I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to admit: I’m over summer. I’m over 90 degree weather and sweating and bringing little treats with me to work that melt by the time I pull into the parking lot. Unfortunately for me (but maybe fortunately for you), back to school is still a month away, but it’s never too early to get back to one of the best resources we youth services staff have available: Tutor.com.
You’re all probably familiar with how much Tutor.com has to offer, but one of the best things about it is how easily we can incorporate elements from it into our physical library space. Sure, if a student needs help with organic chemistry and calculating a molecule’s half-life and a third example I don’t have the science knowledge to come up with, I’ll give them a hearty pat on the head, set them down on a computer, and wish them luck. But for so many other topics that we can expect on a regular basis, Tutor.com makes it so easy to prepare ourselves with resources.
For example, early in the school year, you could print out worksheets and tips on writing skills to help provide a refresher as students readjust to their academic grind, or easily lead younger students to flashcards practicing multiplication tables.
There are also great ways to link Tutor.com’s resources with your collection, especially for promoting early literacy skills. You could easily print out worksheets and display them near your early readers, so anyone just starting to read can get some some extra (and free!) practice. You can even use the skills covered in each worksheet and, without much effort at all, get a solid early literacy lesson into every storytime: there’s a worksheet on clapping out syllables, so you can clap out syllables in storytime.
Having the information readily available makes it so easy to connect important skills to your collection and programming.
-Jaime, Penn Hills Library
