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I was browsing thru our library website and checking kid corner section. It has so many web sites and has subject wise listing. The information overwhelmed me and brought me here right away.
My question is what are the common web sites your kids browse thru- please limit discussion to academics, not online games.
Please also mention your kids age, gender and grade, so that everybody gets benefit.
my DD6, 2nd grader, used to browse regularly webkinz, her school sponsored web site. Once in a while she browses google to get some topic for her school writing assignment. That is all. Now your turn..........
Starfall.com was a favorite from the time both of them could reach the computer I think although they are getting a bit old for it now.
Nick Jr, Disney kids, Bubblebox (with adult monitoring!), Kongregate (also with adult monitoring!), yahoo.com for email (the older one) and a bunch of science sites that I send them too.
They are currently 5 and 7 and both have access to all those sites. The seven year old knows how to use google for searches too.
I'd love some guidance on this as well, especially for DS4, who is also pretty much beyond Starfall now. Neither of my kids enjoy sites that focus on the gaming/hand-eye coordination aspect.
pbskids.org seems good; I remember dd, when she was 4, really enjoying a game where a situation is read out loud (no reading needed) and she had to pick whether the 'conclusion' was "FACT" or "OPINION". Fairly subtle idea for a child.
My pre-k uses Reading Eggs . Com. It starts off with the simplest of phonics through reading and now he's up to Reading Express which has him doing dictionary work with alphabetizing and parts of speech and deciding if short stories are poetry, non fiction, or fiction. Sometimes I help him more. Sometimes I help him less.
My toddler likes the star fall vowels songs and the reading eggs nursery rhymes. All she does is push the button and sing along. I have to move the mouse.
Count by fives
Multiply by threes
Animal sounds song
Chinese phonics
Sesame Street
When you start watching YouTube save some like these to your favorites then many more similar come up whenever you click on one. I can tell my kid only click on the favorites if I'm not right there or check out more if I'm right there. That's on my phone.
On the laptop I installed KidZui web browser by Firefox which he mainly uses to play PBS, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, etc., and watches cartoons like Wild Kratts. KidZui is huge, but it's not like a net nanny that blocks websites by rating, but rather every site you can access has been whitelisted by hand by a teacher, parent, or staff so you at least know it's all kid stuff. You get a little K icon on your desktop that works like your e icon. He has somethings like the reading eggs in the folder on the e button.
Youth lives by personality, age lives by calculation. -- Aristotle on a calendar
Although I am not a fan of Mensa, their kids' site is really good. Has stuff for lots of different age groups, and my kids love it. I don't remember the URL, but google "Mensa for kids" and it's right at the top.
Although I am not a fan of Mensa, their kids' site is really good. Has stuff for lots of different age groups, and my kids love it. I don't remember the URL, but google "Mensa for kids" and it's right at the top.
Out of curiosity, why do you say that you're not a fan of Mensa? I've enjoyed some of the members, but I do have to say that I am a bit bothered by some of the commercialism/push for all family members to join in order to access events that I am seeing in the GCC discussions as of late. The organizational policies that are aggravating me and the members are different entities in my mind, though, lol!
My girls are not really into online educational stuff anymore unless they are looking stuff up for school (they're 11 and 13). However a few sites that come to mind, depending on what you're looking for (videos vs. educational game type of sites like starfall) might be:
http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/ (my kids loved this PBS show when they were younger and the website has videos, math games, etc.)
http://freerice.com/#/english-vocabulary/1399 (vocab, probably geared more toward late elementary for gifties than very young kids unless they are very adept readers, although I just now saw some really, really easy words come up, so maybe good for younger kids too)
http://www.edheads.org/# (under the "choose an activity" tab on the top right, you can select virtual surgeries to perform)
Last edited by Cricket2; 05/09/1207:42 AM. Reason: fix wrong link