Being a parent can be great fun, with many opportunities for love and excitement. It also brings challenges and hard work. Building a coalition of support for your family and knowing where to go for help when needed is important for you and your children.
Below we display links to a variety of websites where you will find a wealth of resources to enhance your understanding of parenting and child development.
Educational links for parents
General Parenting information
Family fun sites
Specific sites to mothers
Specific sites to fathers
New and Expectant Parents
Single Parents
Medical Information
Scholarships for College
Special Needs Children
Twins
Internet Safety
Alaska Association of School Boards
http://www.alaskaice.org/
This Alaskan web site covers information from early childhood through the teen years.
Alaska Department of Education and Early Development
http://www.eed.state.ak.us/
Parents will find lots of information about Alaska’s education system, school districts across the state, information on state testing, and much more.
Alaska PTA
http://www.alaskapta.org/
Wanting to get involved in your local PTA? Don’t have a local PTA? This site can help you get connected with PTA.
Anchorage Public Library Ready to Read Resource Center
The Anchorage Public Library offers free literacy resources to anyone who works with infants and toddlers statewide. Click here for a brochure that give further information.
Best Beginnings
http://www.besstbeginningsalaska.org
Best Beginnings supports early learning and literacy statewide. The site includes Early Learning Activities, Imagination Library, current issues, and tips and guidelines.
Colorin Colorado
http://www.colorincolorado.org/
A bilingual site for families and educators of English language learners.
Great Schools.net
http://www.greatschools.net/alaska/
This web link features information about School Report Cards, as well as information about public, private, and charter schools in Alaska, (although parents in other states can access information for their state as well through here). Parents can get profiles of schools in their area based on Standards Based Assessments and compare them against other schools. There are also tips on a variety of school-related issues (tips on math and reading, college prep, learning disabilities, etc.) that parents can access. Lots of great information.
Parents as Teachers
http://www.ruralcap.com/
Parents as Teachers (PAT) is an early childhood parent education and family support program designed to empower parents to give their children the best possible start in life. To get more information, click on ‘child development’ on RurAL CAP’s home page.
Project Appleseed
http://www.projectappleseed.org
A wealth of information on parent involvement and school improvement.
Reading is Fundamental
http://www.rif.org
Reading is Fundamental (RIF) is the nation’s largest child literacy organization. Parents can find tips and activity ideas for different age groups on this site to help motivate their children to read. Resources are also available in Spanish.
Reading Rockets
http://www.readingrockets.org/
This site is full of great ideas on how to help your child be a stronger reader.
Stone Soup Group
http://www.stonesoupgroup.org
Supporting families who care for children with special health needs. They offer a wealth of resources, programs, and workshops for families.
Thread
http://www.threadalaska.org
This Alaskan resource can help connect you to early childhood care and education.
Association for the Education of Young Children – Southeast Alaska
http://www.aeyc-sea.org/parentpage.htm
This Alaskan resource has information on brain development, importance of reading to and with children, positive discipline, and more.
Child and Family Web Guide
http://www.cfw.tufts.edu/
The WebGuide is a directory that evaluates, describes, and provides links to hundreds of sites containing child development research and practical advise.
iVillage Parenting
http://parenting.ivillage.com/
This web site contains lots of great parenting tips from parent educators as well as other parents. It also includes a message board that will allow you to chat with other parents on comment topics.
Kid Source
http://www.kidsource.com
Topics include update articles on health and wellness issues, parenting, education, recreation and more. Also breaks age groups of children down.
Parenting.org
http://www.parenting.org
Free tips, advice, resources, and guidance on parenting issues. This site is sponsored by Boys Town.
PBS Parents
http://www.pbs.org/parents/
A resource of parenting tips and parenting advice, also includes activities to help your child do well in school
The National Parenting Center
http://www.tnpc.com
Includes lots of articles ranging from pregnancy through adolescence along with a connection to the CafeMom.
Family Fun Sites
Hands on Banking
http://www.handsonbanking.com/en/
A great site to help your child develop skills in being financially aware.
National Geographic
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/
Includes science experiments, art projects, games, and more all of which are high quality.
Specific Mother Sites
Working Mother
http://www.workingmother.com
Designed for mothers who work outside of the home, this site offers articles of interest to working mothers, as well as strategies, questions & answers, personal stories and additional links.
Specific Father Sites
Fathers.com
http://www.fathers.com
Fathers.com is the premier online resource for every day dads. Created by the National Center for Fathering, fathers.com provides research-based training, practical tips and resources to help men be the involved fathers, grandfathers, and father figures their children need. Also contains information on Urban Dads and Watch DOGS.
The Fathers Network
http://www.fathersnetwork.org
This site targets fathers of children with special health care needs and developmental disabilities. The site features articles, links, information about medical needs, bulletin boards, and a segment in Spanish.
New and Expectant Parents
Baby Center
http://www.babycenter.com
Expectant parents can access this web site to obtain lots of article on various topics related to expectant and new parents. It also features a due date calculator and pregnancy calendar to track baby’s development week by week through pregnancy and beyond.
Pampers Total Baby Care
http://pampers.com
Besides Pampers trying to sell some products on this site, there is a lot of useful information from pregnancy through preschooler years.
Single Parents
Parents Without Partners
http://www.parentswithoutpartners.org
This is the official site for Parents Without Partners program. It includes a wide assortment of resources on being a single parent, news and events, newsletter, and a chat room for members.
Medical Information
Denali KidCare
http://hss.state.ak.us/dhcs/DenaliKidCare
Denali KidCare provides excellent health insurance to children of working and non-working families.
Healthfinder
http://www.healthfinder.gov
This site is sponsored by health and human services, a department in our government. It has an easy to use search engine, offers the latest health news, events and press releases, and provides links to online journal publication. It also supplies links to toll free numbers, self-help, and support group information.
KidsHealth.org
http://www.kidshealth.org
This site is divided into sections for parents, kids, and teens and each section covers a wide assortment of topics.
Mayo Clinic
http://www.mayoclinic.com
The Mayo Clinic’s web site contains information about children’s health issues, pregnancy, and family life located all under healthy lifestyles. One can also search easily by topic of interest. This site also has a tremendous amount of articles.
Scholarships for College
Afognak Native Corporation
http://www.afognak.com/
Includes a wealth of information on scholarship within their corporation and other scholarship opportunities.
Bering Straits Native Corporation
http://www.beringstraits.com/foundation/scholarships.html
Along with their scholarships, there is information on other scholarships in the Nome area.
Bristol Bay Native Corporation
http://www.bbnc.net
Includes short term vocational education and long term vocational education and college.
Calista Corporation
http://calistacorp.com
Includes information on the scholarships they offer to students.
Koniag Incorporated
http://www.koniag.com
Along with their own scholarship opportunity, this site list many different scholarship opportunities for Native American students.
Special Needs Children
Family Village
http://www.familyvillage.wisc.edu
This site is hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison and includes a wide assortment of disability-related resources.
Learning Disabilities Online
http://www.LDOnLine.org
This site is for parents, teachers, and children with learning disabilities and/or ADHD. Lots of great information.
The National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities
Seeking information on IDEA, early intervention providers, or information on disabilities. This site covers these and much more.
Stone Soup Group
http://www.stonesoupgroup.org
An Alaskan resource that supports families of children and youth with special needs.
Twins
National Organization of Mothers of Twins
http://www.nomotc.org
This site is geared toward sharing information with mothers on twins and multiples. This serves as a clearinghouse for information.
Internet Safety
Net Cetera -- OnGuard Online
http://www.onguardonline.gov/topics/net-cetera.aspx
