Whether you’re a parent or a student, getting geared up for school can be dreadfully overwhelming. To help you prepare for a hectic schedule and piles of homework (and waking up at the crack of dawn), we scoured the Web for sites that can help alleviate the stress of hitting the books after a summer siesta. These sites also promote interaction with friends and family.
ORGANIZE Scrybe (www.iScrybe.com) Currently an invitation-only site in a testing stage, Scrybe encompasses a souped-up to-do list, calendar and journal. Any file that users work on in Scrybe can be transferred to common applications, such as Word and Excel, and vice versa. Users can share Scrybe files with e-mail contacts or print out a copy and fold it into a handy pocket guide. Other organizing sites targeting families, though not as sophisticated, include and , which charges a membership fee.
Parents and kids can sign up for this reminder service, which sends an instant message daily, weekly or monthly and at specific times, reminding a child to practice the piano or a parent to drive the soccer carpool. Users can specify how frequent the reminder should be and what it should say.
Financial Calculators (www.dinkytown.net) Control expenses by analyzing a home budget or finding out how much parents can save if kids pack a peanut butter sandwich rather than buy cafeteria fries. Visitors can play with a range of calculators, including one that shows parents how much they need to set aside each month to afford a child’s college tuition.
STUDY Facebook applications (www.facebook.com/applications) Students are glued to Facebook to keep current with their social lives. But they also can keep track of their academic life by adding such applications as Courses 2.0 and CourseFeed. These applications encourage students to connect with classmates and share notes and books.
and High schools and college students curious if chemistry will be a super-easy course next year or if they’ll be stuck in the library muttering foul words about a professor can visit these two sites for comments from fellow students about what to expect. Recently, some reviewed professors have responded, posting video rebuttals to such comments as “He talks way too fast” or “She tells lame jokes,” explaining the rationale behind their teaching style.
Miss a day of class? If a teacher has created a page on , students (or their parents) can find out what they missed. Anyone can find a teacher’s page by typing in a school’s Zip code and scrolling through a list organized by teacher’s name, school and subject. This site is geared toward students in elementary school through high school.
Middle and high school students enrolled in wood shop or art class can participate in , with the approval of a teacher or school administrator. For $15, a student is shown how to build a personalized skateboard and learns how science and mathematics factor into its construction.
If students need to brush up on their Japanese, American history or Web animation skills, they can visit this global directory of online and telephone tutors. Instructors list their credentials, schedules and rates per hour. Feedback is encouraged; visitors can see how many people a tutor has assisted, and past students can grade a tutor.
SOCIAL A social networking site rooted in academics, Carmun brings together people who want to discuss such topics as U.S. social problems, the correlation between solubility and density, and music video dancers. The site includes a “Killer Bib Tool” that helps students with the bibliographies of their reports. Students type information into a form and a program automatically formats the data with punctuation consistent with MLA, Chicago Scientific or other traditional bibliography formats.
Perhaps due to its partnership with Sports Illustrated, Takkle promotes itself as “the largest high school sports community” (though other online communities do exist, such as , , and ). Anyone can create an account, but high school athletes are especially targeted. They can post their stats, videos of game highlights and photos, and interact with other players and fans.
