Homework Helpers, as Close as Your Computer

Posted: May 26, 2009 9:35 AM
Updated: May 26, 2009 9:35 AM

Real Families, Real FUN: Happy Home
Homework Helpers, as Close as Your Computer
By By Shannon Maughan for Real Families, Real Fun

School days, school days. If they're not already here for you, they're just around the corner. In this new millennium, going back to school involves more than new notebooks, pencils and lunchboxes. As children, their parents and teachers become more familiar with the Internet, it becomes a useful--sometimes invaluable--tool for doing research and homework. "We think the sites will be a big help for the kids' school work this year," said a New York mom of three.

Here are some sites that are bound to help the students in your house get a great start to the school year and help them form strong study habits that will last a lifetime. You might even have some fun exploring these sites yourself.

If you are a subscriber to America Online, visit the Homework Help area on the Kids Only channel. You can join a chat with teachers and students, or post a question for a teacher (grades K-6) on a bulletin board and receive and answer back. You also have access to an online thesaurus, dictionary and encyclopedia.
Ask Jeeves Kids - Type in a question and Jeeves will provide an answer, or suggest other places to search.
Fact Monster - The bestselling almanac comes to life on this site. You'll also find help with study skills, a broad list of topics, and a solid search mechanism here.
Discovery Education - This site, designed by 14-year-old B.J. Pinchbeck and his dad, is part of the Discovery Channel site. It contains links to just about any place students would want to visit to find information: newspaper sites, news organizations, book and author sites, grammar pointer sites, and more.
At K-12 students can search by subject and by age group (Kids, Teens, and College & Beyond) to research such topics as current events, history, geography and technology. On the lighter side, visitors will find games and contests, too. Teachers and librarians have plenty to choose from here as well.

TAKE IT FROM ME:
We'll use the sites we visited to find some home projects, too, instead of having the kids play games on the computer (as they normally do). --By Shannon Maughan