Kinder Site

http://www.kindersite.org

Stories, songs and educational games for children up to 8 years old.

What is the site about?

It is divided into three main sections - Stories, Songs and Games - and provides links to hundreds of each of these. It will enable teachers to find suitable material for a particular class in one place, rather than searching through several different websites. A target age-group for each activity is suggested.

Why was it chosen as site of the week?

It was chosen because:

• It is a very straightforward site, allowing teachers to quickly find the type of resource they require.
• Children will be able to navigate the site independently.
• It is visually appealing, and will engage the interest and attention of young readers.
• Early reading skills can be developed and practiced in some of the stories.
• The website each item comes from is clearly shown in the table of contents.

How can it be used as an educational resource?

It may be used for whole-class teaching or with smaller groups. Some of the stories are read aloud, whereas in others the words appear on the screen, and are only spoken if clicked on. The list of songs is very extensive. A small number of them come from YouTube, which is blocked on the School's Broadband Service, so they will be unavailable in schools. The games section contains a mix of matching, counting, colouring and word games.

It is suitable for using with an interactive whiteboard, and could be used to allow older children explore the possibilities offered by this technology.

The site includes the results of a 2006 survey undertaken to see how it was being used in schools. The respondents were mainly USA based, with English speaking countries being the next largest group. In Junior classrooms, it is used within structured lessons both as a prime teaching unit and as an additional resource. The results also indicate that it is used for many different special needs students, up to 13 years old.

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