For Parents: Resources by Topic & Age

graphic of animal families text resources by topic and age

General Parenting

Library Resources

  • Gale General OneFile - Access general interest magazines and key serials in a single resource. Best for general research. Offers popular parenting magazines and videos.
  • Gale OneFile: Popular Magazines - Access the most searched magazines across Gale OneFile focusing on current events, sports, science, and health issues. Offers popular parenting magazines and videos.
  • MasterFILE Complete - Provides full-text articles for more than 2300 magazines and journals covering an extensive range of subject areas, such as business, health, general science and many more. Offers thousands of magazines and newspaper articles on the topic of parenting.
  • Newspaper Source Plus - Provides full-text digital collection of the world’s major news content. Offers thousands of newspaper articles and videos about parenting
  • ProQuest Database Search - Search across all ProQuest Databases that the library subscribes to. (Access from inside the library only). Offers thousands of magazine articles and information from blogs, podcasts, and websites on parenting.
  • TOPICsearch - A current events database that contains full text for over 105,000 articles from 1,622 diverse sources. Offers hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles as well as videos on parenting.

Other Free Resources

  • Children at Risk - Information and advocacy covering topics such as parenting, health, nutrition, immigration, and minors caught in human trafficking.
  • Get Parenting Tips - Articles broken down into age groups and a "get help now" list of resources from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
  • Healthy Children - A variety of articles, webinars, tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
  • Parenting Resource Center from the American Society for the Positive Care of Children - Positive-focused parenting information, tips, and tool kit from the professionals at the American Society for the Positive Care of Children.
  • PBS Kids for Parents - Activities and crafts based on age groups for family engagement, PBS Kids podcast, educational videos from Houston Public Media.
  • Smarter Parenting - Parenting tips behaviors such as meltdowns, tantrums, and defiance. Contains podcasts, videos, and other resources by Smarter Parenting.

Early Childhood

Library Resources

  • Early Literacy - Your library is here to support families' play, learning, and growth! With special collections, welcoming spaces, programs for our littlest learners, and trained and enthusiastic staff, Helen Hall Library is your family's library.

Other Free Resources

  • Early Childhood Intervention Services - Information about early intervention for families with children birth to 3 with developmental delays and certain medical conditions from Texas Department of Health and Human Services.
  • Early Childhood Texas - Resources, information, and videos for parents covering childcare, development, and education from Texas Department of Health and Human Services.

Disabilities

Other Free Resources

  • American Foundation for the Blind: Resources for Parents - Resources, research, and publications for families with blind or visually impaired from the American Foundation for the Blind.
  • CHADD: Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder - ADHD resources for children and adults provided by Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD).
  • National Resources for Deaf Children - Resources and articles including ASL for families of deaf or hard of hearing children from the American Society for Deaf Children.
  • Navigate Life Texas - Resources specifically for families with children with disabilities - diagnosis/medical information, family support, transitioning care from children to adults from Texas Health and Human Services.
  • Services for Children with Disabilities - Administration for Children and Families provides resources and information about childcare for families of disabled children.
  • SpedTex - The Texas Education Agency (TEA) provides information and resources to support families of special needs students in public schools.
  • Talking Book Program - The Talking Book Program (TBP) provides free library services to qualifying Texans with visual, physical, or reading disabilities from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
  • Texas Parent to Parent - Texas Parent to Parent provides support, information, and education for families of children and adults with disabilities, chronic and mental health conditions and other health care needs.

Adoption & Foster Care

Library Resources

  • Texas Legal Forms - Provides a wide selection of state-specific (and multi-state) legal forms across the most popular legal areas including family law. Includes real estate contracts, wills, pre-marital agreements, bankruptcy, divorce, landlord tenant and many others. Also included is a comprehensive attorney state directory and a dictionary of legal definitions explained in laymen's language.

Other Free Resources

Literacy

Library Resources

  • Helen Hall Library's Early Literacy Services - Your library is here to support families' play, learning, and growth! With special collections, welcoming spaces, programs for our littlest learners, and trained and enthusiastic staff, Helen Hall Library is your family's library.
  • EBSCO eBook Collection - A collection of electronic books on a wide variety of subjects.
  • Gale Books and Authors - Answer the age-old question, "what do I read next?" Search and match reading interests to books, authors, genres, or topics.
  • NoveList Plus - Find the perfect book to read - for yourself, your family, or your child.
  • Teaching Books - An easy-to-use website that adds a multimedia dimension to the reading experiences of children's and young adult books. It includes thousands of resources about fiction and nonfiction books used in the K-12 environment, with every resource selected to encourage the integration of multimedia author and book materials into reading and library activities. There is a special section with resources for educators and caregivers.
  • TumbleBook Library - Children's audiobooks online. A way for parents and caregivers to enjoy entertaining and educational stories alongside their young children.

Other Free Resources

Homework Help

Library Resources

College & Career

Library Resources

Health, Mental Health

Library Resources

Other Free Resources

  • CDC: Children's Mental Health - Information on mental health disorders, access to care, articles, and children’s mental health research from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
  • Children's Mental Health - Mental health resources, services, and information for parents from Texas Health and Human Services.
  • Consortium for Science: Info About Kids - Research and article for caregivers about body, mind, emotions and relationships. InfoAboutKids.com goal is to promote healthy child and family development by highlighting science-based information for those who care for, or work with, children.
  • Cooking with Kids - Recipes, instructional videos, and tips all on one website in both Spanish and English. Cooking with Kids is a non-profit focused on hands-on nutrition education.
  • Galveston County Food Bank - Information for families facing food insecurity, seeking nutrition information, and connecting with county programs.
  • KidsHealth - Articles and videos for health, development, and behavior by Nemours Children’s Health.
  • Mental Health America: Children's Mental Health - Mental Health America provides information on early identification, access to services, and other resources for families.
  • MyPlate - Nutrition and dietary guidelines for all ages.