Balancing School Work

I am mother of two school-aged children and I was not surprised when I came across an article about the importance of parental involvement in school success.   According to a recent study “while both school and family involvement are important; the role of family involvement is stronger when it comes to academic success.”  Family involvement includes prioritizing school and homework as well as a healthy family relationship. For my family, the library plays an important role supporting academic work.

Many schools use the Accelerated Reader program. After you’ve used www.arbookfind.com to find a book for your child, put it on hold at www.kentonlibrary.org.  You can even request to pick up your books at a drive through and pick them quickly on busy days. Having trouble finding an AR book your child will enjoy?  Stop by or call the children’s department at any location and the children’s staff will help you and your child find a book.

Of course we have the books your child needs for research, but you can access a wealth of resources from your home computer with your library card at www.kentonlibrary.org.    At our house, we’ve used Culture Grams Kids for country reports, watched volcanoes erupting on Grolier Encyclopedia and found an in depth explanation on Access Science.  Someday, I’m sure we’ll use the test prep on Learning Express.  These quality resources are accurate and reliable and a great way to teach your children that research does not begin and end with a search engine. Every time I go to our website, I find a new way to use those databases!

Finally, research shows that children who see their parents reading for pleasure develop into stronger readers themselves. Make sure you are finding book, ebooks and magazines that will keep you reading too!

How are you prioritizing school in your household?

Ms. Amy’s daughter hard at work!

This post was written by Amy Schardein, Covington Library Children’s Librarian