Caregiver & Educator Links

Helpful Links for Parents

Whether you are a homeschooling parent or a parent looking to find reliable websites for your child's homework (or for fun!), we want to showcase websites to help! Check in periodically, as new sites in different categories will be added. We only add websites that have been reviewed and recommended by library and early education journals.           

     
General

• Child's World Book Links: If you check out any of the Child's World books, then you can access extra on-line information from its web site. Just enter in the title of the book and your children have related web sites to explore!
• Guinness World Records: Does your child ever wonder, "Who set this record?"...or, "Has this thing I do really well been set as a record?" Explore together on the Guinness World Records Official web site!
• World Book: Typical Course of Study: Get curriculum guides for preschool to 12th grade.

Bibliographies

• ALA Awards: The American Library Association grants awards to many books and media annually. They also compile Best Books lists. This website includes a wide range of lists, from child to adult, from fiction to non-fiction, audio, and more. 
• American Indians in Children's Lit: An excellent blog about the representation of Native Americans in children's literature of the past and the present. It includes Best Books bibliographies .
• Children's Book List: Compiled by Vanderbilt University's Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning, this booklist covers topics including being a friend, feelings of all sorts, and grief. 
• Texas Library Association Reading Lists: Need some recommended reading for you child? The Texas Library Association provides reading lists for most age groups, from 2 years old to high school. This site includes the Texas Bluebonnet list. Current year and past years are included, as well.
• HAISLIN: Houston Area Independent School Library Network come out with annual reading lists. Categorized by two grade levels, e.g. a preK and kindergarten list.
• Social and Emotional Learning through Literature: Bank Street College of Education compiled booklists under two themes to help children develop their social and emotional beings. The themes are Accepting One Another, Fitting In and Identity and Bully and Teasing. Each theme has a booklist for children 8 and younger and another for children 9 and older.
• Tips for Reading with Soon-to-be Kindergartners & First Graders: Tips from literacy teacher, Jill Eisenberg.

Musicians and the Arts  

• The Camelot Project: An on-line compilation by the Rossell Hope Robbins Library of the University of Rochester about the Arthurian legends.
• Classical Kids Musical Education
• The Global Shakespeare Video and Performance Archive
• Smithsonian American Art Museum
• MoMA Learning

  Health and Well-Being

• American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: Information and help on a number of topics that your child may battle, including abuse, bullying, mental illnesses, and sex issues.
• Epicurious: Kids in the Kitchen: An excellent web site to help prepare meals for kids and ways to include your kids in cooking! Includes food tie-ins to books and prep making projects for kids.
• KidsHealth: A wonderful site for information about everything related to your child/teen's health...and tips on how to share with your child. Includes emotional and behavioral well-being.
• National Eating Disorder Association: Free toolkits for you to help your child if he or she faces an eating disorder.
• NIDA for Teens: The Science Behind Drug Abuse: Information on teen drug abuse. A site you can share with your teens.

 History & Government

• Ellis Island: Genealogy Center: Want to help a kid begin into his or her leap into locating ancestors? This website is a great start to genealogy! Also, check out the Library's access to Ancestry.com as well.
• Military Resources: World War I: From the National Archive, articles on the War, yet includes links to other sites which include songs and maps.  
• World War I Posters: Search through 1,900 images of posters used for World War I.  

 Science & Math

• Animal Fact Guide: An annotated list of animal websites.
• Consumer Finance: Parents and caregivers, help your kids learn about finances with ideas from the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau!
• National Zoo: Come check out the Smithsonian's National Zoo website! They have live animal cams. 
• NOAA Educational Resources: Weather and Atmosphere: Doing a unit on weather? Check out the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration website. It has links to information, video clips, activities, and more on El Niño, Hurricanes, Tornadoes, and other weather related topics. On the top link, there are other topics you can explore, such as marine life and climate.

  
  

Test Creation and Test Help

• ImageQuiz: Use an image and create questions for it when the student clicks on various parts of it. 
• PlayPosit: Using pre-loaded videos on a topic, make a questionnaire for the student to answer as he or she watches the video. 
• TexShare Databases: Different databases to help your child succeed. Elementary & Middle School Students can use Searchasaurus and Kids Search databases. Middle and High School Students should use Student Research Center. LearningExpress Library helps students prepare for major tests. Please contact the Sherman Public Library at 903-892-7240 for login information.