Family Life of Toddlers and Preschoolers - Free Parenting Resources

AWLP advances work-life effectiveness as a strategy for better integration of work, family and community. AWLP, an entity of World at Work, is a "national center of work-life expertise that defines and recognizes innovation and best practices, and provides thought leadership.”

Visit the Book/Media Awards page for a huge list of recommended titles for kids, teens and adults.

The ASPCA's kids' site.  With tips for being responsible pet owners, a Pet of the Week, Spotlight, and News features.

Basic rules and tips you can your child should know to avoid sexual exploitation (rape or molestation.)

Books for Pre-school and Early Elementary School Children dealing with death

With links to resource organizations for careers and job hunting, mentoring and networking, scholarships and grants, entrepreneur resources, and more for parents seeking alternative work arrangements such as job sharing, telecommuting, flex-time, and home-based businesses.

Information about choosing quality TV programming and movies.  Features a resource catalog, reading room, media and values department, professional development area, and information about media related issues from advertising and commercialism to visual literacy. Also available in Spanish.

"Resources on all aspects of domestic and intercountry adoption, including adoption from foster care. Includes information for prospective and adoptive parents; information about searching for birth relatives; and resources for professionals on recruiting adoptive families, preparing children and youth, supporting birth parents, and providing postadoption services."

This website offers information on family film festivals and movies.  Parents can train to be a CACM Juror and watch and rate movies for the coalition.  Jurors keep the movies they rate.

Specific parental control information for Comcast customers, and useful links to non-profit parental controls organizations.

Provides family-style reviews for movies, books, games, music, TV, and web sites.  Features “Top Picks.”  Sorted by genre and age category.  Also offers a newsletter, blog, resources, and a “Take Action” department.

From the University of Wisconsin Madison’s School of Education.  Features author and illustrator links, a comprehensive listing of books for children and young adults, and an Intellectual Freedom department.

"The death of a loved one is never easy, but it can be especially hard for your child to lose a close friend or a family member. Even the death of the family pet-which is often the first time a child has to deal with death-can be a confusing and scary experience for a child."

With a family readiness kit, tip sheets for parents, 4 step family disaster action plan, and more.

Tips for preparing for hazards and protecting your family and property.  Look for the link to information in Spanish.

Includes a Games Rating and Descriptor Guide, and a resources page with tips and additional parenting resources. 

A non-profit, non-partisan research organization that studies the changing workforce, the changing workplace, the changing family and the changing community.  With informative and useful publications like “Making Work "Work": New Ideas from the Winners of the Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility”, and “The Economic Benefits of High-Quality Early Childhood Programs: What Makes the Difference?”

A film guide website with recommended films for families, detailed reviews of movies currently in theaters, and movies recently released on video.  Charts violence, sex, nudity, profanity, and drugs/alcohol and goes into detail about what you can expect to see. 

Understand why family time is important, the barriers many families face in spending time together, and how to set family goals.

The National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI) was founded in 1994 to stimulate a society-wide movement to confront the growing problem of father absence, and is dedicated to improving the well-being of children by increasing the number of children growing up with involved, committed and responsible fathers in their lives.”  Resources, events, and features such as the “Dads Club,” “Dad e-mail,” newsletters, “10 Ways to be a Better Dad,” and a fathering skills resource from the NFL bookstore. 

From the National Association of Childcare Resource and Referral Agencies.  This website also includes a child care connector, and extensive information about choosing a child care provider, licensing and accreditation, and other helpful tools and resources. Also available in Spanish.

“At Fun.FamilyEducation.com, you can play games with your kids in our Family Entertainment Center, find arts and crafts projects and after-school activities, and explore ideas, decorations, and homemade gifts for the holidays. Don't miss our game and toy recommendations, and our movies database!”

The site offers “exciting and friendly ways to make helping children develop vital early literacy skills easier than ever,” with separate pages for parents, educators, and health care professionals.  The parent page offers screening tools, literacy checklists, activities and much more. Also available in Spanish.

Great resources for planning family vacations, hiking trips, and campouts.

HandInHand.org offers free parenting podcasts on topics such as bonding with your new baby, support for new dads, recovering from a difficult birth, and helping your baby with colic.  The site also has a number of parenting articles that focus on developing a stronger emotional connection with you child and developing a better family life as a result.

This site sells educational games, toys, and puzzles as well as craft, science, art, and music kits.

"How much kids can understand about death depends largely on their age, life experiences, and personality. But there are a few important points to remember in all cases."

According to the AAP statement, exposure to and the influence of media violence directly correlates to violent behavior. 

"Perhaps a child you know is facing the death of a loved one. Adults often fear that children are too fragile to face the reality of death. Actually, most children are emotionally strong and want to know about death. The truth helps them understand what is real, and what is imaginary. Just like adults, children need to be able to feel pain, mourn, and grow."

The LiteracyCenter.net serves as many as 1.7 million free literacy lessons a day to children in more than a 160 countries with safe learning activities for parents and teachers to share with young children. All online lessons are free of advertising and free of charge.  Also available in Spanish, German, and French. 

With tips and facts about children and media violence, the effects of video game playing on children, and computer and video game addiction.

Featuring “Finding Child Care Near You,” financial assistance, and information about quality child care.  From the US Department of Health and Human Services.

With articles, conferences, publications, resources, email forum, and much more.  Topics include child abuse, children with special needs, guidance and discipline, nutrition and diet, and activities and learning.

Parent Parties create a fun and relaxed environment to present parent education and to promote parent involvement by using numerous games and activities. These resources are created by and made available through Second Mile Parent Initiative, a non-profit organization working to increase parent involvement and education in schools and communities.

Tips for choosing an appropriate pet, how to care for it and the advantages of pet ownership for families with children.

"Engaging in playful learning experiences with your children requires planning, preparation, flexibility, spontaneity and free, unstructured periods of time in your schedule.  This website has been designed to help families with the first two requirements: planning and preparation.  Incorporating the last three items: flexibility, spontaneity and free, unstructured periods of time into our lives is a process that is worthy of sharing with each other."

Local officials and relief workers will be on the scene after a disaster, but they cannot reach everyone right away. The best way to make you and your family safer is to be prepared before disaster strikes.

To help you ensure that your children are safe, NACCRRA offers resources that you can use to ask the right questions of your child care provider and play a role in planning for and recovering from any catastrophe that strikes.

Ways to get your child ready for the new addition to the family.

What parents, schools and communities can do to protect kids from sexual exploitation (being raped or molested).

PBS features a host of quality television programming for the family and an exciting website for kids.  They can play games with their favorite characters such as Clifford, the Teletubbies, and Arthur.

Includes comprehensive reading resources for educators and parents including motivating kids to read, literacy rich homes, school connections, lesson plans, activities, Gateways to Early Literacy videos, and tons more.  Also features a Spanish bilingual version of the site.

This multimedia site “offers hundreds of articles that provide research-based and best-practice information for educators, parents, and others concerned about reading achievement.”  Also checkout their shows on PBS, podcasts and videos, free guides, Spanish site, and tons of other information.

This booklet from the US Department of Education answers important questions parents have about helping their child learn to read, choosing an early reading program, strategies for creating strong readers, the five essential components of reading, and information about the No Child Left Behind act.

Answers to questions like "How old should my child be before we get a pet?" and "What kind of dog should we get?"

A guide from Cox that shows parents how to take charge of the television, telephone, and internet content their children see at home.

Get important tips about your child's safety, and in particular, preventing the abduction and/or sexual exploitation of children from this interactive website.

"If you are concerned about discussing death with your children, you’re not alone. Many of us hesitate to talk about death, particularly with youngsters. But death is an inescapable fact of life. We must deal with it and so must our children; if we are to help them, we must let them know it’s okay to talk about it."

The Dougy Center provides support in a safe place where children, teens, young adults, and their families grieving a death can share their experiences.

Supporting Flexible Work for Mothers.  With relevant news links, tools to help parents propose flexible schedules to their employers, online forums, and resources for employers.

For those of us who believe our pets are children too!  Get information about issues affecting pets, and type “disaster” in the search bar for ways you can prepare your animal family in case disaster strikes.

Free publications for the public including brochures, fact sheets, and a “Reading Today” daily news publication.  Lists “Children’s Choices” books each year, and brochures for parents such as “Explore the Playground of Books: Tips for Parents of Beginning Readers,” “Making the Most of Television: Tips for Parents of Young Viewers,” and “Understanding Your Child’s Learning Differences.”

"The Movie Mom" is a blog that reviews movies and television.  This family friendly guide grades each movie or program, lists an appropriate age, reviews the movie and offers a trailer.

Life is stressful.  If we’re fortunate enough to have a lot of resources to tap into, such as trips to the spa, grandma always ready to take the kids, or a personal home gym—we may be better able to handle the bumps of life.  But many of us don’t have these kinds of options.  That’s where we have to get creative and find ways to de-stress using the resources we do have.  These 121 Stress Relievers will help.

In Tips for Parents: Adoption, learn more about what adoption is, where to find more information about the adoption process, how to encourage bonding post adoption, and resources to help adopted children find their biological parents.

Tips to prevent injuries related to computer use.

Celebrate book week by choosing books from the "Children's Choices" award winners.

In Tips for Parents: Child Care Complaints, discover how you can find out if the child care provider you are considering has any official complaints filed against them.

Understand how repeated exposure to violent media has been shown to cause aggressive behavior in kids.

We’re creating a series of Tips for Parents called Diverse Families. This series will discuss the challenges and benefits of many different types of families, offer tips for some of the most common issues, and provide links to credible, really helpful websites you can visit for more information.

In Tips for Parents: Divorce, learn how to break the news to your children that you're getting divorced, and get tips for making the transition, moving on, and when to seek professional help.

Tips for choosing educational gifts and games that are fun, durable, and educational.

Learn how to encourage a love of reading in your children.

Understand the ways you can teach your kids about environmental education at home.

Where to get family-friendly movie reviews.

Foster parents provide a temporary, safe home for children in crisis and become part of the child's support, treatment, and care program. If you are interested in being a foster parent, this Tips for Parents will help you know what is involved and how to begin the process.

In Tips for Parents: Gay or Lesbian Parents, discover research about children growing up with a gay parent/parents, learn what the experts have to say about how well these children fare, get tips for raising children with gay or lesbian parents, and find links to great resources on the topic.

In Tips for Parents: Having an Only Child, learn the benefits and common issues associated with having an only child.  Learn how to avoid these issues and optimize the one on one attention your child benefits from with you.

Understand your role as your child's first teacher.

In Tips for Parents: Immigrant Families, get tips for adjusting to American culture, understanding your responsibility to help your children succeed in school, and get links to many government programs that assist immigrant families.

As interracial families continue to expand faster than many other segments of the population, barriers are being broken down and many families are seizing an opportunity to teach their children and others about the value of diversity and respect.  In this Tips for Parents, discover ways to help your children develop their own unique identity, to value who they are, to learn how to respond to discrimination, and to develop respect for others.

Tips for deciding if a pet is right for your family, where to buy a pet, and teaching kids how to care for a pet responsibly.

When parents choose not to care for their own children, or become unable to provide safe, loving care due to drug addiction, abuse, death, imprisonment or other situations, family members often step in to care for the child and prevent them from living in the foster care system. This kind of care is often called "Kinship Care."

In Tips for Parents: Large Families, learn the benefits of having a large family and get tips for making sure each child feels valued and gets the attention and support he or she needs.

Understand why good listening skills are essential to a healthy relationship with your child.

In Tips for Parents: Military Families, get tips for communicating, asking for the support of family and friends, making the best of each day, and get links dozens of great resources for military families.

Discover why people are waiting until later to have kids, learn the advantages and disadvantages of becoming older parents, and get tips for overcoming some of the difficulties later in life parents face.

Learn how to prepare your family and home for disasters.

These books have been recommended by our staff and community members.

Parenting on your own can be stressful, confusing and exhausting.  Here are several key do and don’t tips for single parents to help you manage your time, your kids, and your sanity.

Not every man makes a good stay at home father; but truthfully, not every woman does either.  Research indicates that in general, children raised by fathers that have willingly chosen to be stay at home dads flourish.  Wives benefit when they opt to pursue a fulfilling career, and dads are able to nourish their care giving sides, especially if they seek outside contact from other stay at home dads.

When a new stepparent joins the family, extra care should be taken to develop a safe, secure and mutually rewarding relationship between all involved.  Find tips for setting realistic expectations, showing respect for each individual's feelings, and learn how soon these relationships will be formed.

What the experts recommend we teach our kids about staying safe.

In Tips for Parents: Summer Reading Programs, learn why reading during the summer is important, what summer reading programs offer, and how to find a summer reading program near you.

In Tips for Parents: Teen Parents, learn the steps you should take if you're pregnant, and if you're already a teen parent, get tips for improving your and your baby's lives.

Learn the reasons for and against encouraging your child's belief in Santa and get tips for explaining he's not real when they're too old or learn the truth from another child. 

Discover think-along reading and make reading time with your child a great learning experience.

Discover the resources and activities available for kids at the library.

In Tips for Parents: When a Mommy or Daddy Dies, learn how to help yourself and your children grieve and cope in a healthy way when your spouse passes away. 

An introduction to a few great reads.

Why ongoing training makes for a better pre-school.

Break the routine with intelligent toys your child will love.

Ways you can encourage the love of reading in your home.

Tips to make hiking a fun and safe way to learn about nature.

Tips to prepare your child for school and lifelong success.

Reading with preschoolers does more than get kids interested in reading.

The what, why, and how of thinking along with your children as you read.

Teach older siblings how to read to younger siblings.

Tips and common child safety rules.

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