After a long summer at Grandma’s house on the mainland, my son Jay is home again, ready to embark on his sixth grade adventure. I dig my heels in and grit my teeth with dread. Why? Because Jay hates homework. Homework time is a grim affair at our house, filled with begging and pleading and dramatic histrionics that a savvy casting director would immediately recognize as Oscar-caliber. Jay would rather get kissed by an entire squadron of JV cheerleaders than do a math assignment.

But I’m getting smart in my old age. I am newly armed and dangerous. There is a fresh folder in my Netscape bookmarks file. It contains, in roughly equivalent numbers, both educational websites that can help Jay with his homework, and fun websites that Jay can visit after his homework is done. (Hey, I’m not above simple bribery, folks.) The new folder is called Jaystuff, and it may help us both live through the sixth grade. But before we get started. . .

A Word to the Wise

Don’t ever let your child wander through cyberspace alone. Period. Sure, this universe is illuminated by a billion points of light. But it’s also a world with dark corners, and those corners are inhabited by some very scary beings. ‘Nuff said.

Now, Let’s Get To Work!

The educational websites in the Jaystuff folder include places like The Science Learning Network, at www.sln.org. I love this site because it provides links to science museums across the country, and resources like Exploring Leonardo (an in-depth look at the inventions of Leonardo DaVinci). Jay will love this site because it offers an in-depth look at cow’s eye dissection. Ick!

Speaking of dissection, Jay’s folder contains a website devoted entirely to a step-by-step vivisection of Fluffy the Virtual Frog. You’ll find Virtual Frog Dissection Kit Version 2.0 at www-itg.lbl.gov/ITG.hm.pg.docs/dissect/dissect.html. Check out Fluffy’s Java 1.1.1 application, too.

When it’s time to convert decimals to fractions, I’ll tell Jay to Ask Dr. Math, at http://forum.swarthmore.edu/dr.math/. This is a terrific resource for struggling math students from elementary to college level, and kids can e-mail their toughest problems directly to Dr. Math. Dr. Math also provides the secrets to divine mysteries like this one: “Why does the square root of x^2 equal absolute value of x, but the square of the square root of x equals just plain old x?” and this one, which makes my head hurt: “Can one infinity be larger than another?” (The answer, I am sorry to report, is yes.)

The Library of Congress site, at www.loc.gov, will come in handy when it’s time for Jay to (groan) write a research paper. This enormous site offers a search engine that Jay will be able to use to find documents, photographs, movies, and sound recordings that tell America's story.

"Thou dankish tickle-brained moldwarp!" "Thou spleeny pox-marked varlot!" Ya gotta love any site with a link to the Shakespeare Insult Generator. Jay will also discover links to Virtual Galapagos, this month’s Galactic Sky Charts, and a live view from the 77th floor of the Empire State Building at OSU’s Kidsite, located at http://www.osu-okmulgee.edu/kidsite.htm.

According to the Children’s Literature Web Guide, "a growing number of children's literature classics are out of copyright, and are among the books available in full-text on the Internet." Find links to works by L. Frank Baum, Robert Louis Stevenson, and many more at www.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/storclas.html. And the Internet Public Library, at www.ipl.org, houses helpful tips on writing term papers, comprehensive information on the American Presidency, and pages of great resources for teens and younger kids.

Parents, do your kids a favor and tell their teachers about the Information Collection, at http://www.xs4all.nl/~swanson/history/sitemap.html. This site has a deceptively bland name, but it’s rich with links to virtual field trips and loaded with marvelous project ideas. It also contains links to super webpages - i.e., Virtual Renaissance, Colonial History, and Ancient Egypt - designed by classrooms around the country, with links to online reference materials for many of the projects.

Jay’s Gotta Play

There are so many fabulous places for kids to go and have FUN in cyberspace! Come back next month to hear about the ones I’ve found for Jay. See ya then!

Caroline Wright, of WRIGHT FOR YOU Word Services, is a freelance writer. A former resident of Hawaii, she now lives in rural South Carolina. Feel free to e-mail your comments to Caroline at cw@wrightforyou.com.