Getting Ready for School

The sun is setting a little earlier every day; cicadas and crickets are chirping louder at night; paper, pencils and backpacks are appearing in stores.  The signs are all there - it's back to school time!  Be sure to add a visit to the library to your to-do list as you prepare for this important time of year. 

Back to School Night Tips

Many schools in the area are scheduling "Back to School Nights" for their families. This is a great opportunity for parents and caregivers to meet teachers and school staff as well as other families. Reading Rockets offers these tips for other things to look for on Back to School Night.

It's Back-to-School Time!

Help your children adust to going back to school with some books from the library! Check out our Going to School Booklist for titles for a variety of ages.

Back to School Worries

Parents, are you a little anxious about back to school time? Are you worried about what your child will experience while out of your care all day? Do you have a child starting school for the first time? Check out Clayton Early Learning Center's blog for a great post about back to school parenting.

Looking for books about going back to school? Check out our booklist.

Amy Hodgepodge Has Arrived!

Amy Hodgepodge is a new series by Kevin and Kim Wayans. The series features a fourth grade girl, formerly homeschooled, who is attending a "real" school for the first time! Read along as she learns to navigate friendships, teachers and life in general. You will meet her friends, her twin brother and Giggles, her dog! Amy is endearing and adorable ~ stop in your library today and get started on book one in this series!

School Reading Lists

Does your school have a list of titles for summer reading? Send it to us, and we'll post it on our School Reading Lists page! This page also has links to local schools' Accelerated Reader, Lexile, and Reading Counts lists and the Indiana Department of Education Reading Lists.

If you liked Diary of a Wimpy Kid...

Try the Popularity Papers. Ignatow's hilarious scrapbook-style debut novel follows two best friends on their quest for popularity in junior high. As the girls write their own story, their friendship evolves in touching and relatable ways.The story is told in a notebook format, this heavily illustrated title shows their research in dramatic handwritten entries and colorful, funny drawings.

Lesson Pathways

Are you looking for a great place to find free lesson plans? Check out Lesson Pathways. I just took the site tour and was amazed. It is FREE to use the site, but you do have to sign up for an account. If you try it, let us know what you think.

Very Busy Bees

From sunup to sundown, "extra busy" children have an endless supply of energy and remain on the move throughout the day. Ants in Their Pants offers successful and tested techniques to help caregivers, educators, and parents provide the best support to active learners so they can thrive in the classroom and at home. These ideas—from a teacher of both special and general education who is a parent of an extra busy child—provide information on how to help extra busy children use their energy to learn while helping teacher understand children who need to move.
Aerial Cross, MA, holds a master's degree in special education and has over ten years of experience as an educator in both general and special education classrooms.

FWCS Kindergarten Orientation

Each elementary school in Fort Wayne Community Schools will have an orientation for all kindergarten students on Wednesday, April 21.
Children who sill be 5 years old by August 1, 2010, are eligible to attend kindergarten. To find out which school your child may attend, call Fort Wayne Community Schools' Student Services at 467-2120.

Have You Heard of INSPIRE?

If you are a resident of Indiana and have Internet service, then you need to know about INSPIRE.


INSPIRE, a service of the Indiana State Library, brings magazine articles, encyclopedias, photos, almanacs, biographies, and much more right to your computer screen.

Families with children will want to be especially aware of these databases:

Kids Search, a child-friendly database for kids to find information for reports and school projects.



Indiana Memory, a treasure trove of historical documents related to the culture and history of Indiana.



What Tree is That?, an online guide to identifying trees.



INSPIRE can be found at http://www.inspire.in.gov/. Check it out today!

OnTrack Mini-Magazines

Looking for grade-appropriate ways to help your child with his or her schoolwork, based on the Indiana Academic Standards? The Indiana Department of Education and the Indiana Commission for Higher Education have teamed up to publish OnTrack Mini-Magazines for students and their parents/guardians, available online.

Click on the links below to access the booklets in English or Spanish.
Kindergarten: English | Spanish
First Grade: English | Spanish
Second Grade: English | Spanish
Third Grade: English | Spanish
Fourth Grade: English | Spanish
Fifth Grade: English | Spanish
(Booklets are in PDF format and require Adobe Acrobat Reader to open. Click here to download Adobe Acrobat Reader for free).

You can also find these links, and many more helpful resources, on our website! Check out our Parenting Resources
and
Curriculum Resources
for more great information on child development, services for families, reading with children, and more!

It's Back to School Time!

Looking for some great books to read with your child to help them as they begin preschool or kindergarten? We have plenty to offer! You might want to try...


Wow! School!
by Robert Neubecker









or...

Kindergarten Rocks!
by Katie Davis









Need more ideas? Feel free to browse through our Back to School Booklist, or call us in Children's Services at 260-421-1220, or even fill out a Custom Collection Form.