Many people know that I was homeschooled through my high-school years.  Those years were definitely a success for myself and I plan to homeschool my children when they are of age.  My son is now 3, so I’m always on the look-out for books, software, supplies and tools.  By tools, I mean anything that will be of use in their education.

The internet can play an important part of learning these days.  From educational games and print outs to videos and research, you can find just about anything you would need online; you can even save money by not having to invest in an expensive curriculum.

Whether you homeschool or have a private/public school child that is doing research online for homework, I suggest this nifty kids search engine.  Kids can enter their keyword or phrases of choice and find the information they need through a number of trusted kid safe search engines.  These search engines are preset to filter out bad words and topics that you would not want them to access.

This kids search, http://www.kigose.com, is free and effectively used by K-12 students and particularly for those between the ages of 6 – 12.  There is a video tutorial on how to use the site available for new users which is helpful for those children and parents that are new to the web.  There is nothing to download (like many of the search tool bars) and the navigational search bar stays at the bottom of your browser page so that you can perform new searches at any time without having to stray away from this page.

As always, for added precaution, parental supervision is suggested when children are using the internet.

A few days ago I posted a review for the Take Out, Time Out Mat from MyPreciousKid.com.  Being the very generous company that they are, MyPreciousKid.com is giving away a Child Carseat Safety ID Card to 5 of my lucky readers!

The Child Carseat Safety ID Card allows you to place contact and emergency information in one place and attach to your child’s carseat or booster seat.  The card contains areas to place a recent photo of your child as well as the child’s name height, weight, date of birth, emergency phone numbers and other contact information.  It also has a place for your approval for medical personel to treat your child even if you are not there or unable to speak at the time.

Eligibility:

1. Must have a mailing address in the USA.
2. Must complete # 1 of the “How to Enter”.  Others listed are for extra entries – but #1 is a must!

How To Enter:

1. Visit MyPreciousKid.com and tell us what your favorite product is. Must!
2. Follow @MyPreciousKid on Twitter
3. Follow @MommyPlayground on Twitter, then let me know in a comment (with your twitter link for verification)
4. Twitter about this giveaway and get 1 entry for every time you tweet it!  Let us know that you did in a comment with the status link.

Contest Deadline: Saturday, February 28, 2009

Winner will be announced: Sunday, March 1, 2009