Back to Homework: A Survival Guide

Back to school means back to homework. Back to the joy of sitting down with your child and scouring your brain for remnants of algebra or grammar. Because ALL parents love that. Especially after a day at work.

But fear not, there is another way. In fact, more than one. We have lots of free resources to help your family start the school year off right.  

Real-time online tutoring

If your child needs last-minute coaching for an assignment, or just wants some extra tutoring to stay on top of your work, we can help. Brainfuse is a new service that connects students with free online tutors in real time. Tutors are available to live-chat between 3:00pm and 12:00am. Students can also:

• Upload papers to get feedback on voice, grammar and organization,
• Find and take targeted lessons and quizzes, and
• Explore careers that match their interests.

In-person student support programs

If you’d rather have your kids work face-to-face with a tutor, many of our locations offer Homework Help programs, where volunteer tutors are available to help students in grades 4 to 12 with a variety of subjects.

For children in grades 1 to 3 who are struggling with reading or math, we offer Reading and Math Buddies programs that pair children with high school students. Together, they’ll practice reading through fun books and literacy games, or play numeracy games and complete math sheets.

eResources for students

Our eResources offer homework support when researching essays or reports. Students can access articles from magazines and newspapers, look up topics in our online encyclopedias, or read the latest issues of newspapers from around the world to stay up-to-date on current events. 

We even have a resource called Canadian Points of View Reference Centre that provides information on both sides of controversial topics, with a focus on Canadian sources, politics and law.  French eResources are also available.  Just make sure to have your library card handy – you’ll need it and your RPL PIN to access these services.

Find these programs, eResources and more on our website at reginalibrary.ca.