www.funology.com

As the name suggest, this site attempts to make learning fun for children. It succeeds quite well with that basic aim, too. The animal facts section is particularly good, and could well teach adults a thing or two too. There are also instructions for kids' games, recipes, craft projects, science experiments, quizzes and trivia. Useful for children, parents and primary school teachers.

abc.net.au/

Add children/bananas to the above address and you're at the homepage of Bananas in Pyjamas (you may not have heard of them, but your children will have). According to the programmes producers: "We know our audience, and create every aspect of our website to be a positive and fun experience which children can relate to." It's bright and cheerful and it really is very well done.

www.brat.org

Operating from Louisville, Kentucky, Brat is a youth and young-adult activist magazine that aims to promote social awareness about and among youth and to encourage community-based activism. Its content is very much US-centred but it's worth reading for the strength of articles such as the recent one on the wave of school shootings in America.

www.oskars.de

An on-line student magazine from German publication Stern geared mainly towards encouraging Americans to become exchange students in Germany, it nevertheless is very useful for both second-level and college students. Articles are written in both English and German on a wide range of topics - from music to cheap places to stay in Berlin.

www.basic-skills.co.uk

While it's all well and good learning about the finer points of Internet technology, it's worth remembering that there are lots of people who have trouble with basic literacy. This site speaks for itself when it say it's "about the ability to read, write and speak in English and use mathematics at a level necessary to function and progress at work and in society in general."