As we usher in the month of August, families, teachers, and students are preparing for the new school year. Students of all ages face the pressure of going back to school, studying for their classes, and completing their assigned homework. No matter the age group and grade levels, elementary school, middle school, high school, or even college and university students will turn to numerous types of sources to complete homework assignments in all sorts of subjects, including science, social studies, grammar, and math among many others. Parents may also need to locate sources to review school material not seen since their own childhood to better assist their children with their schoolwork.
St. Tammany Parish Library offers a variety of online tools available to help students with homework in any subject. Some of our online sources and databases specialize in specific subjects or types of homework tasks. Others are well-rounded sites that can assist with a wide variety of homework subjects. Below are several sources of homework assistance available through the St. Tammany Parish Library:
Homework Louisiana
Homework Louisiana, opens a new window is a one-stop site where users can get assistance with a variety of homework tasks. Users can connect with tutors online seven days a week for a variety of topics and age groups, including elementary grade levels, middle school, high school, and even early college level. Students can ask questions through the online interaction with tutors and even drop off a math question or an essay. In addition, Homework Louisiana provides test preparation services for standardized tests, including SAT, ACT, HiSET, GED, and even AP tests. To access the sources available through Homework Louisiana, students need to create a free account through the website in addition to having a St. Tammany Parish Library card.
Learning Express Library
Learning Express Library, opens a new window provides numerous tutorials, articles, and practice sessions for older students, with many sources focusing on high school and college subjects. This online source provides lessons for high school students not only for improving their skills in various subjects but also for preparing for standardized tests such as the SAT and ACT. High school and college students can learn core skills for being successful students, including tips for how to effectively take notes and organize their schedules. Even adults wishing to return to school or get into a college can find useful information through the High School Equivalency Center including reviews of core subjects. Outside of school subjects, Learning Express Library also provides information about career preparation and even lessons on using computers. Like with Homework Louisiana, students need a library card to access the site and must create a free account through the website to access the various materials available.
ABCmouse
ABCmouse is designed to provide a strong foundation of core concepts in academics at an early age. Including over 10,000 learning activities, ABCmouse is ideal for young learners, including pre-K learners to practice concepts in school. Subjects covered with these activities include math, reading, science, social science, art, and music. In addition, many activities are also available in Spanish. In addition, users can save their progress when using ABCmouse, allowing parents to monitor their children's progress with their learning and practice activities.
To use ABCmouse, you will need to create an account. Enter Louisiana for state, St. Tammany Parish Library for your library, and your library card number. You will then need to provide an email address and password for signing into ABCmouse to finish creating your account. Once you have an account made, up to three children can use the same account, each with their own profile, avatar, and tracking of their progress.
Educate Station
Educate Station is a source for parents and educators of pre-K through second-grade level children. This online source contains numerous learning plans and worksheets for these grade levels. The weekly learning plans provide learning goals and activities by week aligned to topics designed for children at that level. In addition, the worksheets provide opportunities for students to practice their skills. The learning plans and worksheets are searchable not only by week but also by subjects, allowing users to mix and match lessons and topics to best fit their children's learning needs in the moment. Users need a St. Tammany Parish Library card to access Educate Station and its numerous options for early grade level education.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy, opens a new window is a free online source that provides lessons on a wide variety of topics. Khan Academy provides video lessons for numerous course subjects at a variety of grade levels, ranging from elementary grade levels all the way up to early college-level courses. In addition, Khan Academy provides exercises and quizzes for each lesson, allowing students to practice the material covered. Parents may also find this source useful as a means to review material their children are covering in their classes. Outside of schoolwork, Khan Academy also provides numerous courses on technology, including how to use common computer programs, browse safely online, and work their smartphones, whether iPhone or Android. Users can create a free account to keep track of their progress if they wish, but anyone can access this online resource, even without a library card.
National Geographic Kids
National Geographic Kids is a series of books and a magazine series from National Geographic aimed for kids to provide information about the sciences and social sciences, including nature, space, culture, and archaeology among others. Many of these books and magazines are available in print in the St. Tammany Parish Library. In addition, Gale provides digital access to a number of National Geographic's children's publications through National Geographic Kids. This online source provides digital access to full National Geographic Kids magazine issues, books, videos, and images for children to make learning easily accessible. In addition, users can print copies of the publications for their schoolwork. Best for students ages 7-14, the National Geographic Kids database is an excellent resource for school students looking for sources for science and social science projects.
Fact Monster Reference Help
Fact Monster Reference Help, opens a new window features answers for various homework subjects for a number of student grade levels. This online resource provides answers and reviews for topics in math, science, social studies, language arts, among many others at several grade levels. In addition, this source features games and quizzes designed to help with various topics and even work on other useful skills. This online resource is free for anyone to use, even without a library card.
Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
For upper grade students, including college and university students, chances are you will have to write research papers for your courses. Two important aspects of putting together research papers is proper formatting and citations. The Online Writing Lab, opens a new window from Purdue University is a free source that covers many of the commonly used formats for term papers. Common formats include MLA, APA, and Chicago (and by extension Turabian) among others. These formats determine how you should format your research paper in addition to how to properly cite your sources, both within the body of the paper and for a Works Cited or Bibliography page at the end. The citation format you need depends on the subject and what your instructor requires. Users do not need a library card to access this citation and term paper formatting source.
The above listed sources are only a few of the homework related resources available through St. Tammany Parish Library. Some sources apply to early learners, even Pre-K learners with materials that work for them. For example, BookFlix thematically pairs animated stories with nonfiction ebooks for early learners, and Just for Kids Access Video on Demand provides educational videos for young children with familiar characters, including Sesame Street characters, Arthur, Franklin, and The Berenstain Bears to name a few. Other sources focus on certain topics and even projects. When it is time for the science fair, Science Buddies, opens a new window provides numerous ideas for science fair projects. In addition, World Book provides numerous types of sources focusing on certain age groups and topics. To access any of these databases, visit the library's website, opens a new window and go to the Online Library tab to look for these online sources. Many are sorted into different topics, including the Homework Help page which includes many of the sources listed here. If you need assistance finding a source that best fits your schoolwork needs, ask a librarian for assistance.
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