Parents & Community

Unity

I dreamed I stood in a studio

And watched the two sculptors there.

The clay they used was a young child's mind

And they fashioned it with care.

One was a teacher- the tools he used

Were books, music and art.

The other, a parent, who worked with a guiding hand,

And a gentle, loving heart.

Day after day, the teacher toiled with touch

That was careful, deft and sure.

While the parent labored by his side and polished and smoothed it over.

And when at last, their task was done,

They were proud of what they had wrought.

For the things they had molded into the child

Could neither be sold nor bought.

And each agreed they would have failed

If each had worked alone.

For behind the parent stood the school,

And behind the teacher, the home.

Author Unknown

Topics on this page include:

Internet Use

Family Reading

Information, Facts and Fun

Internet Use

FamiliesConnect is a website created for parents and children. It offers families (parents, kids, grandfathers - everyone) an opportunity to learn about the Internet and use it together.  Sponsored by the American Library Association.

    http://www.ala.org/ICONN/familiesconnect.html

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children as been described as one of the best web sites focusing upon safety for children. It offers suggestions for keeping children safe both offline and online, guidelines relating to choosing babysitters and child care centers, and more.

    http://www.missingkids.org/

The National Parent Teacher Association web page provides information on education, health and safety, leadership and more.  Search the site for information on Internet safety and other important issues.

    http://www.pta.org/index.stm

Parents Guide to the Internet published by the U.S. Department of Education.

    http://www.ed.gov/pubs/parents/internet/ 

The Police Network sponsored by the University of Oklahoma’s Police Department provides an overview of safety on the Internet.

    http://www.ou.edu/oupd/inetmenu.htm

Search Engine Showdown  Interested in reviews of search engines that help you select the best one to use?  This site reviews and compares search engines.  Check out the results and see if you agree!

    http://www.searchengineshowdown.com/

Family Reading

Booklist provides current, concise book reviews for readers of all levels from children to adults, including fiction, non-fiction and print reference materials and electronic media.

    http://www.ala.org/booklist/index.html 

Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site 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.

http://www.carolhurst.com/

eBooks from the International Children's Digital Library Here you will find over 200 children's books available in a digital format. To use these books you will need to download and install Acrobat eBook Reader and Java Virtual Machine. http://www.icdlbooks.org

Nancy Keane Recommended Reading Book Lists is an amazing resource for finding books by genre, author, subjects, targets and more!

http://nancykeane.com/rl/default.htm

Teen Hoopla, and internet guide for teens featuring reading recommendations and reviews sponsored by the American Library Association.

    http://www.ala.org/teenhoopla/

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), with almost 3,000 members, is a division of the American Library Association (ALA), the oldest and largest library association in the world. Founded in 1957, the goal of YALSA is to advocate, promote, and strengthen service to young adults, ages 12 through 18, as part of the continuum of total library services.  This site provides links to current award winning titles and the best 100 books selected by librarians.  There is also a link to Teen Hoopla.

    http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists/index.html

  Information, Facts and Fun   

Family

The Family Education Network has created a site where you will find activities for your children and news and information about raising a family.  Categories on the site include: School Time, Family Learning, Activities, Health & Safety, News Watch, Kidszone, Special Needs, Learning Disabilities, and College.

You can search the site's database for articles on parenting topics of interest to you.

     http://familyeducation.com/home/

The National Parent Teacher Association web page provides information on education, health and safety, leadership and more.  Search the site for information on internet safety and other important issues.

    http://www.pta.org/index.stm

Cooking

Bon Appetite and Gourmet online with searchable recipe archives, food, wine and culinary vocabulary information.

    http://www.epicurious.com

Food TV, sponsored by the Food Network, allows you to create dishes you see on TV as prepared by your favorite celebrity chefs.  Search the site by show or recipe.

    http://www.foodtv.com

Recipe Source (formerly SOAR) is a searchable archive featuring an unbelievable number of recipes

    http://www.recipesource.com

Inquisitive Cook provides interesting answers to the mysteries of cooking.

    http://www.inquisitivecook.com

Kitchen Link provides hundreds of recipes and links to popular newspaper food columns.

    http://www.kitchenlink.com

Last updated: July 27, 2005 by Donna Baratta