Helpful Links

Character Education and Social Skills

Caring Teachers
A website aimed at fostering caring in education.
http://www.caringteachers.com

Character Education Lessons
Contains lessons and ideas on topics that counselors and educators deal with every day.
http://www.goodcharacter.com/EStopics.html

Character Education Resource Guide
The Indiana DOE's Resource Guide, listed under featured web sites for character education, filled with grade-by-grade lesson plans. This link requires ADOBE Acrobat reader.
http://doe.state.in.us/publications/pdf_citizenship/citizenguide.pdf

Do Something
Kindness and Justice Challenge curriculum is found here, along with other social action opportunities
http://www.dosomething.org

Do To Learn
A great resource for teaching social skills. Contains an interactive, animated, web-based game on reading facial expressions.
http://www.dotolearn.com

Lifeskills for Kids
Contains free downloads of social skills lessons.
http://www.lifeskills4kids.com/

Meet Cool People
A website from HUD about cool people, places and things with an emphasis on citizenship and volunteerism. Career awareness interactive activity with community helpers on site called What is My Job?
http://www.hud.gov/kids/people.html

Your Problem Kid Problem Solver
A site rich with information on social skill development
http://www.youthchg.com/

Grief and Loss  

All Children Grieve
"A resource for teachers, parents, counselors and other caring adults." Classroom strategies, book lists, and a wealth of other resources for bereavement issues
http://allkidsgrieve.org/

Dougy Center
A resource brought from the National Center for Grieving Children and Families, "this site is an online resource for grieving children, teens, and the people who care about them."
http://www.dougy.org/

KidsHealth
This site provides good, to the point information about a wide range of child issues, from self-esteem to grieving to divorce to stress
http://kidshealth.org/

National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children
This site provides "schools, crisis teams, child and family counselors, private practioners, hospice workers, nurses, doctors, bereavement counselors, and clergy with the training, consultation and trauma specific resource materials and programs needed to help children, adolescents and adults find relief from the terror of violent or non-violent trauma inducing incidents "
http://www.tlcinst.org/

Rainbows (bereavement group resource)
The RAINBOWS organization and its worldwide network of Registered Directors are committed to assisting families in grief.
http://www.rainbows.org

Talking With Kids About Tough Issues
This is the website for this national initiative by Children Now and the Kaiser Family Foundation to encourage parents to talk with their children earlier and more often about tough issues.
http://www.tlcinst.org/

Diversity Awareness

All Together Now
A 35 page awesome and beautiful resource guide of educational activities and resources on diversity for teachers of young children.
http://www.civilrights.org

ARTSEDGE: The National Arts and Education Information Network
Linking the arts and education through technology. This site has some great lesson plans that incorporate art and creativity across the curriculum. Some of the lessons also touch on diversity, multicultural awareness, and social skills.
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/

Walk In My Shoes
An elementary awareness program on aging
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/wims/wimsproject.html

Disabilities

  All Kids Can
Developed by a 6th grade class and the Arc of Dallas, this site provides some ideas and inspiration for developing disability awareness projects and programs in schools. It is nice to visit this site and discover that it also celebrates the things we each CAN do, despite any obstacles we might face.
http://www.kidscan.org

Can Do!
Ability focused web site dedicated to helping all people develop a "can-do" attitude and approach to life... no matter what the obstacles. This site is full of fun activities, inspiring stories, and useful resources.
http://www.ucando.org

Hello, Friend
Bill Cosby's site, from the Ennis Foundation, in support of students who are differently abled with resources and tips for those kids, their parents and teachers
http://hellofriend.org/

KidsHealth
Well written age appropriate information on many topics for children from self-esteem to grieving to divorce to stress
http://kidshealth.org/kid/feeling/index.html

Exceptionality

  Brain Connection
BrainConnection.com is dedicated to providing accessible, high-quality information about how the brain works and how people learn.
http://www.brainconnection.com/

LD Online
Interactive guide to learning disabilities for parents, teachers and children
http://www.LDonline.org

Dyslexia, The Gift
Explore the positive talents that give rise to dyslexia, and share knowledge about the best ways for dyslexic people to learn.
http://www.dyslexia.com

National Association for Gifted Children
http://www.nagc.org/index.htmlhttp://www.nagc.org/index.htmlhttp://www.nagc.org/index.html

Career Education

  Kids and Careers
Games, Activities and an on-line manual for lessons on careers
http://www.bcit.tec.nj.us/childcareer/Default.htm

School to Work K-6 lesson plans
Lesson plans, unit goals, songs and coloring sheets
http://www.contractor.edu/lessonplans.html

Language Arts

CLWG: Children's Literature Web Guide.
Great source of information about children's books, publishers, and other resources.
http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/index.html

The North Star website
An inspiring, thought provoking site for all ages. The North Star web site is a great source of creativity, activities, and inspiration. Looking for very creative writing prompts for your students? Visit Peter Reynolds' StarVisions Exhibit to view dozens of different original illustrations he created and posted online. Students use the images as inspiring catalysts for their poems and stories. The North Star site also offers free web clipart for use on classroom, school, and other educational websites. And don't miss the free, printable North Star Mini-posters - they're GREAT for classrooms!
http://www.fablevision.com/northstar

The Read In!
The Read In Foundation is dedicated to fostering literacy throughout the world. Be sure to register your class for the annual Read In! Event - an all day fest where students celebrate reading and literacy in their very own classrooms, along with some VERY well known children's book authors, and thousands of other students from around the world! Check out the details on the Read In! Website, and learn about many other cool Read In! Activities and goodies that encourage literacy throughout the school year!
http://www.readin.org

Peace and Kindness

Acts of Kindness Foundation
Activities to help celebrate Kindness Week, now November 6-12, and World Kindness Day, November 13
http://www.actsofkindness.org

Peace Corps
Lesson plans to foster a more peaceful and tolerant school climate can be found, among other great resources, at this site
http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm

Positive Discipline
Positive Discipline Associates website with the mission to create peace in the world through peace in homes and classrooms. There are great questions of the week and resource information.
http://www.positivediscipline.com/

Miscellaneous Educational Resource Websites

FableVision
The FableVision website has fun, meaningful stories (some are even animated!) that can be read and enjoyed free online by people of all ages.
http://www.fablevision.com

Certificate Creator
An online site to design recognition certificates for your stakeholders
http://www.certificatecreator.com/

Education World
Weekly curriculum themes and activities, articles for administrators and teachers... great resource!
http://www.education-world.com

Kids EQ
Home page of The Children's Emotional Literacy Project of which two ASCA partners - 6 seconds and Don't Laugh at Me- are a part.
http://www.kidseq.com/

Kids Energy
An organization dedicated to improving education. "Our mission is to get everyone excited about learning. Our goal is to build healthy communities one kid at a time. Our method is to provide schools with an online self-service student mini-grant system."
http://www.kidsenergy.org/

Notmykid Inc.

Notmykid Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping parents get educated about youth behavioral health issues including substance abuse, ADHD, lying, suicide and depression.

http://www.notmykid.org

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