Thursday, August 13, 2009

Back to School! These resources may be helpful for the whole year

With the approaching end of August comes the daily march back to school! To help prepare, Maryland AskUsNow! has come up with some resources that touch upon three big “Back to School” topics:

    1. Dealing with the anxiety of the first day of school (new school, new teacher)--
    2. Tips for finding those typical supplies (on a budget)
    3. Some resources for homework help that include:
      a. Atlases and Maps
      b. Grammar
      c. Math
      d. Science
      e. General Homework Help Resources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
1. Getting ready for that first day “butterflies in the tummy” feeling: Here are some sites to help you and/or your child with mental and emotional preparation for the new school year.

The National Mental Health of America offers a “Back to School Factsheet” with tips about helping reduce anxiety for that first day. Once you are on the home page, just type in "back to school anxiety" in the search box (and press enter).

KidsHealth/TeensHealth is another site that gives supportive advice.

Back to school preparation is a good opportunity to get organized, to start the year off with a homework plan of action (which also helps to reduce stress!). KidsHealth/TeensHealth’s page on “How to Make Homework Less Work.”

2. Having your school supplies ready without breaking your budget are other ways to get organized for the new school year:

The site “Great Schools” is for parents, and it offers a “back to school” section that includes a common supply list (which checkboxes) online at:
“Organized Home” focuses upon getting those supplies on a budget:

3. Homework Help resources are like your favorite tools in your toolbox! The following feature the most common topics needed:

a. Atlases and Maps

i. National Geographic offers printable atlases at:



ii. A list of maps and other geography tools are found on Kids' Turn Central, at:


iii. Thinkfinity includes additional links to maps and atlases:



iv. To calculate distances and to find latitude/longitudes, InfoPlease offers an easy way on their Homework Center area at:


b. Grammar

i. FunBrain organizes grammar help by “Beginner” and “Advanced.” It’s part of the Family Education Network’s area called “Grammar Gorillas.” See:


ii. Simple explanations of parts of speech and other grammar help is found through Scholastic’s site:


iii. InfoPlease organizes grammar help through levels, beginner to advanced:


iv. The Capital Community College Foundation provides an online “Guide to Grammar and Punctuation” with help for writing research and essay papers, too:


c. Math

i. A+ Math gives basic arithmetic/math help. It also lets you enter your problem to double check the result:


ii. Math.com organizes help from basic math to advanced topics (see left navigation area):


iii. InfoPlease offers math help, but also information about the history of mathematics and a biography of mathematicians:


iv. Webmath gives help from elementary to college level math, and shows how the result is obtained (very useful for double checking):

v. A site devoted to algebra, called “Algebra Homework Help,” from People’s Math:

http://www.algebra.com/

vi. Purple Math (especially for Algebra):

http://www.purplemath.com/


d. Science

i. Chemical Elements, an interactive site featuring the Periodic Table of the Elements, is found at:


ii. Need to know about the human body? Homework Spot offers information at:

iii. Homework Spot also provides science resources for elementary, middle, and high school grade levels. See the left side navigation for grade levels, then click on “Science” to see choose the type of science you need help on:

iv. FactMonster’s science area is found on their Homework Help area, and offers science information for school-aged children at:


v. AP Biology (high school level) help from MIT’s open source area:


vi. Rader’s site offers various science help –

    1. Chem4Kids is found at:
    2. Biology4Kids, at:
    3. Geography4Kids, online at:
vii. The Physics Classroom offers an online tutorial as a way to learn this fascinating subject:


e. General Homework Help Resources (Ready Reference, such as dictionaries, online calculators, encyclopedias)

i. Many libraries list homework help resources on their teens’ and kids’ pages. The Baltimore County Public Library offers links to freely available online resources at:


Databases are another important resource for homework help; ask your librarian for more information about how to access and use these.

ii. Maryland Public Library’s Sailor has a list of homework help resources online at:


iii. Homework Spot organizes help by grade level, and then by subject. See the left navigation area:

iv. FactMonster provides a Back to School resource area:


v. InfoPlease gives general homework help resources, including chemistry conversion help, math flashcards, and an easy to use “what happened on this day” history tool, at:


vi. MIT offers Open Course Ware, for learners who would like to brush up or continue their education (no degree offered, but this is freely available). Parents can learn along with their children!

vii. And of course! Maryland AskUsNow! is an important resource when you need help finding information or library materials We’re here 24/7!

We hope you find these resources helpful! And welcome back to school - It's going to be a good year!

Submitted by: Cathay Crosby
August 13, 2009
Maryland AskUsNow!

posted by Librarian in Cyberspace at 11:47 AM

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