Are your children attending school part time, distant learning or homeschooling this school year? If so, Whitman County Library is here to help. From tiny books that teach our youngest learners their ABCs all the way to Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar for high school students, the library can help keep your children engaged and excited about learning.
To start, visit the “parents” page on our website at whitco.lib.wa.us where you will find online learning resources such as the Best Websites for Teaching and Learning, Consumer Reports Homeschooling and The Washington Homeschool Organization. Click the “teens” link to find resources like “homework help and “college bound” that help teens with things like choosing a school and applying for financial aid. And the “kids” link can help you find Lexile scores, scholastic reading quizzes or let your children learn with fun interactive games on PBS Kids and ABC Mouse for Libraries.
Your children can also use our website to learn a foreign language with Mango, travel the globe with A to Z World Travel, or learn Microsoft Office applications and computer science with Microsoft Imagine Academy Online Learning.
If your children are auditory learners, a great tool you can check out from the library is the Smithsonian Interactive Library that takes you around the world with six books, more than 3,000 audio touchpoints, in-depth information, hundreds of interactive games, 17 hours of audio and eye-catching photographs that let your children read, listen, learn and enjoy, For a short demonstration of this amazing resource as well as other materials we offer for homeschooling families, check out our YouTube channel at WhitmanCoLibrary.
For beginning readers, our Books in a Box Phonics Reading Program has everything you need to help your child become a strong, confident reader. We also have STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) bags, Bonnie Bell Book bags, and Ozobots that provide books, games, activities and instructions designed for hands-on learning.
Our large collection of nonfiction DVDs are a great way to take a break from the computer but still learn something new. We have something for every age and interest including: Baby Van Gogh World of Colors, School House Rock, World Geography for Grades 5-8, History of Rome, The Roosevelts, WWII, The Civil War, U.S. Constitution, Planet Earth and Human Anatomy. We also have several choices for teaching your children sign language and our selection of exercise videos are a great way to make sure kids are getting some physical education time at home.
Music is important for learning and we can help with that as well. Not only do we have a wide selection of music books for teaching everything from piano to electric guitar, but if you are 18-years or older you can check out one of our five ukuleles and start learning how to play from home with our free online classes through Lynda.com.
And of course we offer books. For art class there is Martha Stewart’s “Crafts for Kids.” and for history, try Joy Hakim’s award winning book “A History of the US from Colonies to Country.” “Bedtime Math,” by Laura Overdeck, is a fun excuse to stay up late, and for lunch try “Chemistry You Can Chomp,” by Jessie Alkire, to learn chemistry and cooking all from one book.
If you’re still searching for homeschooling help, check out some of the new books that just arrived at the library like “Home Learning Year by Year,” by Rebecca Rupp, and “Homeschooling and Working While Shaping Amazing Learners,” by L.M. Preston. You can also use the Libby app or visit the Washington Anytime Library to check out one of the many eBooks we have available on homeschooling.
Still need some extra help? Albion branch manager Amy Ferguson offers free online tutoring for K-12 students via Zoom every Tuesday afternoon. Contact her at albion@whitco.lib.wa.us for more information.
We are all in this together, and Whitman County Library is here to answer questions, offer free Wi-Fi and public computers and as always recommend a good read. For more information, please contact the library (509) 397-4366, visit our website at www.whitco.lib.wa.us, like the library on Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel to catch upcoming videos on all the library has to offer.
Rachelle Marshall is a reference and circulation desk assistant for Whitman County Library.
