Homework Help on the Web

If you've started your back-to-school shopping, I bet the kids are psyched about the cool, new sneakers they'll wear the first day of school or the gear they are piling into their backpacks. But all too soon those spiffy new backpacks will be coming through the door filled with lots of homework.

For that fast-approaching day, here are some of the best homework help web sites I've found for kids. Bookmark them for the day algebra problems vex your middle schooler (and you), and that big social studies project looms for your grade schooler.

• Kid Info—This site clearly lists lots of topics, including American history, math, health, and zoology, which lead to scores more links.

• TimeforKids Homework Helper—It's organized by subject: science, math, social studies, language arts, research and reference, etc. Dig in, and you'll find links to homework help sites recommended by kids for kids, such as algebra.com.

• Kids Web Homework Hangout—An extensive site run by the Mid-Continent Public Library in Independence, Mo. It links to tons of sites on every homework topic posible, and to kid-friendly search engines, such as Yahooligans! and KidsClick, a web search site created by librarians.

• Encyclopaedia Britannica—A great site for when you're just looking for a trusty, old-fashioned encyclopedia. There are free "concise articles" on most topics. For more detailed entries, you'll need to sign up for a membership, which is $11.95 a month.

• BJ Pinchbeck's Homework Helper—Here you can find 17-year-old BJ's more than 700 links to homework topics on Discovery Channel's discoveryschool.com.

• Refdesk.com—Breaks down subjects by elementary, junior high, and high school.

• Infoplease homework center—Provides quick access to almanacs, an atlas, a dictionary, encyclopedia, and biographies, and has a helpful tool that allows you to plug in dates in history.