4 of Our Best Educational Resources for Back-to-School

The back-to-school season is now officially upon us, which means before too long it’ll be time for that time-honored tradition of helping your kids with homework that might be just as much of a challenge for you as it is for them.

Have no fear! Our fantastic educational resources cover just about every topic related to the history, art and culture of the Old North State, and most of them are available online and for free to help you avoid headaches when helping your kids with their history or art homework this school year.

Here are few places to start:

1. Our Cultural Resources Educational Tool has put all of the educational materials produced by our 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, historic preservation office, archaeology office, highway markers program, State Library, State Archives, N.C. Symphony and N.C. Arts Council in one place. Check out this tool to search thousands of articles, research guides, multimedia pieces and more by topic, historical era, grade level and keyword.
2. NCpedia.org is a free, online encyclopedia about North Carolina. Produced by the State Library, NCpedia includes entries from the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography and the Encyclopedia of North Carolina, among other popular reference materials to cover just about any topic you can think of related to the Tar Heel State.
3. From the origins of the Lost Colony myth to Blackbeard's demise off the coast of Beaufort, the This Day in North Carolina History Project tells the weird, wacky and wonderful stories of the people and places of the Tar Heel State’s history day-by-day in easy to digest, 200-word blurbs. Each post links to related educational resources from across our department to help you teach your kids about our state’s past.
4. Produced by the N.C. Museum of Art, ArtNC helps students and teachers connect art to what they're learning and teaching by using abstract ideas spanning grade level, subject area, content and skill and relating them to NCMA works of art and their historical contexts.

Still have questions? NCKnows can help! A project of the State Library and NC LIVE, NCKnows allows you to connect with a public or academic librarian online nearly 24/7 to get help and find library resources.

Good luck! And if we can do anything to help you slog through your kids homework this school year, don’t hesitate to drop us a line, post on our Facebook page, tweet at us or leave a comment below. We’re happy to help!