Homework Help for Kids (and parents, too!)

  Getting home from work and into homework detail can be trying for parents, but kids often need a little direction with their daily assignments. In an effort to help city kids get their homework done on their own and correctly, the New York Public Library has created a site, www.homeworkNYC.org, which offers academic assistance to students in grades Kindergarten through 12.

This online tutoring service requires merely a quick registration and log-in (via simple questions, such as “What grade are you in?” and ‘Do you have a library card?’ ). After registering, kids have full access to the site’s many services on various subjects: science, math, English, geography, music, art, and more. The site also lets kids create their own homepage and enables them to have various tools at their disposal — links to several online calculator sites, searchable databases and encyclopedias, sparknotes, and even links to their textbooks’ websites.

Setting students on the right path in their studies is the goal of the site; several pages are dedicated to explaining book reports and research papers, taking kids from the initial brainstorming process straight through to proofreading. Study notes are available on the more popular reading selections. The site prepares kids for city, state, and Regents tests, even taking kids’ emotions into consideration with a page on “Overcoming Nervousness”.

Special sections are solely for parents and teachers, explaining ways they can help maximize student performance. The feature that will put parents most at ease may be Dial-a-Teacher, the service that allows your child phone access to a live New York City teacher — in English, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, French, Haitian-Creole, Greek, Hebrew, Korean and Russian. Live online help with a tutor and interactive whiteboard is also a choice for kids who’d rather receive help via the computer than the telephone. Ask-a-Librarian is also offered for reference-based questions, as are links to search the New York Public library card catalog. You can reach Dial-a-Teacher at (212) 777-3380 or at www.homeworkNYC.org.