071918 SWB DIGITAL EDITION

14 x July 19 — August 1, 2018 x www.SouthwestOrlandoBulletin.com
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13
and from school or to after-school extracurricular
activities, your time with
your family is precious. Quality family
time is worth every second — take
advantage of it. Look for those opportunities
to talk with your children
about their days at school, asking
them about their “highs and lows.”
Give them your undivided attention
and ask the same of them. Never accept
the one-word answers, but dig
deeper. This will not only allow for
you to know more about your child’s
day, but it will give your child the opportunity
to feel valued and heard.
Remember that the time we have
with our children is limited — make
the best of those treasured moments
by putting down the electronic devices
and connecting with one another.
• Homework Headaches? Let
the Library Help!
by Mira Tanna, Assistant Manager
Technology and Education Center
Orange County Library System
407-835-7323
ocls.info/homework • ocls.info/brainfuse •
online.infobase.com
Your local library offers a wide array
of resources to help kids — and
parents — tackle homework problems.
Any parent who has encountered
their second-grader’s question about
a “10 frame” knows that the way
math is being taught these days is
different from the way we learned it
growing up. Even the easiest math
problems can stump parents, because
they aren’t familiar with the
strategies being used to teach math
under Common Core. Luckily, there
is help available at the nearest public
library or with the click of a mouse.
Many libraries offer access to
databases that can help kids with
science projects, art and music projects,
language learning and more.
Students working on science fair
projects can find a wealth of ideas in
Science Online, a resource available
courtesy of the library. Each section
— biology, chemistry, earth science,
etc. — contains experiments that a
student can conduct at home.
Some libraries offer online homework
help that can connect kids with
resources from home. Library card
holders can log onto the library website,
enter their library card number,
and connect to a certified live tutor.
Students are often more receptive to
help from an online tutor than from
a parent, and parents can feel confident
that the tutor is familiar with the
current approach used in schools to
teach the subject.
The library is still a great place to
do research. Kids will find nonfiction
books at their reading level that
they can use as reputable sources
and public computers to access the
internet. Online databases on a variety
of subjects (such as biography,
opposing viewpoints, research in
context) are searchable by reading
level and make it much easier than a
general online search to locate pertinent
articles. Citations for each article
are formatted to be copied into
a bibliography.
As children become more independent
from their parents, they
can benefit from not only learning
the skills taught in school but from
learning how to acquire knowledge
and skills on their own. Introducing
them to the library can provide that
foundation for lifelong learning that
will benefit them long after they have
graduated from high school.
• The Benefits of a Private,
Christian School Education
by Joseph Cioffi, Director of Marketing &
Communications
Foundation Academy
407-656-3677 • 407-877-2744
foundationacademy.net
A private, Christian school education
is built upon high academic
standards, positive learning environments,
a sense of community, discipline
and Christ-centered values.