Local Resources

 Beyond The Local

Internet Safety

Reduced Lunch Program

For students of households who qualify for participation in the school district's free or reduced lunch program, this is the site where an application form can be downloaded.  For a form in Spanish click here.

Busing Info/Application

Northampton School District Bus Information and Application for downloading.  This is a .pdf Adobe file and needs Adobe Reader

VINS

Official City Website

Parent Involvement

Family Education Network

If you can tolerate the ads and pop-ups of this commercial site, there is some good material to be had here... like helping your kids  protect themselves from a bully.

Although this site advertises itself as a site to help teachers use the internet, it is a site for parents also.  Full of links (140) to just about any imaginable topic  from helping kids learn math  to  using “positive discipline”     There is also a link to seven weeks of  daily activities designed for the summer months   

This is the page about the state test and answers probably all questions one might have about what the test is like, what subjects are tested and when the test is administered.

Parent Guide To Internet

Archived info from the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education.  This is a basic primer for those who are totally  unfamiliar with internet usage or lingo

Primarily designed for first grade, this site is also useful for pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and second grade. The site's graphics resemble those of Sesame Street and similar web places

This is an absolutely fascinating, imaginative site where kids (and parents!) can invent things by tinkering around with objects, shapes or words

Reasonable, practical discussions and advice about things that all parents of preschool and elementary school kids are likely to encounter (like a child's "meltdown")

Yahooligans Search

Although this is a kind of "limited" search engine for kids, it does allow them to search for music, games and sports.

If you are looking for some  encyclopedia help on a give topic this Columbia Encyclopedia is free.  The site also hosts a dictionary, thesaurus, World History Encyclopedia, Bartlett's Book of Quotations and much more

First of all , this the site for interactive activities of some of the kids' programs on PBS: Maya & Miguel, Berenstain Bears, Clifford, Arthur, Dragon Tales and Curious George.  Perhaps more importantly this  is a powerful site for both kids and parents to explore issues involving kids. Typing in “bullying” in the "Find It" blank, for example, might bring up an  activity for kids to engage in that has anger as a theme but also lists articles for parents to read about the subject

Museum Page

This is the museum site of ALA Association.  It's a quick way to get directed to some famous museums like the Smithsonian, Museum of Modern Art and  the National Gallery of Art for Kids among others        

This is a faster way to find PBS articles about issues parents of elementary school children worry about. Type in the keywords of what you're looking for and click on 1]Search PBS Parents or 2]Search PBS Kids or 3]Search all of PBS Online
  

Internet Public Library

The value of this site is the comprehensive list of links to numerous subject areas. Included are links to almanacs, encyclopedias and other reference tools like periodical directories.  The Internet Public Library (IPL) is a public service organization and learning/teaching environment at the University of Michigan School of Information.

Parents Helping Their Children

This is absolutely invaluable site for parents interested in ideas or activities to help their kids.  From helping children to learn math, discipline issues, internet safety issues to summer time learning activities, the links to internet sites that  focus on parent-children interactions in the learning process make this a comprehensive, useful indispensable site for all parents of young schoolchildren.

Everything Art, Science and Nature, History and Culture, People and Places are the main topics for kids to explore and these lead to other related areas.  How to make a light bulb, for example, (WITH  ADULT SUPERVISION !) is explained 

This is the link to or local  PBS.  Although many of the links on the page point to national programs ,there are some outstanding programs available that focus on  our region---the great flood of 1936, Mountain Park Memories and a photo gallery of the Mt Holyoke and Mt Tom ranges.

Internet Safety

     Although Internet Safety may not be a pressing issue when working with young elementary students in the first few grades, it is probably worthwhile to  begin thinking about the subject early on. Clearly, Teenagers are particularly at risk because they often go online unsupervised and are more likely than younger children to participate in online discussions regarding companionship and social relationships.   Many internet safety sites strongly suggest that  parents of pre-teens or young teens  consider using a filter or contacting their  Internet provider about parental controls offered by provider.  The usual problem with filters and  controls  is that they don't necessarily protect kids from everything that can be harmful 

As the following sites all unequivocally advise, parents still need to monitor their  kids. The usual problem with filters and  controls  is that they don't necessarily protect kids from everything that can be harmful 

A guide created by the Attorney General's Office. Essentially the document underscores the need  for parents to be familiar with and vigilant about their children's computer usage and encourages parents to teach children the basic safety rules for the internet world

Providing research, education, services and programs to Education, Law Enforcement, and Human Services in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. There are many resources for parents with practical information on issues surrounding bullying, cyberbullying, and on-line behavior

Parents' Guide

If you are interested in what the language/ acronyms of the chat room or instant messaging mean  (asl=Age/Sex/Location used to ask a chatterer their personal information), for example, check this page

Although this commercial site is set up to sell "anti-predator" software (at $ 40) to provide Internet Filtering, Monitoring and Control for your home computer while allowing  you to view reports and manage what your home computer  is to be used for, the warning signs of a child's behavior if suspiciously  over-involved in a chat room are worthy of note. 

Another Guidelines for Parents which advises setting reasonable rules and guidance for computer use.  The site argues that the internet must be seen in perspective, that there is a vast array of valuable sites and services available online, but there are risks also.  Monitoring children's usage of the computer seems to be the strongest advice offered by internet safety sites.

The author highlighted on this site wrote ``Child Safety on the Information Highway for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children back in 1994."   He argues convincingly that common sense rules can protect kids on the net..  The site points out that despite attempts to control the internet through government intervention, "...it's up to parents and kids themselves to assure a safe passage while online. It is up to the parents and kids themselves to control the internet experience."  

This is a Disney site so expect to see flashing screens and ads.  Still, it is a useful site for computer novices who want to learn something about the internet along with their kids

This site is mostly concerned with sexual predators using the internet. It poses (and answers) the question: "What are some signs that your child might be at risk on-line?"  While the site and its advice might be more appropriate for parents of  kids in their teens rather than elementary school students, it is worthwhile familiarizing oneself with some possible danger signals in a computer user's behavior. 

This "blog" site was authored by a mother concerned about the "social networking sites" that are now on the web.  She gives some good advice about how to find out if a child is using the site. " The best way to find out if your child has a profile on this or another similar site is to ask them. If you’re not sure that your child is being honest with you, you can search MySpace(or the other sites) using their e-mail address, or by searching for their school. (You click on “search” and enter their email address or full name in the appropriate search box.)"

Safety info for users of MySpace as well as parents of users.  Directions on how to remove a child's name from MySpace .  You need to know the user's password, but if you don't, there is a way to get at it.

This is a site that advertises itself as "the world's largest online safety and help group."   It is a comprehensive site that not only gives advice about internet safety regarding instant messaging, cyberdating, cyberbullying, cell phone usage, and X-Box and Sony Playstation 2 Network.  Site also has an "interactive forum" where you can read about other parents' experiences and concerns  and pose questions or experiences of your own (after you register online).

Although geared toward parents of older kids (Middle and High School), this is a really professional looking page with some true stories about what can happen to kids who are not careful about their internet activities. Some neat games for younger kids here.

Although this a site focused on kids' health issues in general, there is some useful material about the internet.