ALSC announces exceptional websites for children

CHICAGO - The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has added recommended websites to Great Web Sites for Kids (www.ala.org/greatsites), its online resource containing hundreds of links to outstanding websites for children.

Great Web Sites for Kids (GWS) features links to websites of interest to children 14 years of age and younger, organized into diverse subject headings, from astronomy and space to zoos and aquariums, from games and entertainment to geography and maps. There is also a special section with sites of interest to parents, caregivers and teachers.

Members of the ALSC Great Web Sites for Kids Committee review and evaluate potential sites for inclusion and vote on the sites to be included. They also regularly check the entire site to ensure currency and reevaluate sites when necessary.

The newly added sites are:

Admongo.gov - www.admongo.gov/

Amazing Kids - www.amazing-kids.org

Carnegie Cyber Academy - www.carnegiecyberacademy.com/

Dance Mat Typing - www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/

Earth Rangers - www.earthrangers.com

Edutopia - www.edutopia.org

Family Fun - www.familyfun.go.com

Farmers Almanac for Kids - www.almanac4kids.com/

Foreign Languages for Kids - www.chillola.com

Hooda Math - http://hoodamath.com/index.php

Joy 2 Learn - www.joy2learn.org

Literacy Center – www.literacycenter.net/lessonview_es.php

Los Bloguitos - www.losbloguitos.com/

Math Moves U - www.mathmovesu.com/

Middle Ages - www.learner.org/interactives/middleages/

Molecularium - www.molecularium.com/kidsite.html

Música Educa - www.musicaenalcala.com/images/stories/juegos/presentacion.swf

Odyssey Online - http://carlos.emory.edu/ODYSSEY/index.html

Pics for Learning - www.pics4learning.com/

Primera Escuela - www.primeraescuela.com

Salón Hogar - www.salonhogar.com/

Super Saber - www.supersaber.com/

Switch Zoo - http://switchzoo.com/

ThinkFinity - www.thinkfinity.org/

Twisty Noodle - www.twistynoodle.com

Worksheet Lab - www.worksheetlab.com

World Almanac for Kids - www.worldalmanacforkids.com/

Meagan Albright, co-chair of the GWS Committee, uses the sites recommended for preschool children for her computer literacy lab following storytime for children ages 3-5 years. “When developing lesson plans for my storytime that includes a computer lab for preschool aged children, I often look in the ‘Fun for Younger Children’ section in ‘The Arts’ category for great sites like The World of Victor, a website available in English, Japanese, Spanish or French, that is specially designed to make children ages 2-4 familiar with multimedia while discovering nature and animals.”

Members of the 2010 Great Web Sites for Kids Committee are: Meagan Albright, co-chair, Alvin Sherman Library, Research and Information Technology Center, Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; Carla Morris, co-chair, Provo City (Utah) Library; Ryan Baker, San Jose (Calif.) State University; Rachel Fryd, Free Library of Philadelphia, Penn.; Sharon Ledford, Harrison Elementary School, Lexington, Ky.; Beth Medley, Scottsdale (Ariz.) Public Library; Jacqueline Partch, Multnomah County Library, Portland, Ore.; Amanda Sharpe, University of California, Los Angeles; and Stephanie Simpson, Charlotte, N.C.

The complete listing of great sites with annotations and selection criteria can be found at www.ala.org/greatsites.