Archive for the ‘Parents’ Category

The Internet as a Learning Tool

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

Now that your kids are back at school, there is a fresh focus on learning and development both inside and outside of school.

In this digital age, gone are the days of encyclopedias and other such archaic supplementary learning tools. :)

Information has never been more accessible as it is through the Internet. For this reason, the Internet is a valuable learning tool for kids even as young as toddler age.

Kids can learn so much from the Internet both to complement their school curriculum as well as to learn exciting new things about the world around them. Through the web, the world is their oyster, and they have access to almost limitless knowledge and interactive educational materials through websites, video content and games.

KIDO’Z provides access to hundreds of educational Youtube videos for kids. Videos are uploaded continuously by parents and teachers, and are moderated by the KIDO’Z Team before being added to the relevant channels. KIDO’Z has a number of educational video channels, such as the Learning Channel, Science Channel and ‘How-to’ Channel.

Educational games provide kids with a fun means of gaining knowledge and improving skills. Brain Safari and Type n Pop are two examples of such educational games that can be found in KIDO’Z.

Brain Safari is a series of different games that develop logic and memory skills, while Type n Pop improves kids’ typing skills.

There is a huge amount of great educational websites available for children of all ages, covering a range of subjects. It is therefore a challenge for parents to find sites that are most suitable for their kid(s).

We at KIDO’Z are here to do that for you and here are some examples of websites in KIDO’Z that focus on kids’ learning and education:

SuperWHY! is the animated PBS TV series for kids and has a cool website targeting kids aged 3-6 years old.

SuperWHY! is a great learning tool for kids and teaches them important reading skills, such as the alphabet, spelling and rhyming.

It does this in a fun and interactive way using four energetic characters each of whom represent a different learning skill. Kids will love the stimulating games, activities, videos and catchy tunes.

National Geographic Kids brings the natural world into your living room and opens kids eyes to new knowledge.
The website is full of educational content and imagery about wildlife, geography, people and places. Content is updated monthly to ensure a continuous fresh perspective of the world.
Kids will be educated in a fun and meaningful way with facts, games, stories and activities.

WordWorld brings kids into a magical world of words to teach preschool kids how to spell, and shows them in a visual and fun way how to create words. In WordWorld, words come alive and by doing so, make learning how to spell and read an adventure for young kids.

WordWorld is an educational PBS series for preschool kids.

Perhaps your child has other educational sites and/or videos that he/she likes best or you have other examples that you have found on the web. If so, we would love for you to add these to KIDO’Z through the Parental Control Account.

If you are unsure how to add new websites, please click here for the full video demonstration, and this tutorial shows you how to add new videos.

Happy Learning and we hope that the new school year has gotten off to a great start!

Nici, KIDO’Z

Custom-Made Internet For Kids

Monday, September 7th, 2009

Do 3 year olds like the same content as 6 year olds?

Do kids in China like the same content as American kids?

Do girls like the same content as boys?

The answer to these is a definite no.

And this is why we developed the KIDO’Z Smart Engine at the heart of our system. This engine automatically personalizes the KIDO’Z content stream for each kid according to his/her profile.

When a parent registers his/her child as a KIDO’Z user, the system asks for the age, gender, language and nationality of the child.

The KIDO’Z content is then automatically filtered for each child according to these variables, creating a custom-made KIDO’Z user experience.

And as a result, each kid has access only to the best and most relevant websites, videos and games for him/her. This content is totally age, gender and culturally appropriate, and is in the language(s) that the kid speaks and understands.

Since parents know their kids best, they can customize this even more by editing the engine rules specifically for their kid and by adding new content.

We hope that each and every kid enjoys their custom-made KIDO’Z experience and we wish all those who are celebrating Labor Day today, a relaxing, recreational and restful day.

How to Customize Kids’ Web Content Access

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

At KIDO’Z, content is king.

But not just any content.

All KIDO’Z content is hand-picked by loving parents around the world in many different languages. This content is then screened by our moderation team before it is allowed to join the public domain.

Only the best and most kid-friendly kids’ content makes it through our moderation team to get the KIDO’Z seal of approval.

And so, KIDO’Z brings the top kids’ content to children globally in a safe, fun and easy-to-use environment, and filters content for each child based on age, gender and language.

As we know and respect that parents have differing beliefs and preferences, the KIDO’Z system allows parents to customize their child’s access to this content.

What this means is that as a parent, you can easily extend your control over your child’s access to KIDO’Z content through the Parental Control Account.

Here, you have two options:

  • To allow all KIDO’Z content and then manually block content that you do not want your kid to access, or
  • To block all KIDO’Z content and then manually approve content that you do allow your kid to access

Here is a quick tutorial showing how to control access to KIDO’Z content:

Have a great week!

Nici, KIDO’Z