It's
eight P.M. and your child has just finished
reading an "awesome" book about the Ancient Egyptian mummification process. The book is
thorough, but she wants to know if the mummification jars had a specific name,
and how to write her name in Hieroglyphics and . . . She is so excited and motivated
that she wants to learn more – now! In two minutes or less you and your historian-to-be can be searching the
Ancient Egyptian highway – the Internet. In the fast moving
Information
Age, children can learn about anything they are interested in at any time via the
Internet – they just need to know where to look!
Where do you search? How do you find the name of that Ancient Egyptian
mummification jar? We will explore some of the best resources for kids on the
Internet, including some online courses. When you know where to
look, the Internet can help you build an education for your child that
is customized and individualized for their particular interests and skills.
Search Engines and "Portals"
are our main entrance onto the Internet. But you've probably noticed
that the search engines are not quite what they used to be. Many
search engines only list sites that paid to be listed. Other engines
give you so many choices, you can spend hours looking for the
information you want. Our favorite search engines are:
Online Tutors and Homework Helpers are a fabulous resource because they give us complete freedom. Now we can explore our interests and learn about anything we want, knowing that someone is available around the clock to guide us and answer our questions. Whether we need help with a pesky math or grammar problem, or if we want to learn how to build rockets, we know that someone is always there to help us. That's pretty incredible. Our favorite Tutors and Homework Helpers are:
Online classes are also becoming more popular because they allow children to learn at their own pace. ChildU has online classes available for grades K-8
(available through
http://www.homeschool.com) and Class.com
(http://www.class.com) has state-of-the-art online classes for high school students. Edventures
(http://www.edventures.com/)
offers interesting engineering courses
where kids use Legos as their building materials.
Online stores can help you in creating a customized, individualized learning experience for your child. Every educational product imaginable is available for sale on the Internet. If your children are interested in Ancient Egypt they can find books, tapes, kits or videos on that subject. Likewise, they can find any number of products to help them learn more about dinosaurs, microscopes, astronomy, or whatever their interest is. SmarterKids.com
(http://www.SmarterKids.com) has a good selection of books, software and kits.
PBS
(http://shop2.pbs.org/pbsvideo/default.asp) has fabulous videos to cover every topic.
Finally, Homeschool.com
(http://www.homeschool.com/resources) has a good "Resource Guide" where you can find listings of companies that sell curriculum, math, reading, science, history and music supplies.
The Internet is also great boon for parents who are struggling to find information and support for their
special needs child. In the past, parents had to dig for scraps of information about their
child's condition like the latest research, names of experts and links to other families with the same condition.
Now parents, teachers and children who share an interest in these issues can be linked together in a way that has never happened before. Our favorite special needs and gifted sites are:
- ERIC
(http://ericec.org/)
The U.S. Education Department clearinghouse for information on
gifted children and kids with disabilities.
- LD
Online (http://www.ldonline.com)
Recognized as one of the Web's best special needs sites, with over
a million page views a month.
- ADD.org
(http://www.add.org)
For children suffering with Attention Deficit Disorder and
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
Successful parents and Homeschoolers are learning that the best education is personal, and technology is only as good as the people using it. The best way for parents to make the most of the Internet is to learn about it and try not to be intimidated when our children know more about it than we do! Pretty soon,
they'll be setting their own educational goals and using the Internet to get the help and information they need. And then the Internet will be doing just what we want it to
do –- helping our children succeed.
If you would like to receive Homeschool.com's newsletter via e-mail,
for free, visit our subscribe page at
http://www.homeschool.com/subscribe.
