Teaching Tuesday

We have a large home schooling population in our area (including, off and on, our household), as well as many parents who just want/need something extra for their kids in one area or the other. When I first started working at this library, our educational materials were limited to one small section of shelves, non-checkout, and mostly consisted of very old books about educational theory and library skills.

The section now contains almost 1,000 items, ranging from unit studies and worksheets to microscopes and math manipulatives. All of it can be checked out, by anyone. It takes up both sides of one range of shelves, but I find it is still a section many parents are unaware of: so, each Tuesday, I am going to try to highlight something we have available there. Not a review so much as a, "Hey, did you know we have this?"

This first week, I actually want to point out some items in the adult collection:

We had a few of these already, but recently were able to purchase dozens more, on topics from science and history to photography and natural healing. Some include workbooks, like the set above, and some do not. All are DVDs of actual college-level courses on the given topic - not just videotapes of lectures.

Here is a link to the above series, on the company's web site. As you can see, they are crazy-expensive, and even on sale they are not in most home schooling family's budget. I am excited that we will soon (they are in the cataloging process) have these to offer, and I can't take any credit for it - thank our awesome Systems Admin person for spotting the sale and making the purchase! They are/will be shelved in the adult nonfiction in their regular Dewey area - so, the series on Early American History, for example, will be somewhere around the 973 call number.

I know the high school years are a time many home schooling parents approach with trepidation. There are so many possible subject areas, and the years of being several steps ahead of your child have faded. These should give parents the opportunity to invite an expert into their home to offer instruction, while still being able to tailor to their own schedules and needs. Of course, adults will enjoy the chance to explore the varied topics as well! Have fun with them!