Homeschoolers Program

Last week we did a program for some of our local homeschoolers. We have an active homeschooling community in our district and we're moving towards offering more programs for them. (Instrumental in my understanding of homeschooling is Adrienne's book Helping Homeschoolers in the Library. If you can get your hands on it, do so! Also check out her blog Homeschooling and Libraries for valuable links.)

We had a fairly large group of kids ranging from kindergarten through 8th grade. We started by giving them a tour of the library. We tried to point out areas that would be helpful to them and since our circulation area recently underwent major construction, we demonstrated the new holds process and self-check machines. The tour lasted just about 30 minutes and then we split into two groups.

The younger group (approximately K-3rd) went with J and had a storytime and a craft project. The older group (approximately 4th-8th grade) went with me and had a demonstration of library databases and booktalks. We were very flexible about which kids went in which group. The only small issue we ran into was having the groups on two different floors. Some parents had kids in each group and were trying to go back and forth to get some of each program. It would have been easier if the rooms were side by side.

For our database program, I had set up a projector with a laptop. I demonstrated searching with the library's catalog (which most, if not all, of them were familiar with). I also demonstrated how to limit a search to the kids' area or to fiction or nonfiction and I demonstrated how to request books through Interlibrary Loan.

I showed them our booklists, including readalike lists, genre lists, and topical lists. Then I demonstrated several of the databases to which we subscribe. In each database, I showed them how to find the link from our website, how to access it from home, and how to search. I showed them World Book Online, Biography Resource Center, CultureGrams, and Student Resource Center. My presentation was about 25 minutes long and by the end we were all getting a little squirrelly. If I did it again, I'd try to make it a little more interactive.

When I had gone through all the databases, I handed out a "scavenger hunt" worksheet. Each question had a note about which database to use to find the answer. I gave them about 20 minutes to go through 8 questions and if they didn't finish I told them they could take it home and finish it.

To end the program, I brought them back into our story room and did about 15 minutes of booktalks. I booktalked the following:

Down Cut Shin Creek by Kathi Appelt
Love That Dog and Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech
Savvy by Ingrid Law
Seaborn by Craig Moodie
Secrets of a Civil War Submarine by Sally Walker
What the World Eats by Peter Menzel

Secrets of a Civil War Submarine was a big hit and that's one of my favorite books to booktalk. Savvy was also snatched up right away, as were the Sharon Creech books.

I was nervous about this program before we did it because I had never worked with this group before and because we were doing a lot. It went absolutely fine. Everyone was super nice and had a good time and I think we were able to give them a lot of valuable information. Homeschoolers are generally huge library users and it was so nice to get to know some of them a little bit more and to provide a program that was useful. I'm certainly looking forward to planning more programs for homeschoolers!

Shelving the Kids

So, a Montessori school teacher calls you up and wants to bring a class of K-3rd graders over for a session on how to use the library. What do you do? Do you run around in a panic and plead for the chickens to come to the rescue? No. You shelve the kids.

We had just such a class come to the library on Friday. It was a small group (11 kids total) and their teachers wanted them to learn how to find books at the library. With such a range in ages, we were striving to find something that all the kids could do and that would actually teach them useful information.

First, we gave them a tour of our department, pointing out things such as the beginning readers section, the DVDs, the audiobooks, the biographies... Then we gathered in our storyroom for a brief section with the computer and projector to show them the lists on our webpage and how to find the call numbers when looking up a book.

Then the piece de resistance... I got the idea from a post on the PUBYAC listserv. We assigned each kid a call number based on something that they were interested in. We added the Cutter numbers based on their last names. Then we either told them to go "shelve" themselves or we took them and "shelved" them (depending on each kid's comfort level with finding the call numbers).

It was the first time we'd tried something like this and I think it was really fun... I don't know how much the kids really learned from it, although some of them definitely at least learned where some interesting books are... The teachers seemed really impressed and I think it was something outside the box that we can tweak and make better. For instance, we didn't really have a plan for once the kids found their call number and were "shelved". And we got several kids who, when asked what they were interested in, said "Pokemon"... and we really don't have anything on Pokemon in the non-fiction section except The Official Pokemon Handbook, both copies of which were checked out.

If/when we do this activity again, here are the changes I'd make:

- I'd do it with a slightly older group if possible. I think the older kids in this group were getting it, but the younger ones needed a lot of help and I don't think they really got it even with all the help.

- Maybe I'd open it up to fiction books as well, or give them the option to be a picture book or a DVD or something if they wanted.

- I'd think of some way to bring the activity to a close... Maybe tell them to find one interesting book in their section and bring it to the tables to look at it or something. Although we'd have to re-shelve the books they take, it would get them back together in one spot so we could take questions or say goodbye or something.

So, yes. You live and learn. We had fun with this one and I'm eager to try it again and see if our "tweaking" makes it even better.