I run an online learning service for kids for homeschool or afterschool. Now that I've reached a certain size, there are ongoing requests for a kids online community. We already have a parents forum which is a simple forum open to members & non-members.

I'm considering setting up some combination of a forum with individual profiles/homepages/blogs. Perhaps other methods. This would be members only and parents could opt-out from giving their kids access.

I'm looking for a model of how best to do with in terms of safety. I have a number of people (parents) willing to help moderate so I'm looking for some experience or insights into:
- what combination of facilities is best (forum? blog? chat rooms? myspace-like pages?)?
- what software is most recommended?
- whats the best approach for the middle school students?
- whats the best for younger students?


I'm looking for people to share experiences, to point me towards working models (good or bad), to give advice and even some consulting help if someone knows this stuff well.
thanks