Search engines

Google and Wikipedia are mighty information portals but the hits aren't often kid friendly. Type "Albert Einstein" into Wikipedia and you'll discover he wasn't a scientist. He was a "German-born theoretical physicist".

Child-focused search engines aren't always better. Type "Albert Einstein" into Yahoo! Kids and you'll discover that Einstein was ... "an American theoretical physicist". Many of the external links also lead to sites that are old and clunky.

Better options

For better links, there's a great New Zealand-based search engine available through Te Kete Ipurangi. TKI is funded by the Ministry of Education. It's a major online resource designed to help Kiwi teachers - but parents and children will also find it useful.

TKI has a staggered search engine:

• Choose a filter (for example "Pasifika" or "social sciences") from a set list.
• Refine the search further by adding another filter ("primary" or "secondary" school).
• Add your key word ("Albert Einstein").

TKI lists links that you might find useful (much like Google) rather than giving you a site-specific biography. But unlike hits on Google or Yahoo! Kids, each TKI hit is accompanied by a detailed blurb as well as icons that tell you if the information's New Zealand based, commissioned by the Ministry, in PDF format, and so on.

All external sites recommended by TKI are quality assured - administrators check each site for accurate, current content that fits with the New Zealand curriculum. Our search for Albert Einstein was narrowed down to around 21 quality sites ranging from "Time's 100 greatest people" to an interactive site aimed at primary school students.

TKI also has its own kids' site called WickED. WickED links to external sites aimed at kids in school years 3 to 8 via the "Information Station". The site also contains information on famous New Zealanders, interactive activities (for subjects like maths and Te Reo Maori) and a gallery of student projects.

Search tips

It's easy to find relevant information when you know how to look:

• Focus your search by choosing keywords carefully and using several at a time. For example: Jack Johnson boxer.
  
  
• Use the + (plus) sign in front of words you definitely want to appear in your results: Jack Johnson +boxer.
  
  
• Use the - (minus) sign in front of words you don't want to appear in your results: Jack Johnson -music will limit hits relating to the musician of the same name.
  
  
• Use speech marks to search for specific phrases: "Heavyweight Champion Jack Johnson".
  
  
• Check your spelling's accurate: Johnson not Johnston.
  
  

Country specific

There are some great international homework sites - just be aware that they'll lean towards their country of origin.

For example, an American site will address topics in the American curriculum (such as baseball), use "grades" rather than "years" to denote difficulty, and use different unit measurements (miles not kilometres).