com

LIBRARY SPOT - Convenient links to popular online Almanacs, Calculators, Dictionaries, Directories, Encyclopedias, Historic Documents, Quotations, Statistics, and Thesauri. LibrarySpot - http://www.libraryspot.com

Skills 1- 8+: Funbrain

http://www.funbrain.com/ Funbrain is a site that uses games and arcades to teach skills, including: Art Geography History Languages Math Music Science Technology in grade levels 1- 8+. Lots of fun for rainy days.

Educators/Parents: Reading Rockets

http://www.readingrockets.org/ This site is for educators and parents who wish to help children learn to read, and for those with children struggling to read. There are good articles that could be used for a Family Literacy discussion group, as well as some things to assist parents with their search for reading activites for children, such as:

Summer Reading Tips and Resources: You'll find terrific tips, amazing activities, and important information in our newly updated Summer Reading section. There's even a free webcast from the Center for Summer Learning on what to do to keep kids reading this summer.
This site is part of the PBS TV show Reading Rockets, and if the shows are not available in your area, some are available online. I especially liked:

Al Roker of NBC's The Today Show, hosts Empowering Parents, http://www.readingrockets.org/tv/empower.php a primer for parents whose child is struggling to read. The 30-minute program, the seventh episode of the award-winning PBS series Launching Young Readers, airs on public television stations across the country beginning April 2005. An online version of the program is available from this site, and it can also be downloaded for future use. It also promises a free downloadable parent guide coming soon.

Rita Moreno also has a PBS program (http://www.readingrockets.org/tv/bilingual.php#clips called Becoming Bilingual, also available online and downloadable. Each year, schools across the country welcome large numbers of students who don't speak English. Find out what it takes to teach six-year-olds whose primary language is Spanish, Russian, or Hmong how to read in English.

One last section of this site that I liked was the Spanish/English site for bilingual readers called Colorin Colorado http://www.colorincolorado.org/ . This site has information, activities and advice for Spanish-speaking parents and educators of English language learners.

Reading: Storybooks Online

http://www.magickeys.com/books/ The title is 'Children's Storybooks Online' but some of the stories could work with low reading level adults as well. Some stories are read aloud, and can be read word by word. This is another site that you need to spend some time looking at to determine its best use, but there are some real gems in here. These are complete children's books. In a group setting with an LCD projector, this could be a fun day of reading for a Family Literacy program.

Math Challenges for Families

http://www.figurethis.org/challenges/challenge_index.htm requires an Acrobat PDF reader (free download) From figurethis.org. These are fun challenges for families that can be downloaded and printed. The challenges can be used by families with children at all skill levels. This is also available in Spanish.

Grades 1-6: Houghton Miflin Mathemetics

http://www.eduplace.com/kids/mhm/ Kid's Place Mathematics from Houghton Miflin gives students the choice of a topic: test prep, test quest and brain teasers, and then the correct grade level from 1-6. The brain teasers are word and critical thinking problems, and include directions, questions, hints and a solution. The test prep checks the answers and gives points for initial correct answers and lesser points for subsequent correct answers. Test Quest gives the children strategies for better test taking and then gives examples of the strategy. This is an audio aid (needs shockwave plugin) and is an animated teacher explaining the skills, such as ruling out the wrong answers. The sound and animation are both good, and clearly explain how the strategy works. Even though this is a site that supports the HM texts, it is also good as a stand alone site that can be used for reinforcing skills and self practice.

All Ages: Mathematics and Literature Connections

http://illuminations.nctm.org/index_o.aspx?id=83 Sponsored by the National Association of Teachers of Mathematics, this is another site that focuses on the connection between mathematichs and children's literature. There are lessons from pre-K through grade 8, including an excellent unit on algebra foundation skills for pre-K through grade 2.

Lesson 1: Buttons! Buttons!
In the following lesson, students participate in activities in which they focus on connections between mathematics and children's literature.
Lesson 2: Shapes Art
In the following lesson, students participate in activities in which they focus on connections between mathematics and children's literature.
Lesson 3: Getting the Facts
In the following lesson, students participate in activities in which they focus on connections between mathematics and children's literature.
Lesson 4: Can It Be?
In the following lesson, students participate in activities in which they focus on connections between mathematics and children's literature.
Lesson 5: Making Beds
In the following lesson, students participate in activities in which they focus on connections between mathematics and children's literature.
Algebra for Grades Pre-K-2
sort, classify, and order objects by size, number, and other properties.
recognize, describe, and extend patterns such as sequences of sounds and shapes or simple numeric patterns and translate from one representation to another.
analyze how both repeating and growing patterns are generated.
Data Analysis & Probability for Grades 6-8
find, use, and interpret measures of center and spread, including mean and interquartile range.
use observations about differences between two or more samples to make conjectures about the populations from which the samples were taken.
Geometry for Grades 3-5
identify, compare, and analyze attributes of two- and three-dimensional shapes and develop vocabulary to describe the attributes.
Measurement for Grades 3-5
understand that measurements are approximations and how differences in units affect precision.
explore what happens to measurements of a two-dimensional shape such as its perimeter and area when the shape is changed in some way.
Measurement for Grades 6-8
use common benchmarks to select appropriate methods for estimating measurements.
solve problems involving scale factors, using ratio and proportion.
solve simple problems involving rates and derived measurements for such attributes as velocity and density.

All Ages: Mathematics

http://math.about.com/ Yet another About.Com site. This one deals with mathematics, and offers things such as:

Early Numeracy: Want to give your pre-school an early start to math? Here are a few great strategies and activities you can do at home to get your child thinking mathematically and prepare them for success. This site has sample word problems for grades 1-6. It's interesting how you can create the foundation for word problems with children as young as first graders.

2nd Grade Adding Worksheets Are you helping your children with math this summer? You'll find a wealth of information here. 2nd Grade Addition Worksheets in PDF. This is another resource listing for students specifically at the 2nd grade level.

Telling Time - Young ChildrenAre you helping with your children with math concepts over the summer holidays? Here's a few tips and worksheets to teach 'telling time' concepts to children in the first, second and third grades. There are worksheets that allow you or the student to fill in the hands for the correct times.

Beauty and Geometry?What does math have to do with beauty? In ancient Egypt, individuals had discovered the mystical properties of the divine proportion - the Golden Ratio. Find out why phi = 1.618 is important to beauty! This is one of those unique approaches to mathematics skills that would appeal to perhaps middle high students who have become bored with regular mathematics work. It deals with ranges and proportions and ratios and other concepts taught in a way to keep a student interested.

Summer Review: 1st-6th GradesKeep those pencils and minds sharp over the summer. Here's some word problems that 1st -6th graders should be able to solve. Problems are subdivided into the math sub-topics.

Children's Literature and Math Resources

http://users.anderson.edu/~roebuck/childlit.html This is a tool for instructors that gives a resource list of books relating to math and literature for children. There is also a fairly comprehensive listing entitled " Selected Books for Integrating Children's Literature & Mathematics". Good resource data.

Live Cams: Animal Planet Live!

http://animal.discovery.com/cams/pandavidr.html This is a new site from the Animal Planet that shows baby pandas born 7/9/05. With nothing more than RealPlayer installed (get it free from this site) you can watch live images of Mei Xiang, a giant panda, and her newborn cub at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. The cub was born at 3:41 a.m. on Saturday, July 9. Mother and cub appear to be doing just fine. Zoo keepers were happy to see Mei Xiang cradling and cuddling her cub only two minutes after its birth.
While the subjects may change, this site often has live cams from various places. Kids can get a virtual sense of the world around them, unscripted and unedited. It's a fun activity for ages 3 and up.

Reading: Learn to Read

http://www.starfall.com/ The Starfall learn-to-read website is offered free as a public service. Very well done and visual, with good sound quality. I really liked the ABC's introduction to letter sounds (see below). I tried the Learn to Read section (below) with my 4 year old grandson who loves reading, and he would not stop playing it. I may have to give him his own computer so that I can snag mine back!

ABC's
Let's get ready to read
Introduction to Letter Sounds

Learn to Read
Zac the Rat and other tales
Early Beginning Reader

It's Fun to Read
About Me, Art Gallery, Magic + more!
Intermediate Beginning Reader

I'm Reading

Reading: Printable Stories

http://unmuseum.mus.pa.us/crr/
Welcome to the Children's Reading Room at the Museum of Unnatural Mystery. Here you'll find a selection of stories you can print out and read to your children over and over again. Some of the characters have put their own homepage up on the web here for you to visit too!

These are characters created for this museum, but since many of the stories are short, they can be easily printed and used in groups.

Reading: Children's Literature Site

http://www.carolhurst.com/ This is a collection of reviews of great books for kids, ideas of ways to use them in the classroom and collections of books and activities about particular subjects, curriculum areas, themes and professional topics.

Check out:
Reading
Reading Aloud grades PreK - 9
Emergent Readers
Guided Reading and Good Literature
Looking Critically at Picture Books with Students.
Parallel Reading, Adults and Students.

Also includes topics such as:
Math
US History
World History
Social Studies, Geography & Cultures
Biographies and Memoirs
Families
Work and Careers
Native Americans
Appalachia
Martin Luther King Day
Oceans
Rivers
States
Cities and Towns
Science
Flight
Nutrition Book Hunt
Oceans
Time
Weather
Wind
Art
Architecture and Buildings

Reading: Children's Literature Web Guide

http://www.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/index.html Internet resources related to books for children and young adults. Very comprehensive, and loaded with excellent resources for parents and teachers. Especially good is the 'Resources for Storytellers' (see below) section for those who want to read with panache...

Features
What's New! What We're Reading: Commentary on Children's Books Web-Traveller's Toolkit: Essential Kid Lit Websites
Discussion Boards
Readers Helping ReadersConference Bulletin Board
Quick Reference
Children's Book Awards The Year's Best BooksChildren's Bestsellers The Doucette Index: Teaching Ideas for Children's Books
More Links
Authors on the Web Stories on the Web Readers' Theatre Lots of Lists: Recommended BooksJournals and Book Reviews Resources for Teachers Resources for Parents Resources for Storytellers Resources for Writers and Illustrators Digging Deeper: Research Guides and Indexes Internet Book Discussion Groups Children's Literature Organizations on the Internet Children's Publishers and Booksellers on the Internet

Graphing: Create a Graph

http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/ Create a graph page.

A great tool for starting out working with graphs and charts. This site is a step by step explanation of the various graph types.

Health: Kid's Health

http://kidshealth.org/ Billed as the most accessed site for kid's health, this is a treasure trove of information for parents, kids and teens.

Health: Health Finder

http://www.healthfinder.gov/kids/ Health Finder Kids. Another compilation site with good information provided in a kid friendly format. Includes topics such as safe surfing and cool and uncool (things like drugs and alcohol). There are also some health related games to get the information to kids in a fun way.

Health: Health and Human Services

http://www.hhs.gov/kids/ Health and Human Services page for kids health. A good general site for children with health related questions, or for discussions with parents.

ESL: Children's Stories and Activities

http://www.rong-chang.com/ Use the menu on the left of the page to access 'Kid's English'

Picture Books. Seventeen complete picture books by a professional illustrator.
Story Place. The Preschool Library and Elementary Library with new activities and themes being added each month.
Making Waves. A Project promoting English proficiency in elementary schools.
PBS Kids. Games, stories, music, and coloring.
Kids Web Japan. An attractive site for kids to learn about Japan.
Education Place Kid. Wacky Web tales, brain teasers, and best reading activities.
Web Pals. A good place for your students to find pen pals.
Children's Books. Children's Literature Web Guide, creative writings by children, fiction, poetry, and theater.

Geography: US States

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/states_experiment_drag-drop_Intermed_State15s_500.html

A friend sent along this website, which lets you place the states in the correct position, and gives you average miles of error, number correct, percentage correct and the number of seconds it took you to do so. It's fun and once you have some of the western states filled in, not too difficult.

General Information: Adult Education Wiki

http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Main_Page Literacy Tent Wiki

A great new Wiki for Adult Literacy Education. This site has discussions on various disciplines from ABE and GED to ESL to Family Literacy. As a Wiki is always a work in progress (much the same as Blogs), check it often to see new additions. This one is very new, and is still short on content, but has an enthusiastic list of supporters, so I expect that it will not remain empty long. Check it out: Highly recommended.

Spotlight: WCC Adult Literacy Project

The Adult Literacy Project at Waubonsee Community College celebrates its 20th year with an appreciation banquet on April l4, 2005 and a community breakfast on August 30, 2005. Join the dedicated corps of volunteers who teach speaking, reading and English writing skills to adults from 30 countries around the world. Trainings are conducted throughout the year at convenient times. The program offers open classroom times and Friday morning discussion groups as well as a student book club and family literacy. To obtain further information, contact the literacy staff at (630) 801-7900, ext. 4106. The email address is jhiggins@waubonsee.edu.

Family Literacy Online: Projects: The Family Center

http://alri.org/esquare/esq2/family.html

Good website for family literacy projects, including the very popular, Ants on a Banana-Bus http://www.hamstertours.com/snacks.html. Figure This! http://www.figurethis.org/
math challenges for families is also available in Spanish. Sites like Intergenerational Cultural Differences http://www.otan.us/webfarm/emailproject/cul.htm is a good class project. I also liked Parent Made Developmental Toys for fun project ideas.

Software: Reading Writing and Typing

http://www.talkingfingers.com/product_tour/index.html#1 : Ages 6-9, CD format, multi-sensory approach

In the RWT!™ program CD, a mischievous computer villain called Vexor tries to steal the letters and prevent the storytellers from writing down their stories. Two Helping Hands, Lefty and Rightway, help children foil Vexor through 40 exciting levels, building hundreds of animated sentences and stories as they go. Children are rewarded with certificates of advancement after every four letters.
This is a great program for Family Literacy, and the goals established are quickly attainable. It helps children read through phonics, lets them write a story and has games that reinforce the skills in a fun way. There are printable progress reports that can be used to monitor success.
It's about $80. and works with Mac (7.5 -OSX) and PCs (Win 95-XP).

General Information: Talking Tool: Awesome Talkster

http://www.awesomelibrary.org/Awesome_Talking_Library.html Awesome Talking Library

According to their Web page, Awesome Talkster combines a browser, directory, search engine, and text-to-voice technology. This allows you to select online text and have it read to you. Children can have the Web pages read to them slowly, but adults can have pages read at normal speed. Click Here for a Free Copy No Ads, No Spyware, No Trial Period. This is "Freeware," courtesy of Code-it. Keeping in mind the adage that there is no such thing as a free lunch, I downloaded a copy of Talkster after first running a spyware check on my computer, and then running the same spyware check after installation and use. I did not get any indication of problem. Disadvantages: it is a large program that takes a long time to download. If that is a problem, you can order a CD of the program for $10.00. Browse in Spanish, French, German, Russian, Dutch,Arabic, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, or Japanese.

The voice is rather robotic (think train station announcements or a robot from Star Wars), but it is able to pronounce difficult words with some clarity. You can simply add the URL address of the piece you want read to you. You can highlight sections to read and click on the 'selected' button to read only those sections. I tried several of the addresses in this blog, as well as the blog itself, and it read them all. Download on a network T 3 connection was about 5 minutes total.
It works on PCs (not Macs) from Windows 95 to XP. Developed by EDI(Evaluation and Development Institute) and Dr. Jerry Adams.

Search Engines: ALA Kid Friendly List

http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/foryoungpeople/childrenparents/especiallychildren.htm#designed
ALA has done some impressive research in tools for kids. This list of search engines designed especially for children provides a safe haven for Internet exploration, and can be used by parents and educators as a recommended resouce.

DESIGNED-FOR-CHILDREN SEARCH ENGINES
Ask Jeeves for Kids
Awesome Library
Education World
Family Friendly Search
Fact Monster
KidsClick!
Kids Search Engines
Kids Search Tools
LycosZone for Kids
SearchEdu.com
Teach-nology.com
TekMom's Search Tools for Students
What Makes a Web Site Good?
Yahooligans!

General Information: Research: Core Knowledge

http://www.coreknowledge.org/ Core Knowledge

This is a research site "Dedicated to excellence and fairness in early education, the Core Knowledge Foundation is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan organization founded in 1986 by E. D. Hirsch, Jr., professor emeritus at the University of Virginia and author of many acclaimed books including Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know and The Schools We Need and Why We Don't Have Them. The Foundation conducts research on curricula, develops books and other materials for parents and teachers, offers workshops for teachers, and serves as the hub of a growing network of Core Knowledge schools. "

I have nothing but respect for the research of E. D. Hirsch, and this organization has many useful areas of information. There are teacher sites, curriculum guides and lesson plans.

Website: Discovery Kids

http://kids.discovery.com/ Discovery Kids is great for older kids (readers) but has things for all ages. For example, if you click on Kenny the Shark: http://kids.discovery.com/fansites/kennytheshark/kennytheshark.html

Meet Kenny Have you met Kenny and Kat?

Become a SharkPlay "Into the Jaws" and find out what it's really like to be a shark.

Take Kenny HomeNow you can take Kenny home to live on your computer.New wallpaper images!

Go for a SwimJump into our 3-D shark tank and swim with the sharks.

Feed Kenny Find out what happens when sharks eat too much. (Really gross, kids will love it!)

Reading Rainbow Kits: $49.95 per title

http://gpn.unl.edu/rainbow/product_index_kit.asp?cookie%5Ftest=1 Reading Rainbow Family Literacy kits available in English and Spanish. Kits are $49.95 each, and there are many titles to choose from. Kits include:
1 nylon backpack
1 VHS 30-minute episode
1 feature book
1 laminated Family Activity Sheet
It appears that you can purchase a VHS tape or DVD separately for $39.95 without the backpack or activity sheets, but the Kits come in either format.

Search Engine: Kid's Click

http://www.kidsclick.org/ Kid's Click This is a web search for kids by librarians. Safer than letting them chance some of the sites given on a regular adult search engine.

Website: Funschool

http://www.funschool.com/ Funschool's mission is to make learning fun. The site offers more than 800 interactive games and activities for preschool through 6th grade that are fun, easy-to-use, educational activities ranging from matching numbers and shapes for pre-schoolers, to geography, math and history for third through sixth graders. Funschool is a proven popular, trusted provider of interactive online games in a safe online learning community

Website: FirstGov for Kids

http://www.kids.gov/ First Gov for Kids is the government site that covers a long list of government approved (i.e. safe) sites for kids of all ages. Some sites are in Spanish, and include topics such as government, money, space (great NASA links), and others, including:
Garfield Comic Creator (make your own comic strips) : http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/sleep/starslp/missionz/comic.htm
Money Central Station (lots of fun games dealing with money): http://www.moneyfactory.com/kids/start.html
http://www.sesameworkshop.org/passport/ Online club that connects kids ages 6-12 around the globe. This site was developed by Sesame Workshop whose mission is creating media to delight and educate children and their families. Passport Kids provides a safe environment where children can express their opinions and compare their experiences as they explore the world.

Website: Yahooligans

http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/ Yahooligan's Along with PBS, this Yahoo site for kids is one of the most popular. There is a large variety of games and materials, some school oriented, others just for fun. This site is well done, and can keep kids occupied for quite some time.

Website: Disney and Kauffman Foundation

http://disney.go.com/kids/today/index.html Kid's Island Good games and skills for children at all age levels. Great graphics from Disney, and characters that the children know. Hot Shot Business is similar to Sim City, and allows kids to create and manage their own business, teaching math, planning and problem solving skills along the way. There are a few areas that are demo only, but overall a good choice for fun.

Website: Gameaquarium

http://www.gamequarium.com/ Gamequarium uses fish and a tropical theme to teach kids at all levels from pre-K to 6+. All the general categories are included (math, science etc.) as well as some additional items such as keyboarding, holiday fun, safety, Spanish and games. Cute.

Blogarithm subscription

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Website: PBSKids

www.pbskids.org The PBS kids site that has all the favorites, from Arthur to ZOOM. There are a lot of areas to explore here, for all age groups. There are even pages to print out for coloring.

Website: Great Websites for Kids/ALA

http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/greatwebsites/greatwebsiteskids.htm The American Library Association has a site that lists kid friendly websites by topic area. I liked the 'Strange Matter Exhibit' http://www.strangematterexhibit.com/ which shows kids how strong materials are when crushed, what's inside them and other fun, interactive things. Favorite Children's Stories goes from Aesop's Fables to the Wonderful Wizard of Oz : http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/greatwebsites/greatwebsitesfavorite.htm
They even give you a search tool so you can search by the selected audience:
http://www.ala.org/gwstemplate.cfm?section=greatwebsites&template=/cfapps/gws/search.cfm

Website: Parent's Guide to the Information Highway

http://www.childrenspartnership.org/bbar/pbpg.html The Parent's Guide to the Information Superhighway. This is a 'rules and tools' for families online, and is available in Spanish and Italian as well as English. Some of these can be used to help parents carry on the family literacy programs at home, and help keep the children safe in the process. A must read!

Website: Kidlink

http://www.kidlink.org/english/general/intro.html Kidlink
Empower children to build global social and knowledge networks The Internet opens vast new horizons for kids and youth. Their possibly strongest opportunity consists in finding new friends, and develop friendships into a global interpersonal network. For learning, for support on a personal and professional level, for fun, and for everything else related to their future.
Non-commercial, user-owned organization based in Norway focused on strengthening children with free educational programs that helps them build a life. It helps them collaborate with peers around the world (individually or through classrooms), create social networks, mature, and encourage creativity.

Source: Goodies and Treats

Oriental Trading Company: http://www.orientaltrading.com/otcweb/application?namespace=main

This is a great source for low cost 'treats' to hand out for children. We've used them many times, and the items are shipped quickly and always in good order.

Welcome to Waubonsee College Family Tech!

Feel free to comment on any of the postings, and tell us what YOU do to bring technology to Family Literacy.