Self-Awareness Activity

Ask your child to "design a profile," a command located under the "kw zone" tab. This gives your child an identity on the website, and access to the content, chat rooms, and games. Keep in mind that this is a chance for your child to forge his or her own path of self-discovery. You child can read the articles that appeal to them, play the games that seem most enticing, and talks with others about experiences with and reactions to the content on the side. All of your child's Kidzone activity should focus around two important facets of the Self-Awareness skill: interpretation and reaction. All content will elicit some type of reaction, whether it's a new perspective or a contrary opinion. Ask your child to talk to other users who have read the same story or played the same game. What was similar about the experience? What was different? The chat rooms are opportunities for your child to understand the varying opinions of other children, which in turn allows your child to grow as an individual.

Reading Activity

Not only should you be monitoring your child's chat room activity, as a parent you should also make sure the content your child is reading has some real-world application. Of course, your child might first be drawn to sports or celebrity-centered stories, as they are the most immediate and relatable. While celebrity gossip may spark some interesting conversation in the moderated chat rooms, encourage your child to read stories about topical and global events. It's important that he uses the the reading material to broaden his worldview. The "advice" column is another interesting read, where your child will find articles that address everyday questions and concerns from color-coordinating to how to deal with stress. Make sure that, for every story about a celebrity, your child reads one news story and one advice column entry. They are interesting too.

Kidzworld & Autism

Kidzworld provides children who have been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder a safe outlet for communication. Communication skills like social awareness, attention, and eye contact can't all be addressed through the text-based medium, but the chat rooms in Kidzworld provide children with the opportunity to reveal what they are thinking without having the worry about any immediate adverse effects. The moderated chat rooms work to bolster confidence when communicating.

Using Kidzworld for Children Affected by Autism

• Open the the chat feature and enter a chat room with your child. Be sure he is not writing anything hurtful or offensive. If your child misinterprets another user's response, explain to your child about the nature of text-based communication. It is important to understand that there was simply a miscommunication, and that the other user likely meant no harm. At first, your presence alongside your child in the chat rooms is just important as his -- so make sure you provide, constructive positive feedback.

• Make chatting into a game. When a user types a response or greeting to your child, stop and think before you allow your child to respond. Next ask your child to try and determine a facial expression that coincides with what the user said. This will help your child associate feeling and mood with speech and the written word, bolstering her overall communication skills.

• Help your child find a topic on the site that fits her interest. Children affected by autism sometimes delve very deeply into a single subject they find intriguing, but sometimes have difficulty sharing their passion and knowledge with others. The chatting platform of Kidzworld provides a safe way to share that interest and knowledge with others in a constructive way that can translate into real-world communication habits.

Kidzworld is just one of many apps and websites that can help users read up on interests and engage with an online community. Try some of the suggested alternatives below.

Kidspiration

Kidspiration is a child-friendly version of the popular Inspiration software, which allows users to visually display and organize thoughts and ideas across various academic disciplines. Our Kidspiration review has the details.

Khan Academy

Khan Academy is an online library of videos for learning and practicing academic concepts. Users can search by keyword, and are then able to choose from a variety of leveled videos related to that term. Find out more in our Khan Academy review.

Club Penguin

Club Penguin is an online community, started by Disney, that features games and activities for kids. Users create their own penguin (which serves as their avatar and persona) and use it to interact with others and explore a virtual world. Read more in our Club Penguin review.