Parenting & Adult Education
Outreach
- AMBER ALERT - From site: "The AMBER Alert™ Program is a voluntary partnership between law-enforcement agencies, broadcasters,transportation agencies, and the wireless industry, to activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child-abduction cases. The goal of an AMBER Alert is to instantly galvanize the entire community to assist in the search for and the safe recovery of the child."
- TALK ABOUT CURING AUTISM (TACA) - An extremely open-minded organization dedicated to healing autism by finding the most effective treatments available, and connecting families with TACA doctors. A group that is willing to discuss vaccine safety and the benefits of the gluten-free,casein-free (GFCF) diet. Celebrity patrons: Jenny McCarthy and Lance Armstrong.
- "Love. Recycled." Founded by Jessica Seinfeld, Baby Buggy is a charity is designed to take donated, gently used baby products and recycle them to needy families in New York City. From site: "Baby Buggy, a 501 c 3 Accredited Charity founded in 2001, is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing New York City's families in need with essential equipment, clothing, and products for their infants and young children." Celebrity patrons: Jerry Seinfeld, Anderson Cooper, Mark Consuelos & Kelly Ripa, Stephen Colbert and Sarah Jessica Parker. Follow them on Twitter @LoveRecycled.
Education
- Distance learning is a new concept, but it is quickly being embraced by the vast majority of higher-learning institutions in the United States. Almost all major colleges and universities offer distance learning courses. The E-Learning center provides the most affordable and diverse learning opportunities on the Internet, with over 1800 courses available. From site: "Whether you are a beginner looking for basic Computer skills, or an advanced user looking for a professional qualification, we have the courses you need at the lowest prices. In fact if you find anyone cheaper than us then let us know. You wont find a better price!" I think that this opportunity will be especially valuable for single parents. Distance learning can be a springboard for your career that never requires you to leave your home and family. This service provides a free seven-day trial with a 100% money back guarantee.
- THE ALICE PROJECT - An extraordinary project designed to make students' introduction computer science easy and fun, and to attract more young girls to the field. Founded by the brilliant Carnegie Mellon University professor Dr. Randy Pausch (The Last Lecture), Alice is a free download. From site: "Alice is an innovative 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create an animation for telling a story, playing an interactive game,or a video to share on the web. Alice is a freely available teaching tool designed to be a student's first exposure to object-oriented programming. It allows students to learn fundamental programming concepts in the context of creating animated movies and simple video games. In Alice, 3-D objects (e.g., people, animals, and vehicles) populate a virtual world and students create a program to animate the objects."
- Founded by comedian Chris Rock's wife, Malaak Compton-Rock, The Angel Rock Project is an organization dedicated to promoting public service to the youngest generation. One of their most successful initiatives has been Journey for Change, a volunteer program for at-risk youth in Brooklyn, NY. Mrs. Compton-Rock takes a group of these children to Africa to volunteer, stressing that for kids who have always been on the receiving end of aid, giving them an opportunity to be on the giving end of service opens their eyes to the opportunities that they do have, strengthens their esteem, and changes their lives for the better. From site: "The Angelrock Project is an on-line e-village promoting volunteerism, social responsibility, and sustainable change. The site serves as a pathway for those seeking pertinent information on how to lead a life of service. The Angelrock Project includes valuable information on how to volunteer, advice on making monetary or in-kind donations, links to life-changing service organizations, recommends wonderful products that you can purchase to sustain third-world artisans, and suggests corporations who donate a percentage of proceeds to worthy non-profit organizations." Follow them on Twitter @ARProject.
- Donors Choose is a purely Internet-based charity that connects donors to classrooms in need. It allows each donor to choose the project to which s/he would like to contribute, and provides photos and updates from teachers and students. From site: "Here's how it works: public school teachers from every corner of America post classroom project requests on DonorsChoose.org. Requests range from pencils for a poetry writing unit, to violins for a school recital, to microscope slides for a biology class. Then, you can browse project requests and give any amount to the one that makes your eye twinkle. Once a project reaches its funding goal, we deliver the materials to the school. You'll get photos of your project taking place, a thank-you letter from the teacher, and a cost report showing how each dollar was spent. If you give over $100, you'll also receive hand-written thank-you letters from the students. At DonorsChoose.org, you can give as little as $1 and get the same level of choice, transparency, and feedback that is traditionally reserved for someone who gives millions. We call it citizen philanthropy." Celebrity patron: Stephen Colbert.
Make Math Fun! - Lots of math games to make mathematics more fun for your kids. Four e-books chock full of these games for $27.97. 100% money back guarantee.
Homeschooling Secrets Revealed - Interested in homeschooling your children? This is a discounted guide on how to do so with confidence. It was written by successful author and activist Stephen Elliot, founder of the progressive political action committee LitPac, which is dedicated to registering voters and getting authors more involved in the political process. I have to say, Stephen Elliot is a pretty awesome guy. This includes a bonus e-report on the benefits of homeschooling and a 100% money back guarantee.
Rocket Piano! - Specialized techniques for faster learning of how to play the piano, from a classically trained instructor. Offers a free trial in the form of a 6-part introductory e-course.
Jamorama Guitar Method - Specialized techniques for faster learning of how to play the guitar, from a professional guitarist and trained instructor. Offers a free trial in the form of a 6-part introductory e-course.
Rocket Languages
Rocket Languages are an Internet sensation. They contain approximately 13 hours of audio lessons that, once purchased and downloaded, are yours to listen to again and again! They are accompanied by transcripts of the conversations, and 31 illustrated grammar and culture lessons to help you fit into society as seamlessly as if you were a native! Also it comes with three software learning games to aid you in learning pronunciation, vocabulary and verbs. Finally, gain access to the Members Only Learner's Forum where you can chat not only with your fellow learning enthusiasts but with a fully trained team of foreign language teachers as well as native speakers. This is the most comprehensive foreign language learning course I have ever seen offered on the Internet, and it comes with a 60 day 100% money back guarantee, so if you're interested in learning a new language I would definitely give this a shot!
Rocket Spanish, Rocket French, Rocket Italian, Rocket German, Rocket Japanese, Rocket Chinese, Rocket Hindi, Rocket American Sign Language, Rocket Arabic
Parenting Blogs
Here is a collection of parenting blogs chosen by Forbes.com Best of the Web.
Literary Mama - From Forbes: "A literary blog on the theme of child-rearing, by published authors, academics and poets. Its offerings range from thought-provoking columns and 'creative nonfiction' to poetry and fiction." Read the rest of the review here.
Adoption: Exploring the Many Facets of Adoption - From Forbes: "Adoptive mother Laura Christianson maps out the adoption territory with insightful, informative posts detailing the good (like her own kids' view of their adoption), the bad (people's insensitive comments) and the ugly (adoption fraud). More than just musings, her posts often respond to news or research reports, and are teeming with factoids and statistics." Read the rest of the review here.
Daddy Types: The Weblog for New Dads - From Forbes: "Hip downtown NYC daddy blog. Whether it's 'pimping out' a baby's crib with an IPod and portable JBL speakers so that dad can listen to 'mad lullabies' or tracking down a kid-sized urinal, author Greg Allen comments on parenting from an urban culture-vulture's perspective." Read the rest of the review here.
FamilyScholars.org - From Forbes: "Much less personal than some parenting blogs, Family Scholars bills itself as a '24/7 research assistant on all things marriage and the family.' And that's exactly what you'll find: succinct commentary from the site's four-person blogging team, each a scholar affiliated with the Institute for American Values, a 'nonpartisan organization devoted to contributing intellectually to the renewal of families and civil society in the US...' Their posts usually respond to recent topics in the media [...]" Read the rest of the review here.
MommaSaid.net - From Forbes: "Think Erma Bombeck with a blog. Jen Singer, author, essayist and mother of two boys, provides comic relief for the stay-at-home set, in both text and video form (the latter called 'Momma-logues'). Singer keeps her tongue firmly in cheek, whether she's dealing with 'post-colic stress disorder' or musing about getting spammed with a 'Why not be a sex machine?' e-mail when she's flu-ridden, deep in dirty laundry and stressed out from planning a Darth Vader birthday party." Read the rest of the review here.
Adventures in Autism - From Forbes: "According to the Centers for Disease Control, one in 166 children is diagnosed with an autism-related disorder. Chandler's Mommy, a former Johns Hopkins-trained family therapist, combines details about her own child's struggle with plenty of news and information about the burgeoning problem." Read the rest of the review here.
DotMoms - From Forbes: "A blogging collective populated by more than 35 moms, DotMoms is as cacophonous and family-oriented as a PTA coffee klatch. [...] Unfortunately, there's no table of contents detailed by subject, so you never really know what you're getting until you're halfway down the page, but thankfully, the posts live up to the 'DotMomafesto' of being smart, fun and focused." Read the rest of the review here.
