 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Poetry4Kids
Common Sense Media says
Poetry playground littered with ads.
Parents say
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that it's difficult to sort out this site's "real" content from the many "ads by Google." They crop up everywhere; in fact, some appear right in the main menu. Kids who join as members can have free online journals, complete with personal profiles. Several that we looked at included kids' real email addresses and links to their personal (and off-site) home pages, some of which contain inappropriate content. That said, the journals on the Poetry4Kids site itself seem fairly well-screened for inappropriate content. Personal profiles are another story; if they're needed at all, HTML should be banned, as well as email addresses. Because of this, and the discussion boards, we recommend that young children do not become members.
What's it about?
Poet Kenn Nesbitt's "poetry playground" features poetry lessons, funny poems, interesting contests, and even an easy-to-use rhyming dictionary. Nesbitt invites kids to rate his own poems, which in turn creates a "Most Popular" poems collection of witty verse. Members can join the site for free and get access to other content, such as entertaining MP3 audio recordings of Nesbitt reading his own work. Each member gets her own online journal in which to keep her writings, and discussion boards are also a feature of the "members only" side of the site.
Is it any good?
This site is an example of a good idea that has gone off-track. It's difficult to sort out the real content from the many ads, which pop up everywhere. Next to a poem about cleaning your room, you'll find more than 10 automatically served Google Ads about "Mops" and "Cleaning Supplies." This takes away from the site and costs it at least one star.
Parents should also take note that members' journals may be private or public, and if they're public, other people can and will comment on the entries and the comments will be public as well. lso, in the discussion forum, which has sections for both kids and adults, most of the topics are poetry-related, but others are off-topic. In one, for example, members discussed the pros and cons of anorexia.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about why it's dangerous to post personal information online. What kind of information is not safe to share on the Internet? Who should you tell if you see inappropriate content online?
- Show:
- All members
- Parents
- Teens & kids
AGE
This is an enormously helpful interactive web site for children.
I run an award-winning web site for children myself, endorsed by the American Library Association, the Encyclopedia Britannica, the Internet Public Library, and even Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) has licensed some of my content for their own site.
So I feel rather qualified to state that Kenn Nesbitt's "Poetry4Kids" site is a site that's rather ingeniously targeted and well-designed for inspiring children to think, read and write their own poetry, be creative, and laugh.
Kenn Nesbitt is a talented, gifted author in his own right - and has developed a successful site that kids love and can contribute to, as well.
I heartily recommend it to any parent and child and if you allowed SIX stars, I'd give away that. Five stars at LEAST for Mr. Nesbitt's site.
As an expert in the field, let me tell you: I know what I'm talking about.
-elizabeth williams bushey
*inklesstales*
*inklesstunes*
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AGE
i wrote myself a letter
i loved this om it just made ke laugh more than the other poem. it made me laugh more than what the other poem did.like that so dump. why would a person write it self a poem?
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AGE
This website is really cool! I don't know what common sense is talking about!
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| Genre: | Educational |
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