Montgomery County Public Schools students won't be back in the classroom for another couple of weeks, but as private and public schools around our region head back, you can't turn on the radio or the television without seeing a back-to-school ad or story. Yesterday, I got to spend most of my day with media specialists and other staff from MCPS discussing how the public libraries can support our students as they head back into the classroom. It seemed like important information that others might like to hear; so I am highlighting a few takeaways of our discussions.
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| Read to a Dog at Long Branch |
First, we have a variety of events to support and supplement classroom learning. Several MCPL branches offer homework help programs. These programs range from teen volunteers assisting younger students with homework to writing clubs where teens and tweens can flex their writing muscle. We also have Reading Buddy and Read to a Dog programs at many branches. These programs allow young readers to practice and strengthen their reading by working with a non-critical human or canine volunteer.
You can explore the full listing of homework programs.
We also offered special webpages to provide targeted information to different audiences. For parents and caregivers we offer our
All Children Excel webpage. This provides tips and resources for promoting literacy at different ages from early literacy skills for babies and toddlers to homework and learning resources for elementary and middle school students. For kids who are old enough to explore the web more actively, our
Kids page offers books lists, homework resources, and more (including our August poll: Who is your favorite book character turned TV star?).
Our Teensite includes information about our Teen Advisory Group, homework resources, booklists, and links to programs.
After reading those descriptions, you might be asking yourself, "What the heck is a homework resource?" I'm referring to the wide variety of online databases available with an MCPL card. These databases include
online access to a variety of major and minor national newspapers, including local African-American paper
The Montgomery Times, later the
African American Times, from 1992-1999. They also include
online access to full current and back issues of popular magazines for kids, teens, and adults. We also have a variety of
historical databases that are great resources for researching biographies of contemporary and historical figures from Presidents to artists to religious figures as well as historical events.
This is far from a full list of how we can support you or your loved one as you dive back into the school year. If there is something else we can do, please let us know—we're ready to help you. Happy studying!
Lennea
Labels: Books, Databases, e-Books, Education, Library Services
