The Internet offers many great resources-- and the preschool and early primary years are not too early to introduce kids to the Net. What's out there? How do people find it? This week, Education World offers ten well-designed sites that will make the classroom "an exciting and vibrant environment."
"Good teaching and the Internet forge a powerful combination for learning," Joyce L. Morris, Ed.D., writes. "More than any other tool, technology can do more to transform the classroom into an exciting and vibrant learning environment." Morris teaches technology at the University of Vermont.
Learning opportunities on the Internet seem endless. Young children may hunt for hidden letters and color them in, play interactive games or read interactive stories, submit original stories to other sites, and communicate with kids in classrooms around the world. The Web sites below are a small sampling of what the Internet can offer young kids. Any one of the sites might contribute to a lively and exhilarating learning environment.
Preschool Playground
For most children, the Sesame Street characters signal fun and learning.
Preschool Playground's online activities foster reading, math, thinking,
social skills, and health and safety. "These activities, based on the
instructional goals of Sesame Street's 30th season, are designed for parents
and children to enjoy together." Under Parents, click the Parents'
Guide to Learning for tips on helping children interact with the activities
and for books children might enjoy. The tips encourage online and offline
exploration and learning.
Alphabet Activities
and Playthings
Alphabet Activities and Playthings gives preschool children the opportunity
to "play to learn" with characters from their favorite Nickjr.com TV shows.
Children learn the ABCs with poems that introduce new pairs of letters,
hunt for hidden letters and color them in, and learn picture reading by
choosing the correct picture to complete a sentence.
StoryPlace
The interactive format of StoryPlace helps make it a site preschoolers
will enjoy. Children learn beginning reading, counting, and coloring skills
while participating in activities based on five themes: colors, teddy
bears, crocodiles, animals, and monkeys. Each activity includes an interactive
story, an online activity, a take-home activity, and a reading list for
parents or teachers. The free Flash 4.0 plug-in delivers the stories and
activities in multimedia and sound. Children will find navigation quick
and easy. The site developers plan to include early elementary activities
in 2000. StoryPlace is the Web site of the Public Library of Charlotte
and Mecklenburg County, Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Birmingham
Zoo
Kids can search this site for information about animals and their habitats,
or they can download movies and pictures of more than 2,500 animal species.
Children may play interactive games, complete online coloring pages, or
ask questions of the zookeeper. The Animal Omnibus online database
provides links to other animal information sites. The Birmingham Zoo was
named an Education Index Top Site.
PBS Kids
PBS Kids is the online site where kids can interact with their favorite
PBS characters. Geared for kids aged two to 12, the site offers various
levels of interactivity. To meet the technological needs of all the viewers,
the site is balanced between high-end games that require special plug-ins
and simple html (hypertext markup language) games for almost every browser.
"PBS Kids also encourages learning to continue after the computer is turned
off by providing offline activities and suggestions for other creative
play." PBS Kids has more than 1,400 lessons and activities developed by
teachers for teachers. These materials cover the arts and literature,
health and fitness, math, science and technology, and social studies.
KidsPsych
The KidsPsych Web site is designed to help children develop cognitive-thinking
and deductive-reasoning skills while they have fun. Those skills are taught
by a series of activities for children aged one to five or six to nine.
Each game has information about its objectives and refers parents or teachers
to related research studies that may help them understand children's development
and cognitive-thinking abilities. A link to Magination Press provides
information on books written to help children deal with the problems of
growing up.
The White
House for Kids
Led by White House pets Socks and Buddy, the White House for Kids gives
children basic information about the location and history of the White
House, past presidents, and children who have lived in the White House.
The site is crammed with facts. Kids may chuckle with Abraham Lincoln's
son, Tad, who discovered how to make all the White house bells ring at
the same time. Even little-known facts about the White House should interest
children. Did you know the White House has 32 bathrooms, 412 doors, six
floors, and two basements? A map locates other important buildings and
monuments in Washington, D.C. The site may be more appropriate for second-
or third-grade children, but younger children will benefit too.
Dino Don.com
Dino is all about dinosaurs, and much of the information is appropriate
for primary-grade children. The site is devoted to information and news
about dinosaurs of all sizes and shapes. Children view pictures of dinosaurs
in the Dinosaur Art Gallery. (Kids are invited to send their drawings
to the Web site for the kids' art page.) Twenty-three quizzes test students'
knowledge of dinosaurs. Links to the University of California Museum of
Paleontology at Berkeley, Dinosaur Cartoons, and dinosaur exhibits, plus
a Discovering Dinosaurs video add to the value of this site. Don Lessem,
the creator of Dino Don.com, is the host of the traveling dinosaur exhibits
The Dinosaurs of Jurassic Park and The Lost World.
Kids' Space
At this Web site, kids view artwork from children around the world and
submit their own. In addition, children may read stories written by other
kids, submit original stories, or listen to music composed and performed
by children. Kids may also communicate with pen pals through e-mail. This
site has generated an international following and has received more than
50 awards for excellence.
Wesley Sharpe, Ed.D.
Education World®
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