Office of Early Childhood
Websites for Parents of Young Children

Ready at Five
www.readyatfive.org
Ready at Five Partnership is committed to increasing the number of children entering school ready to succeed. Parents can obtain tips and activities to encourage age-appropriate language development, intellectual growth, social development and motor skills.
Helping Your Child Become a Reader
http://www.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/reader/index.html
Activities parents can use to strengthen children’s language skills and encourage a love of reading
Maryland Committee for Children
http://www.mdchildcare.org/mdcfc/mcc.html
Resources for locating child care services available to Maryland’s children.
Baltimore County Public Library
http://www.bcpl.info/

Port Discovery
www.portdiscovery.org/
Port Discovery Children's Museum provides experiences which ignite imagination, inspire learning, and nurture growth through play.
The Starfall Method
www.starfall.com
The Starfall Method of reading instruction was developed for the emergent reader. It is based in part on research by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development about how children learn to read.
Primarily designed for first grade, Starfall.com is also useful for pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and second grade.
Zero to Three
www.zerotothree.org
Resources for working with infants, toddlers and families. It has information on a variety of topics such as brain development, child care, and developmental stages.

National Association for the Education of Young Children
www.naeyc.org
NAEYC provides resources and information for parents as guidance for choosing the best possible care and education for their children.

I Am Your Child Foundation
www.iamyourchild.org
This non-profit organization, founded by actor/director Rob Reiner, was formed to raise awareness of the importance of early childhood development and school readiness. The section on tips and linking websites would be useful for parents.
Tufts University Child and Family WebGuide
www.cfw.tufts.edu
This site provides links for parents and professionals to sites evaluated by experts from Tufts University. Topics include Family/Parenting, Education/Learning, Typical Child Development, Health/Mental Health, and Resources/Recreation.
First Signs
www.firstsigns.org
First Signs is dedicated to the early identification and intervention of developmental delays and disorders.
Countdown to Kindergarten
http://www.countdownmd.org/
Learning begins at Birth.- A statewide public awareness campaign about early learning and school readiness.