@ Your Library
Whew! The summer is flying by. Next week’s column will include information about our fall programming and school will be about to start. Visit the library this next week and stock up for Labor day weekend reading and especially if you have children books for bedtime reading. Spend some time this week preparing your children to head back to school by reading each day, moving bedtime closer to school year bedtime and generally thinking about how to make the year successful for all involved.
There are some marvelous back to school titles to help ease nerves about heading to school whether for the first time or the last. A new title this year is Ready for Kindergarten by Bethany Freitas features lots of kids getting ready for their first day. Derrick Barnes has written both The King of Kindergarten and The Queen of Kindergarten about kids ready for a great school year. Pirate fans will enjoy either Kindergarrrten Bus by Mike Ornstein or The Pirate of Kindergarten by George Ella Lyon.
Adults who both long for the kids to be back in school and pine for their own school days might appreciate The St. Ambrose School for Girls by Jessica Ward or Jenny Colgan’s series about the school by the sea in Welcome to the School by the Sea, Rules at the School by the Sea or Lessons at the School by the Sea.
Upper elementary students who want to liven up their school year might find Frindle by Andrew Clements or any of his thought-provoking, yet funny titles about school like Lunch Money or Extra Credit. Or imagine life in Spy School by Stuart Gibbs (or one of the many sequels like Spy School Goes South). If your kids want more stories about school, stop in and talk to us, don’t be surprised that we have hundreds of titles that take place at school, where much of their life is spent.
Get a jump on any additional help your children will need by setting up an account with BrainFuse Help Now. There is a mobile app as well as links via a computer. The Arrowhead Library System provides free access to this tutoring tool. You can set up regularly scheduled assistance or login and get help with troublesome topics your kids encounter. You will need a library card in good standing to access this service free.
Other digital services that may come in handy this year include of course Overdrive and Hoopla for digital ebooks and audiobooks, the ALS (Arrowhead Library System )app to request materials or check on your account. Teens and adults may also find lots of valuable classes on LinkedIn Learning and Mango Languages. Use your library card to access both of these service apps.
Let us know if there are other ways we can help the school year start and continue successfully. We have a variety of learning and/or story kits that can be borrowed as well as lots of books, audiobooks and movies to help with learning.