Debusk Elementary School

Success for All in an Exemplary School

Internet Resources

Explore these links if you want to learn how to get tips on helping your child/children succeed in school, to read articles on parenting and education, or to discover the many organizations that can help you.

Sites for Parents - Find hundreds of web sites rated by popularity.

Education Index - Parenting resources are just a click away.

U. S. Department of Education - Find information to prepare your child for school, to help your child read, to learn about your child's academic success and special needs, to learn more about college opportunities, and many more topics.

Houghton Mifflin Parents' Education Place - Get tips on teaching math and social studies, survey ideas for educational projects and activities, and find games and contests.

National Education Association - Tips for parents and teachers and info about the NEA's efforts to improve public education.

Parent Soup Education Central - Covers preschool through high school and a number of topics. Also check out the chats and message boards.

American Library Association Resources for Parents & Kids - Collection of Association resources and Web sites.

BBC Schools Online - The BBC offers learning resources for children, teachers and parents at school and at home.

Education World - Resources for teachers, students, and parents, including a school registry, job listings, and education news.

Parenting of K-6 Kids - Articles and links.

Great Sites for Kids - Tons of great links for kids and parents, organized by subject, plus online safety tips for kids.

Parent Teacher Association - Official home of the national parent-teacher association with virutal bake sales and school fairs.

FamilyEducation Network - With an introduction claiming "We're dedicated to helping you take an active role in the education of your children," the Family Education Network makes a good case. With timely articles and expert advice columns from Boston Children's Hospital pediatricians Dr. Bernstein and Dr. Nethersole, Family Therapist Carleton Kendrick and teacher Barbara Callaghan, a lot of answers to common family questions can be found here. The site also contains special sections on Learning Disabilities, Health and Safety and Homework Help.

Hooked on Phonics - Browse a summary and images of the products from books to flash cards. Read research findings, make a purchase, and check out the parent center.

Virtual Reference Desk - National effort to enhance K-12 education through Internet resources and mentors.

American School Directory - A directory of Web sites representing every K-12 school in America.

 

Parents / Guardians

Starfall

THE STATE OF TENNESSEE
http://www.k-12.state.tn.us/weblinks/Resources.htm
Welcome to these pages of links to the outside world. These sites have proven popular and useful by teachers. Nearly all these sites are here by request. These pages provide you all with a quick way to find information. There are links to several resource pages for teachers and kids.

B.J. PINCHBECK'S HOMEWORK HELPER
http://www.bjpinchbeck.com/
Need help with your homework?  Try this site!

MATHEMATICAL BRAIN TEASERS AND PUZZLES
http://www.syvum.com/teasers/
Ultimate brainteasers. Tests our problem solving aptitude to great levels."

ELEMENTARY PROBLEM OF THE WEEK:
http://forum.swarthmore.edu/elempow/
This site provides a word problem of the week for your students to solve. Attention! Be sure to read the problems very carefully. Perfect for group problem solving.

DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE - KID'S PLANET
http://www.kidsplanet.org/
From facts to fun – this site has focuses on worldwide endangered wildlife. Best clicks are Get the Facts (single page info sheets on dozens of animals listed by continent), Wild Games (puzzles and quizzes), Color Your World (printable animals for off-line coloring) and the wolf curriculum for teachers and home schoolers (see Teacher's Table). "Native Americans attributed an array of powers and miracles to wolves, from the creation of tribes to healing powers. For example, the Kwakiutl of the Pacific Northwest believed that before they became men or women, they had been wolves."

EARTH SCIENCE ENTERPRISE - FOR KIDS ONLY
http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/
"Can scientists predict the global impacts of increased levels of pollutants in the atmosphere? Will the planet warm because increased levels of greenhouse gases, produced by the burning of fossil fuels, trap heat and prevent it from being radiated back into space? Will the polar ice caps melt, causing massive coastal flooding? Have humans initiated wholesale climatic change?." NASA studies the earth, not just outer space, and has created this earth science site for kids and their teachers and filled it to the brim with information, lesson plans and games.

"FIND OUT WHY" APPEALS TO INQUIRING MINDS
http://www.nsf.gov/news/classroom/index.jsp
Produced by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in partnership with Time for Kids, "Find Out Why" lets you discover the science behind news stories and events in your daily life. Find answers to questions like: "Why do rainbows happen?" and "Why does a baseball bat have a sweet spot where every home run slugger wants to hit the ball?" Each month's questions include activities to help you discover the answers, as well as a "cool science book of the month" that invites you to further explore this topic.

KIDS HEALTH
http://kidshealth.org/kid/
"Calling all kids. Ever wonder how your body works? What makes you sick? Or how to keep safe? Get all the answers to your health questions in this kids only section." This comprehensive site is my pick of the day because of its depth, breadth and excellent organization. For example, listed under "People, Places, & Things That Help You Feel Better" are articles on Going to the Dentist (filled under People), What Happens at the Emergency Room (found under Places) and Living with Braces (listed under Things).

50 STATES
http://www.50states.com/
Almost anything you want to know about any of the 50 states can be found here.

ASK JEEVES
http://www.askjeeves.com/
If you are searching for something on the Internet, by all means, Ask Jeeves. If you enter a question about what you are searching for, Jeeves will return sites or a variety of questions that might help narrow your search.

WEBSITES FOR KIDS - SUITE 101
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/kids
Articles Links and Discussions

SESAME WORKSHOP
http://www.ctw.org/
This is the home for Sesame Street. There are lots of activities for K-1 students.

HEADBONE ZONE
http://www.headbone.com/
Headbone Zone -- A Kidsite Chock Full Of Chat, Games, Email, Prizes, and More - It is a kids' site bursting at the seams with free chat, pager, cool games, exciting prizes to win, stuff to download, etc.

KIDS @ NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/kids/
See how fireworks wizards work their magic. Then test your fireworks smarts by playing our Name That Boom game. Creature Feature You don’t have to bushwhack your way through African rain forests to see mountain gorillas.

FUNBRAIN.COM
http://www.funbrain.com/
This is the Internet's #1 Education Site for K-8 Teachers and STUDENTS with online educational games for kids of all ages. (math, grammar, science, spell, history)

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED FOR KIDS
http://www.sikids.com/
Discover games, fantasy leagues, sports news, cartoons, and more.

THE YUCKIEST SITE ON THE INTERNET
http://www.yucky.com/
First there was mud. Then there were worms, and now there is Yucky! Test your skills with Whack-A-Roach. All you need to know about barfing, belching and blackheads!

4KIDS.ORG
http://www.4kids.org/
Welcome to the quickest shot to the coolest spots! - In the newspaper and on the Web, www.4Kids.org is a weekly publication that focuses on Web sites for kids.

WARNER BROS. KIDS PAGE
http://www.kids.warnerbros.com/
Take A Trip With Pee Wee! Sneak A Peek At Pikachu! Try Big Fat Baby'sGame! Test Your Matching Skills! Study Animation 101 Here! Get A Scooby Screensaver!

INFORMATION PLEASE KIDS' ALMANAC, ON-LINE DICTIONARY, AND ENCYCLOPEDIA
http://www.factmonster.com/
The Infoplease Kids' Almanac is the largest free reference site just for kids! Get homework help & find facts on thousands of subjects, including sports, entertainment, geography, history, biography, education and health.

CHEMISTRY 4 KIDS
http://www.chem4kids.com/
Your Chemistry Web Site! The web site that teaches chemistry fundamentals to children and adults!

SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE'S KIDS' CASTLE
http://www.kidscastle.si.edu/
This is a neat site to learn about science, history, and art.

EDUCATION 4 KIDS
http://www.edu4kids.com/
The edu4kids network has educational drill games. Drill games are designed for kids pre-K-12 and beyond. They cover math, science, social studies and language. These drill games are provided commercial (ad banner) free.

BEN'S GUIDE TO U.S. GOVERNMENT FOR KIDS
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/
This site teaches kids from kindergarten through 12th grade about the Federal Government.

NASA KIDS
http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov/
This nasa site is dedicated to kids - Kids of all ages! - NASA Kids is best place for kids interested in Space, Science, Rocket, Astronauts and the Solar System.

 

Students

ALFY
http://www.alfy.com
Portal for many student games and activities which are geared for K-5 grade.

NICKELODEON
http://www.nick.com
Students enjoy one of their favorite TV networks. There are many games and activities.

SURFNET KIDS
http://www.surfnetkids.com
Online archive of Surfing the Net with Kids - Sites categorized by topic/subject and rated. This is also a great place to find many educational games (under games - where else?)

JIGZONE
http://www.jigzone.com
jigzone is the grand daddy of online jigsaw puzzle sites. They have a huge inventory of Java puzzles at all levels of difficulty, feature a new picture daily, and allow you to email puzzles to friends. But what I liked best was being able to control both the number of pieces and their shape. For example, start with their puzzle of the day. Is the sixty-seven piece classic a tad too difficult or perhaps too easy? Click on Shapes and choose your own level of difficulty from among thirty-three choices, ranging from a six-piece classic (preschool easy) to 240 square pieces (for serious puzzle enthusiasts only!)

MaMaMedia JIGSAW PUZZLES
http://www.mamamedia.com/activities/jigsaw/home.html
This collection of colorful children's Java jigsaws is arranged into twelve topics (such as Aliens, Pet Parade and Big Sports.) All of the puzzles are a twelve-piece design, and you can choose among four different shapes by clicking Change Shapes. If you need a bit of help, click Hint to get the puzzles pieces outlined on the puzzle board.

SCRAMBLER FOR KIDS
http://www.edbydesign.com/kidsact.html#Scrambler
Scrambler is a Java tiled-jigsaw that is fun for the whole family because you are timed as you play at one of three levels of difficulty.

SET PUZZLE CONTEST OF THE DAY:
http://www.setgame.com/puzzle/set.htm
The object is to find six sets of three, all either different of alike in some manner. Not as easy as it looks! This puzzle exercises critical thinking skills for students who enjoy challenges.

GEOBEE CHALLENGE:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97/geobee/
Daily geography challenges are posted at this site from National Geographic. This is a great little starter for any class, but particularly for TAG students! Globe-trot with five questions per day; you can keep trying if you miss any.

BONUS.COM
http://www.bonus.com
This site is full of games and activities for kids of all ages.

 

Games / Puzzles