Recommended links
Kids/Students
Clicking on a link below will take you to the organization's web site.
826 National is a nonprofit tutoring, writing, and publishing organization with locations in seven cities across the country. Our goal is to assist students ages six to eighteen with their writing skills, and to help teachers get their classes excited about writing. Our work is based on the understanding that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention, and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success. Writer Dave Eggers is the co-founder of 826 Valencia, the flagship center in San Francisco.
Between the Lions is an award-winning PBS children's series designed to help young children learn to read. The Web site includes games and materials from the show, including a literacy curriculum aimed at children ages 4-7.
Bookshare, the world's largest accessible digital library for people with print and learning disabilities (such as dyslexia), provides free membership to qualified U.S. schools and students, thanks to an award from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education. Get access to more than 43,000 digital books, textbooks and teacher-recommended readings to help your child succeed and enjoy reading independently.
Brightly is a resource to help moms and dads raise lifelong readers. Launched in partnership with Penguin Random House, Brightly features book recommendations from all publishers for every age and stage, reading tips and insights, seasonal inspirations, author essays, contests, gift guides, and more.
CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) is the nation's leading non-profit organization serving individuals with AD/HD and their families. CHADD has over 16,000 members in 200 local chapters throughout the U.S. Chapters offer support for individuals, parents, teachers, professionals, and others.
The Children's Book Council is a non-profit trade organization dedicated to encouraging literacy and the use and enjoyment of children's books since 1945. The CBC sponsors Young People's Poetry Week and National Children's Book Week each year.
Disability.gov has resources for students with disabilities, their parents, and teachers. You'll find information about teaching strategies, using assistive technologies in the classroom, and preparing for college, financial aid, and scholarships. Resources for parents include tips for more effective Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings and helping your child make the transition from school to work. You can also look for resources in your state.
To help foster a love of reading among children, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library provides age-appropriate books to young children by mailing each enrolled child a new book every month. The program allows any child access to books, regardless of income. More than 1600 local communities provide books to about 700,000 children every month through the program.
EDSITEment offers a treasure trove for teachers, students, and parents searching for high-quality material in the subject areas of literature and language arts, foreign languages, art and culture, and history and social studies.
Browse this library of free games and activities including songs, stories, workbooks and lesson plans, all developed by education experts. Subjects covered include math, reading, writing, and foreign languages.
Edutopia offers teaching and learning resources for teachers and students that inspire collaboration, critical thinking, and communication. Edutopia's mission is to transform the learning process by helping educators implement six core learning strategies, including project-based learning and technology integration.
The Family Reading Partnership is a community organization that promotes early literacy. They are a broad-based, locally grown coalition of individuals, businesses, schools, libraries and other organizations — to "create a culture of literacy" by promoting family reading practices.
A web-based literacy program for boys founded by author and First National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature Jon Scieszka. Our mission is to help boys become self-motivated, lifelong readers.
An interactive site with animated stories, games, poetry, music, tongue twisters, and crafts for young children. Kids can write their own poems and stories.
An online library whose goal is to collect and make available the best historical and contemporary children's books from around the world, in their original language.
The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) is an international organization that concerns itself with the complex issues of dyslexia. The IDA membership consists of a variety of professionals in partnership with people with dyslexia and their families. The IDA actively promotes effective teaching approaches and related clinical educational intervention strategies for people with dyslexia. We support and encourage interdisciplinary research. We facilitate the exploration of the causes and early identification of dyslexia and are committed to the responsible and wide dissemination of research based knowledge.
We are a community of authors, illustrators, educators, and parents all working together to bring great books to kids. KidLit TV has partnered with We Need Diverse Books to encourage the children’s literature community to create more books that reflect the diversity of our society. Browse videos from diverse authors, illustrators, editors, publishers, and more; video tutorials on using new technology for creating and promoting books; and videos about contemporary and classic books.
Kidsreads, part of The Book Report Network, is a great place for kids to find info about their favorite books and authors, and reviews of the newest titles.
LD OnLine is the leading web resource on learning disabilities and ADHD for parents, teachers, and other professionals. The award-winning service offers the latest information on issues such as ADHD, special education, assessment, adult issues, and much more. Special features include Q&A's with leading practitioners, such as Richard Lavoie and Larry Silver, active bulletin boards, and a kid's area.
LDA is the largest non-profit volunteer organization advocating for individuals with learning disabilities and has over 200 state and local affiliates in 42 states and Puerto Rico. The membership, composed of individuals with learning disabilities, family members and concerned professionals, advocates for the almost three million students of school age with learning disabilities and for adults affected with learning disabilities. The state and local affiliates, through their affiliation with the national LDA, work continuously for individuals with learning disabilities, their parents and the professionals who serve them.
The National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) works to ensure that the nation's 15 million children, adolescents, and adults with learning disabilities have every opportunity to succeed in school, work, and life. NCLD provides essential information to parents, professionals and individuals with learning disabilities, promotes research and programs to foster effective learning, and advocates for policies to protect and strengthen educational rights and opportunities.
For learners with sensory, physical, cognitive, or learning differences and their teachers, accessible educational materials (AEM) may open doors to teaching and learning that ordinary print-based materials have closed. Accessible educational materials or AEM are specialized formats of curricular content that can be used by and with students who are unable to read or use standard print materials. Specialized formats include braille, audio, large print, and digital text. The AEM Center serves as a resource for stakeholders, including state- and district-level educators, parents, students, publishers, conversion houses, accessible media producers, and others interested in learning more about AEM and implementing AEM and he National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS). The Center is part of CAST: National Center on Universal Design for Learning.
Find audio, braille, and print/braille books for preschool through grade 8 in the NLS catalog. Materials are circulated to eligible borrowers in the U.S. through a national network of cooperating libraries.
Newsela is a free online tool for delivering high-interest, cross-curricular nonfiction texts to students, right at their reading levels. By combining standards-aligned real-time assessments with leveled content from premier daily news sources and eminent nonfiction publishers, Newsela makes reading-to-learn relevant, interesting, and effective regardless of interest or ability.
PBS Kids is made up of over a dozen sites connected to PBS characters. PBS Kids is a noncommercial, safe, and educational online space, just for kids. Online games, writing, and Did You Know sections are created with educational goals in mind.
A bilingual, mobile-friendly resource for parents, educators and researchers, featuring the newest games, activities, mobile apps and other transmedia resources for kids 3-6 years old.
Ready To Learn is public broadcasting's on-going contribution to the fulfillment of the first national education goal — that by the year 2000, all American children will begin school ready to learn. PBS and its member stations are working towards achieving this goal for children in a number of ways: offering a full line-up of high-quality PBS children's programming based on specific educational goals, both on-air and online; creating interactive online resources for kids and their caregivers; producing special on-air educational messages that teach kids important skills; presenting community outreach and educational materials for neighborhoods; and offering TV Tips for Parents.
Get access to tens of thousands of free classroom-ready, digital resources including videos and interactives perfect for the Interactive Whiteboard, plus audio and photos, and even in-depth lesson plans. You can search, save, and share with ease.
A program to help families build and sustain reading routines in their homes, with special attention to highest-risk for educational failure. The program helps families understand why sharing books regularly matters; excite children and families with award-winning books each week that build the book sharing routine; and establish connections to libraries to maintain literacy habits at home.
The RIF Reading Planet, part of the Reading Is Fundamental website, is a place where kids can explore the colorful online world of books, activities, and literacy games.
Games, author information, and activities based on favorite kids' books — including Magic School Bus, Clifford, Goosebumps, Captain Underpants, Harry Potter, I Spy, and The Babysitters Club. They also offer a community for older students called "The Scene" with message boards, favorite reads, widgets, and more.
The Starfall learn-to-read website is offered free as a public service. Primarily designed for first grade, the site is also useful for pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and second grade, and Home Schooling.
StoryPlace is an interactive site for children (with both an English and Spanish version), created to provide a virtual experience of going to the library and participating in the types of activities the library offers. StoryPlace currently consists of two libraries, the Preschool Library and Elementary Library, with new activities and themes added each month.
Through VolunteerMatch, you can enter your zip code, city, state, keywords describing the opportunity you're looking for, skills you have (or would like to develop) and be matched with organizations needing help. VolunteerMatch is also a great place to look for summer service opportunities for kids.
Research shows that there is no better time to create a strong foundation than the first five years of life, because this is when brain development is the most rapid. And, the things that matter the most, like talking and playing, can be layered onto existing routines. Vroom provides tools and materials that help turn everyday moments with your child into brain building moments!
The Walking Classroom program is an in-school obesity intervention that promotes health literacy and develops and supports lifelong fitness habits for all students while addressing different learning styles. The method combines standards-aligned academic content and exercise during the regular school day. Using WalkKits pre-loaded with a year's worth of standards-aligned audio content, students walk, listen and learn.
Wonderopolis nurtures wonder and learning through the power of discovery, creativity, and imagination. The Wonders of the Day help families and teachers find learning moments in everyday life.
Merriam-Webster's Word Central offers kids a student dictionary, Daily Buzzword, and interactive word games.
