Common sense media for parents Discover the Possibilities

Common Sense media - landing page This is the landing page when you go to Common Sense Media. You will know that you are on the right page for parent resources by looking at the tabs at the top. The Parent Resource tab is circled. The other important navigation feature on this page is the green menu bar. These various menu options are the ones we will exploring today. I am going to lead you through a quick over view of all the materials available to parents on this site. I want to you to have some familiarity with each choice and then you will get to do some exploring on your own. I will point out the basic information on each option page, but please be aware that each page has many additional resources for you to explore on your own. You can also return to the Parent Landing page by clicking the checkmark and common sense media title. We will start with the Reviews Menu. Common Sense media - landing page

Reviews

Reviews Menu–search options Additional Narrow Options Mousing over the Reviews Option, will give you a quick drop-down menu or you can click on the option to open the page as seen here. As the page suggests, this is the page to get reviews on various types of entertainment. (inside box). You can also see the number of reviews available by entertainment type. At this point, you will probably want to narrow your search. As you can see at the top of the options is by age – and – additional options to your right are by topic, character strengths, and other options, such as Parents Recommend, Popular with kids, Common Sense Honorees. Please note that each of these subdivisions also can be further expanded by choosing the Show More at the bottom of the category. Reviews Menu–search options

Reviews Menu – Search results Here is example of a search that has been narrowed. I chose the Apps Entertainment type, then I wanted to look for apps appropriate for kids 3 and 10 years old. Notice right under the App Review title are the choices I made to narrow my results are displayed. If I want to change the results and look for only apps for 10 year olds, I can simply click on the circled X beside the Age 3 choice and it will remove Age 3 and still keep age 10. Also of note, is the Sort By drop-down box, which defaults to Most Recent. Other options for this include Star (high to low) and Age (low to high). Let’s look at the individual results. The list of apps on the right, shows 2 apps, one for a 10 year old and one for a 3 year old. This search results list provides minimum information about the app. It gives a Star Rating, what devices the app runs on, and a short review. (Read each example). Open the Review by clicking “Continue Reading”. Reviews Menu – Search results

Reviews Menu – detailed review page At the top of the Review page, you will see a picture of the entertainment type and underneath is a review synopsis. It has ratings for Educational Value, Ease of Play, Violence & Scariness, Sexy Stuff, Language, Consumerism, and Drinking, Drugs & Smoking.

Scroll down to see these Review sections Scroll down to see these Review sections. Discusses “What Parents Need to Know” to make an informed decision, lists “User Reviews”. Includes a “What’s It About” section that gives you details about the entertainments, “Is It Any Good?” gives you a common sense review by teachers, librarians and other professions who have experienced the entertainment, a “Talk to Your Kids About…” section – if you are inclined to give you child access to this, here are some ideas to make the experience more effective and less confusing, and finally, any “Details” that are important to effective use this entertainment type. Review Details

Top picks

Menu Options overview “top picks” Now that you have seen the details of the Review page, we’ll take a quick look at each menu option. Our next menu option is “Top Picks”. Menu Options overview “top picks”

Top picks The “Best of” Lists Top Picks offers lists of the “best” for all Entertainment Types. (read down the list) Additional lists can be accessed by choosing the All Lists option at the bottom.

Top Picks – “Best movies” list The lists can also be narrowed by age group. This example shows “Best Movies” option. Top Picks – “Best movies” list

Top picks – best movies detail I scrolled down and chose the list “Movies that Promote Perservernce” and then chose and age range. Continue Reading offers the same in depth review information as the Review Menu option. (What Parents Need to Know, Is It Any Good, etc.) Top picks – best movies detail

Family guides

Menu Option “Family Guides”: essential guides The Family Guides drop-down menu offer guides for Entertainment Types, but also guides for a Device-Free dinner, and Essential K-5 Guide, Essential Creativity Guide and a Guide to Special Needs Apps. Some of the Guides can be further narrowed by age-range. Menu Option “Family Guides”: essential guides

Family guides-Essential Books This is an example of the Essential Books Family Guide. Once chosen the list was narrowed by Age-Range (7-12) and Genre (Mystery and Adventure Tales. Clicking on the title gives you detailed review information. Family guides-Essential Books

Parent concerns

Menu option-Parent Concerns The Parent Concerns Menu Option addresses top parenting questions. Read some of the options. As you can see, these are topics that everyone wonders and talks about. Now there is a creditable place to find some answers.

Parent concerns – Specific Topic This example is News and Media Literacy. After choosing a specific topic, you can focus on a specific age group. Parent concerns – Specific Topic

Parent Concerns-details Scroll down to see further drill into the topic. Here are the Most Popular Questions. Clicking on FAQs take you to these questions. You can also see additional articles and videos. The View All option displays all the article titles. And Ask Our Experts allows you to ask specific questions after you create a free account. Parent Concerns-details

videos

Videos Menu Option Videos Menu Option offers comprehensive information about all kinds of videos. The drop-down menu gives a good overview listing Movies in Theaters, Movies on DVD, Parenting Tips, Video Game Reviews, and Trending video information, as well as Parenting Tips, and What Is?

Videos – Detail of “Movie in theaters” “Leap” is an example of a choice from Movies in Theaters. It gives you a short clip from the video, age recommendation, Star rating, Release Date, short synopsis and a link to the full review. Videos – Detail of “Movie in theaters”

Videos – Parenting tips and What is? Scrolling down the page for each option gives a variety of different types of information. For example, on the Movies in Theaters option, these “What is?” choices were listed. If you ever wandered about any of these apps, this is a place you can get information about them. Videos – Parenting tips and What is?

News & Advice, latino, Research

other Menu choices Other choices on the menu bar include News & Advice – newly reported information, Latino menu – reviews in Spanish, and Research option – documents where the research information comes from.