Stop by the Children's Department and check out the new Homeschool Resource Center behind the circulation desk! Whether your child is homeschooled, hybrid, public or private; you're sure to find a plethora of resources to enhance their curiosity, wonder and knowledge.
Want to explore the world around you? Check out the Microscope Set (complete with slides, specimen slicer, a Petri dish, and more). Doing a unit study on space? Connect your phone to the Telescope and use the Bluetooth remote to take pictures of the moon (bonus: set it up during the day to watch animals in the field). Struggling to make sense of chemistry? The Molecular Organic Chemistry Kit shows you how to construct everything from ethanol to glucose to caffeine molecules.
Help littles practice sight word identification with fun games like Sight Word Bingo and Swat a Sight Word. Math concepts become easier to visualize with the help of Base 10 Blocks, Magnetic 10-Frame, and Math Link Cubes.
Magic Practice Copybooks with grooved pages and disappearing ink pens are the perfect way to practice writing numbers and letters. Spell words with Magnetic Letters and Phonics Dominoes.
Explore different homeschooling approaches with new books, including Wild + Free, Unschooling, Charlotte Mason, Classical and Montessori.
"As someone who was homeschooled pre-K-High School, and is now a homeschool mom, I've been able to have a lot of conversations with homeschooling parents and grandparents in our community," says Sarah Morbitzer, Children's Department Head. "Some may choose to homeschool short-term due to bully issues, learning challenges, or Covid. Others are planning to homeschool for the elementary years or all the way through high school graduation. In addition, there are many parents who assist their children with homework and e-learning or who want to enrich their children's learning during the summer breaks. For all these families, we want to provide them with the tools and books that will make learning fun and meaningful. Children who are engaged are retaining information. Even more importantly, they are establishing a love of learning, which will hopefully grow into a lifelong habit of self-motivated exploration. Learning manipulatives can really start to add up so we're hoping the Homeschool Resource Center will help families financially by enabling them to borrow instead of buy."
The Children's Department reminds patrons that they are invited to go behind the circulation desk to browse the Homeschool, Parenting, Spanish, and Vision resources located there. "We want patrons to freely come and go in this space. Staff work there but it is definitely a patron space as well. We want to see more of our patrons back there checking out all the cool things we have!" says Morbitzer.
Want to explore the world around you? Check out the Microscope Set (complete with slides, specimen slicer, a Petri dish, and more). Doing a unit study on space? Connect your phone to the Telescope and use the Bluetooth remote to take pictures of the moon (bonus: set it up during the day to watch animals in the field). Struggling to make sense of chemistry? The Molecular Organic Chemistry Kit shows you how to construct everything from ethanol to glucose to caffeine molecules.
Help littles practice sight word identification with fun games like Sight Word Bingo and Swat a Sight Word. Math concepts become easier to visualize with the help of Base 10 Blocks, Magnetic 10-Frame, and Math Link Cubes.
Magic Practice Copybooks with grooved pages and disappearing ink pens are the perfect way to practice writing numbers and letters. Spell words with Magnetic Letters and Phonics Dominoes.
Explore different homeschooling approaches with new books, including Wild + Free, Unschooling, Charlotte Mason, Classical and Montessori.
"As someone who was homeschooled pre-K-High School, and is now a homeschool mom, I've been able to have a lot of conversations with homeschooling parents and grandparents in our community," says Sarah Morbitzer, Children's Department Head. "Some may choose to homeschool short-term due to bully issues, learning challenges, or Covid. Others are planning to homeschool for the elementary years or all the way through high school graduation. In addition, there are many parents who assist their children with homework and e-learning or who want to enrich their children's learning during the summer breaks. For all these families, we want to provide them with the tools and books that will make learning fun and meaningful. Children who are engaged are retaining information. Even more importantly, they are establishing a love of learning, which will hopefully grow into a lifelong habit of self-motivated exploration. Learning manipulatives can really start to add up so we're hoping the Homeschool Resource Center will help families financially by enabling them to borrow instead of buy."
The Children's Department reminds patrons that they are invited to go behind the circulation desk to browse the Homeschool, Parenting, Spanish, and Vision resources located there. "We want patrons to freely come and go in this space. Staff work there but it is definitely a patron space as well. We want to see more of our patrons back there checking out all the cool things we have!" says Morbitzer.
HOMESCHOOL RESOURCE CENTER COLLECTION
Base Ten Blocks - Perfect for kids who are just beginning math with double digits. Can be used to teach kids volume, place value and number concepts for early counting math.
Beginner Microscope Set - Beginner compound microscope provides high magnification for educational applications Monocular viewing head with LED and mirror illumination and built-in color filter wheel. Field View: Widefield, Stage: Single-layer Stage with Clips Forward-facing rotating turret provides 120x, 240x, 300x, 480x, 600x, and 1200x magnifications Coaxial coarse focus has a rack-and-pinion focus mechanism on a durable and stain-resistant white metal frame Comes with 52-piece accessory kit and hard-sided plastic ABS case
Bucket Balance Scale & Weights -
BUCKET BALANCE SCALE: Explore volume and compare solids and liquids with this sturdy bucket balance
LEARN & GROW: Build observation and estimation skills while gaining a deeper understanding of mass measurement
BALANCE SCALE: Calibrated clear buckets with removable lids hold solids or up to 400 ml of liquid and allow students to see what’s inside
EASY STORAGE & CLEANUP: Set includes bucket balance with storage drawer, 2 removable easy-pour buckets, and 2 lids
Classroom Magnetic Letters - With this magnetic letters kit, it’s easy for the students to practice alphabet skills…on any magnetic surface! It completely satisfies the spelling needs of all common words and sentences. Very useful for teaching phonics and CVC or CCVC words. The vowels in red and consonants in blue are convenient for children to learn pronunciation and grammar.
CVC Word Game - This maze wooden block spelling word toy game can greatly stimulate children's interest in learning words, and cultivate children's concentration and patience. Practicing children's hand-eye coordination. After using it proficiently, or for older children, you can also practice initial strategic thinking, that is, how to spell words more quickly and successfully.
Days of the Week & Weather Wall Calendar - Children will love using this colorful, cheerful calendar every day! Hang it on the Classroom, Children's Room or living room and go through the routine every day. This will prepare them for kindergarten!
Magic Practice Copybooks Kit - During practice activities, kids can use their magic pencils to follow grooved paths and draw different shapes, which will help them improve their motor skills. It will engage their minds and boost their reading and writing comprehension skills. Handwriting practice copybooks can help children to practice writing different fonts, or sharpen their handwriting. The special magic pen will fade after 8 minutes and disappear completely after about an hour when tracing the text and image path and can be reused over again. This is great for repeated practice. The pigment of the ink refill is extracted from plants, so it is safe for children.
Magnetic Fraction Tiles & Circles - 10 colors represent 10 values of fractions. Bright and different colors helps kids distinguish and memorize. Help kids visualize fractions: Includes 9 fraction circles (1 whole, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, 1/6, 1/8, 1/10, and 1/12 values) and 10 fraction strips (1 whole, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, 1/6, 1/10, 1/12, and 1/16 values).
Magnetic Ten-Frame Set - Math Skill Development: This set of magnetic ten frames is ideal for teaching numbers, addition, subtraction, counting, number bonds, doubling, halving and multiplication. Give students a fun new way to explore number sense, and place value.
Math Link Cubes Kit -
SKILL DEVELOPMENT: Math skills (one-to-one correspondence, counting to 100, skip counting, Comparison, Making 10, Nonstandardized measurements, Grouping, Addition, Subtraction, Graphing), Color identification, Shape identification, Patterning, Matching, Fine motor skills, Eye-hand coordination, Motor planning
SCHOOL READINESS: Promote school readiness with activities that support math skills including counting, addition, and subtraction. Great for homeschool or classroom activity!
EASY DESIGN: Cubes easily snap together on all sides of each cube with geometric shape cutouts for more complex patterning activities
Molecular Kit: Organic Chemistry - 239 pieces, instruction guide, bond removal tool, molecular stencil 30 Hydrogen, 15 Carbon, 10 Oxygen, 4 Nitrogen, 4 Sulphur, 5 Phosphorus, 2 Fluorine, 8 Chlorine, 2 Bromine, 2 Iodine, 2 Boron, 2 Metal, 25 long connectors, 60 medium connectors, 60 short connectors, 8 V Bonds
Pattern Blocks - With 6 different shapes and colors, Pattern Blocks offer endless creative possibilities. Children can create flowers, cars, bugs and whatever else they imagine. In addition, use these math manipulatives to demonstrate math concepts such as: symmetry, fractions, measurement and shape attributes.
Phonics Dominoes Blends and Digraphs - Educational Insights Blends and Digraphs Phonics Dominoes emphasizes beginning consonant blends and digraphs, word building, and spelling patterns. The phonics fun (and learning) stacks up with these colorful dominoes. Dominoes are printed with high-utility consonants (s, m, t, etc.) and important phonograms (word families), so kids can put together hundreds of words.
Portable Astronomical Telescope - This refractor telescope is for observing animals during the day or viewing planets with a moon filter at night. It is a good telescope for adults, kids and astronomy beginners to explore the mysteries of nature. Our telescope is equipped with a phone adapter. Just install your mobile phone on the phone adapter, connect to the the eyepieces of the telescope, and use the wireless remote (included) to take the photos, which is convenient and fast. You can take clear and bright pictures easily!
Sentence Building Dominoes - Visual and tactile learning for sentence building practice! Includes 114 double-sided, color-coded dominoes (228 words and punctuation marks) Features nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and punctuation marks.
Sight Word Bingo (Level 1 & 2) - Practice reading 46 words, increase vocabulary and word recognition, build reading and spelling skills while having fun!
Swat a Sight Word Game - Build reading, spelling and vocabulary skills through playful competition with up to 4 players. The element of speed promotes confidence and fluency in reading. A fun way to reinforce sight word learning. Encourage kids to discover the 224 most commonly used sight words with this fun and fast-paced game. Specially designed to teach the top Dolch sight words, sight word swat challenges kids to see, swat, and learn! They’ll think they’re just playing, but parents and teachers will know they’re actually learning.
Time Activity Set -
SKILL DEVELOPMENT: Telling time, Time matching (analog and digital), Writing time (analog and digital), Problem solving, Fine motor skills, Self-help
LEARN to identify the hour and minute hands, learn the difference between analog and digital time, identify time to the hour, half hour, and more! A hands-on activity kit that turns Learning into a game
Beginner Microscope Set - Beginner compound microscope provides high magnification for educational applications Monocular viewing head with LED and mirror illumination and built-in color filter wheel. Field View: Widefield, Stage: Single-layer Stage with Clips Forward-facing rotating turret provides 120x, 240x, 300x, 480x, 600x, and 1200x magnifications Coaxial coarse focus has a rack-and-pinion focus mechanism on a durable and stain-resistant white metal frame Comes with 52-piece accessory kit and hard-sided plastic ABS case
Bucket Balance Scale & Weights -
BUCKET BALANCE SCALE: Explore volume and compare solids and liquids with this sturdy bucket balance
LEARN & GROW: Build observation and estimation skills while gaining a deeper understanding of mass measurement
BALANCE SCALE: Calibrated clear buckets with removable lids hold solids or up to 400 ml of liquid and allow students to see what’s inside
EASY STORAGE & CLEANUP: Set includes bucket balance with storage drawer, 2 removable easy-pour buckets, and 2 lids
Classroom Magnetic Letters - With this magnetic letters kit, it’s easy for the students to practice alphabet skills…on any magnetic surface! It completely satisfies the spelling needs of all common words and sentences. Very useful for teaching phonics and CVC or CCVC words. The vowels in red and consonants in blue are convenient for children to learn pronunciation and grammar.
CVC Word Game - This maze wooden block spelling word toy game can greatly stimulate children's interest in learning words, and cultivate children's concentration and patience. Practicing children's hand-eye coordination. After using it proficiently, or for older children, you can also practice initial strategic thinking, that is, how to spell words more quickly and successfully.
Days of the Week & Weather Wall Calendar - Children will love using this colorful, cheerful calendar every day! Hang it on the Classroom, Children's Room or living room and go through the routine every day. This will prepare them for kindergarten!
Magic Practice Copybooks Kit - During practice activities, kids can use their magic pencils to follow grooved paths and draw different shapes, which will help them improve their motor skills. It will engage their minds and boost their reading and writing comprehension skills. Handwriting practice copybooks can help children to practice writing different fonts, or sharpen their handwriting. The special magic pen will fade after 8 minutes and disappear completely after about an hour when tracing the text and image path and can be reused over again. This is great for repeated practice. The pigment of the ink refill is extracted from plants, so it is safe for children.
Magnetic Fraction Tiles & Circles - 10 colors represent 10 values of fractions. Bright and different colors helps kids distinguish and memorize. Help kids visualize fractions: Includes 9 fraction circles (1 whole, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, 1/6, 1/8, 1/10, and 1/12 values) and 10 fraction strips (1 whole, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, 1/6, 1/10, 1/12, and 1/16 values).
Magnetic Ten-Frame Set - Math Skill Development: This set of magnetic ten frames is ideal for teaching numbers, addition, subtraction, counting, number bonds, doubling, halving and multiplication. Give students a fun new way to explore number sense, and place value.
Math Link Cubes Kit -
SKILL DEVELOPMENT: Math skills (one-to-one correspondence, counting to 100, skip counting, Comparison, Making 10, Nonstandardized measurements, Grouping, Addition, Subtraction, Graphing), Color identification, Shape identification, Patterning, Matching, Fine motor skills, Eye-hand coordination, Motor planning
SCHOOL READINESS: Promote school readiness with activities that support math skills including counting, addition, and subtraction. Great for homeschool or classroom activity!
EASY DESIGN: Cubes easily snap together on all sides of each cube with geometric shape cutouts for more complex patterning activities
Molecular Kit: Organic Chemistry - 239 pieces, instruction guide, bond removal tool, molecular stencil 30 Hydrogen, 15 Carbon, 10 Oxygen, 4 Nitrogen, 4 Sulphur, 5 Phosphorus, 2 Fluorine, 8 Chlorine, 2 Bromine, 2 Iodine, 2 Boron, 2 Metal, 25 long connectors, 60 medium connectors, 60 short connectors, 8 V Bonds
Pattern Blocks - With 6 different shapes and colors, Pattern Blocks offer endless creative possibilities. Children can create flowers, cars, bugs and whatever else they imagine. In addition, use these math manipulatives to demonstrate math concepts such as: symmetry, fractions, measurement and shape attributes.
Phonics Dominoes Blends and Digraphs - Educational Insights Blends and Digraphs Phonics Dominoes emphasizes beginning consonant blends and digraphs, word building, and spelling patterns. The phonics fun (and learning) stacks up with these colorful dominoes. Dominoes are printed with high-utility consonants (s, m, t, etc.) and important phonograms (word families), so kids can put together hundreds of words.
Portable Astronomical Telescope - This refractor telescope is for observing animals during the day or viewing planets with a moon filter at night. It is a good telescope for adults, kids and astronomy beginners to explore the mysteries of nature. Our telescope is equipped with a phone adapter. Just install your mobile phone on the phone adapter, connect to the the eyepieces of the telescope, and use the wireless remote (included) to take the photos, which is convenient and fast. You can take clear and bright pictures easily!
Sentence Building Dominoes - Visual and tactile learning for sentence building practice! Includes 114 double-sided, color-coded dominoes (228 words and punctuation marks) Features nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and punctuation marks.
Sight Word Bingo (Level 1 & 2) - Practice reading 46 words, increase vocabulary and word recognition, build reading and spelling skills while having fun!
Swat a Sight Word Game - Build reading, spelling and vocabulary skills through playful competition with up to 4 players. The element of speed promotes confidence and fluency in reading. A fun way to reinforce sight word learning. Encourage kids to discover the 224 most commonly used sight words with this fun and fast-paced game. Specially designed to teach the top Dolch sight words, sight word swat challenges kids to see, swat, and learn! They’ll think they’re just playing, but parents and teachers will know they’re actually learning.
Time Activity Set -
SKILL DEVELOPMENT: Telling time, Time matching (analog and digital), Writing time (analog and digital), Problem solving, Fine motor skills, Self-help
LEARN to identify the hour and minute hands, learn the difference between analog and digital time, identify time to the hour, half hour, and more! A hands-on activity kit that turns Learning into a game