YOUR CHILD & THE ONLINE WORLD
Welcome to the parents and caregivers section of the Hector’s World® website.
Whether your child is already familiar with the online environment, or you are thinking about introducing them to the internet, you can help your child have a positive and enriching online experience.
The best time for parents and caregivers to start laying this foundation for a lifetime of confident and responsible use of ICT (information and communication technology) is in a child’s early years. The ideal is to start education when your child first has access to the technology. These days it is not uncommon for that access to start before the age of 2. This means the education must be appropriate for the developmental level of the child, yet consistent and flexible enough to evolve with that child through their young years.
Hector’s World (HW) is an educational programme for children aged 2-9 years old which offers children a fun and magical world in which to learn and play. Through the adventures of Hector and his friends, HW promotes the skills and values they need to grow into confident, knowledgeable and caring members of the online community - the ‘building blocks’ of digital citizenship.
Research shows that you yourself are the best safety asset your children will have in the online environment – so your support, involvement, and interest are really important.
New Content
Website tours available now
Hector’s World has launched new animated website tours! The 10 minute guided tours give children a fun overview of website activities, with special versions for parents and educators to help them promote digital citizenship and safe online behavior. Click here to take a look at our new website tours…
Hector’s World blog
Hector’s World now has a discussion blog. Parents and grandparents can post comments and ideas about digital citizenship in their family. The blog creates an opportunity for people to share strategies, tips and challenges as your children develop digital citizenship skills. We would welcome your discussion and contributions.
Cyberbullying resources
Have you seen our set of cyberbullying resources? Hector’s World cyberbullying resources are designed to help younger children understand what cyberbullying is, and that help is available. The new materials also offer important messages to bystanders about how to support someone who has been victimised and the importance of bringing this often hidden problem to light where it can be resolved in a caring way.
The new resources include:
Please visit the rest of this section of the site, and send us any questions or feedback to feedback@hectorsworld.co.nz . We will try and respond quickly.