When I was a 3rd grader, research papers involved trips to the library and pulling out the giant encyclopedias.   I should call and see if I dreamed this up, but if I remember right, my parents actually slowly acquired those encyclopedias from a random promotion at the grocery store and then lovingly hefted them from house to house.  I thought they were awesome; a 1 stop shop for information on anything from butterflies (the subject of that first report) to Benadict Arnold.

My kids don’t understand that excitement.  They use the phrase “google it” as if it wasn’t amazing to have access to all of that information instantly.

In an age of information overload, finding reliable sources for kids to begin to do research on their own is daunting.

Oh, and to add to the oh-so-very-different-from-my-own-childhood-ness is the fact that my kids don’t just have easy access to printed documents, but also video, audio, photos, and even original historical documents.  Narrowing down the options is tricky.  Wikipedia is unreliable, .edu sites are too detailed, and google can be just plain risqué.

My kids still need to have a go-to source for information.  They aren’t quite yet web-savvy enough to discern excellent sources from the wikipedias of the world, so I put together a favorites list that they know they are free to use in their research.  Here is what it contains:

Our Top 10 Favorite Reference Sources for Kids:

General:

IvyJoy – Filtered and specialized search engines.  Simple and user friendly.

factmonster.com – A simple search engine.  What I like about this one is that it reveals what kind of document each link is in parenthesis.  (biography) (dictionary) (arts & entertainment) etc.

InfoPlease – A thorough site, but I linked to my favorite part, the year by year calendar.  This is especially helpful in history, so that kids can see what else was happening in the world during the time they are studying.

Video Sources:

Brainpop – This one requires a subscription, but it is very well researched and nicely presented.

PBS.org – Access to the wealth of info contained in NOVA’s programs.  I like this site because you can limit your search by topic and timeline.  Very handy.

Sqooltube – Easy to navigate and has access to my favorite videos like Liberty’s Kids

KahnAcademy – An every growing source of excellent teaching videos, focusing primarily on math and science.

For Particularly Elusive Searches:

Libraryspot  – This is our go-to site for when we get stuck looking for an old map or need access to historical documents.  It is a bit cumbersome to navigate, but pulls up what we need every time.

The Basics:

Thesaurus.com – basic and easy to use thesaurus

Merriam Webster’s Word Central – A fun and kid friendly dictionary.  As a bonus, it also has a rhyming tool.

Old Standby:

Okay, so this will technically bring my link count up to 11, but I have to admit that encyclopedias still exist.  They are no longer the hefty tomes that I remember, but they are still filled with all of that great information that I enjoyed as a kid.  Many libraries provide free access to online encyclopedias with your card number, so check out what is available to you locally.  My library is registered with Encyclopedia Britannica and I have found it to be super simple for the kids to navigate.

We live in a fortunate time.  Happy Researching!