Hands down, the best place for homeschoolers to "shop"

Drum roll, please...

And the best place for homeschooler to "shop" is...

A place with the world's greatest return policy...

A place where someone is eager to help if you need it...

A place where your entire family is welcome...

A place where...

Okay...

I've kept you waiting long enough...


It's the library, of course!

After our now three-year-old was born, I steered clear of the library, fearing he would make too much noise and a bouncer would kick my crew to the curb. When he started walking, I still stayed away, thinking he would be too wiggly and wild. Then I finally went after he turned two, and I felt brave enough to walk inside the library, and realized just how dumb I had been. Just. How. Dumb. I. Had. Been.

At our local branch there is an entire floor devoted to little ones, with puzzles, giant stuffed animals, computers and more. Silence is golden on the other floors, but on the kids level, while you do try to stay quiet and calm, if A3 shouts out "Look I found Curious George!," no one will give me a dirty look.

My teens look forward to our weekly (when we are at home) or even semi-weekly visits, because the comic book section (ahem, graphic novel) is enormous.

Here's how our OnTheRoadSchool uses the many library resources when we're at home:

We attend programs. Our branch has programs for our infant, 3-year-old and teens. Our teens have been to everything from holiday parties (a party at the library? It happened!), library skills workshops, art clubs, and more. We keep missing the registration for Lego events, but they offer those, too! Wiggly little A3 will gladly sit still for a story time and sing along session, but they also have gross motor skills events for his age group.

I read books about education, topics we are studying, and cooking. I rarely get a chance to browse for myself, so I order books online and have them waiting for me.

I order books online and have them waiting for me. I had to type that twice, because I am so thrilled to be able to do that. I look ahead at the topics for the next few weeks of Tapestry of Grace and order several Young Adult books. Often I can find a book that is needed for their curriculum. And if a book doesn't interest me as much as I expected... It doesn't matter because...

They're free! Books, audio discs and movies - theyre all free to browse or borrow. Since it is free to borrow, so there is no loss if a book turns out to be a bust. No problem.

Easy returns. I can return books without getting out of my vehicle. Am I the only one who is awful about returning things? I can buy a shirt that doesn't fit, but it will sit on the table by the door for weeks before even making it to the van. Then it will ride around town (and hundreds of miles on road trips!) before I take it to the store. Then I realize that I lost the receipt. Oh I'm just terrible at returns! However, at the library it's so easy. And, if I'm not going to make it back before the deadline, often I can just renew the book online (as long as no one else has requested it).

Librarians love homeschoolers. We're stoked to have a teen librarian at our branch, and she knows my teens by name. Once I asked her for help with something and she created an entire six-month-long series of workshops (all free!) for my kids and others to attend.

What do you love about your library? How has your library been a part of your homeschool?

Please visit List It Tuesday at WeirdUnsocializedHomeschoolers for more lists like this one!