After School
Child Care Aware
www.childcareaware.org
helps visitors find child care services. The site includes geography-based searches for providers and tips on choosing providers, and it links browsers to the nonprofit Nation’s Network of Child Care Resource and Referral, which helps providers meet licensing and training requirements and also funds the site. Child Care Aware is available in English and Spanish.
Education
National Center on Secondary Education and Transition
www.ncset.org.
helps parents of kids with disabilities prepare for their children’s transitions to secondary school and the working world. Covering topics such as academic standards and accommodations, technology and self-determination, the site serves as a single resource of useful information. Also included are links to newsworthy events and relevant government contacts, sorted by state. The national center coordinates resources related to secondary education transition for youth with disabilities.
International Children’s Digital Library
www.icdlbooks.org
is a free service that helps youths and youth workers find and read books from all over the world. Visitors can search for books by author, title, continent or category and view an entire book, including cover and illustrations. (Some books require Adobe Reader 6.0.) ICDL is funded by the University of Maryland and the Internet Archive, a digital library of Internet sites and cultural artifacts.
Employment
Teens 4 Hire
www.teens4hire.org
is a search engine for teens ages 14 and over to find jobs online. Kids create an account and fill out an online resume, search job openings, then submit their resumes to an employer. The site also provides links to books and other resources about the job market and tips for getting a good job. Teens 4 Hire is funded by the Forward Group, a California-based website development company specializing in job sites.
Funding
Guidestar Grant Explorer
www.guidestar.org/services/ge.jsp
is an enormous and invaluable asset for any organization searching for funders, or for any grant maker looking for regional opportunities within its scope. Guidestar’s top-notch search engines offer information on 34,000 grant makers, 680,000 grants and thousands of contact names. Cost: $49 per month, or $499 for a one-year subscription. Guidestar is a nonprofit online resource providing federal tax information on 501(c)(3) organizations.
Life Skills
Hotshot Business
www.disney.go.com/hotshot
gives kids a chance to start their own virtual businesses. Kids choose from three businesses – a pet store, a skateboard shop or a comic book shop – and handle everything from naming the company to making loan payments and meeting consumer demand. Hotshot is directed mainly toward youth ages 9 to 12, but also provides links for teachers and youth workers about how to work with kids using the site. The site is funded by Disney Online and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
