Resources for Parents During COVID-19/Coronavirus

Many Colorado school-aged kids began schooling remotely starting after spring break due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Anybody who is reading this and hasn’t heard of COVID-19 maybe just reentered into civilization for the first time in weeks…some of us know friends who do like to camp for loooong periods of time. COVID-19 is the official name of the current coronavirus pandemic that is sweeping the world. The Center for Disease Control is a great resource to read up on daily and hourly news related to coronavirus. For some people symptoms are mild or non-existent and for others, symptoms are more severe and complicated. Regardless, with kids being kept out of schools and all public places, for that matter, it’s left parents to rely on experts and creative solutions to keep their kids educationally motivated. 

Fortunately, we live in a time where despite that not all parents are teachers, we have the help of technology. Technology affords the opportunity to virtually learn. National and local businesses, schools, daycares and other creative individuals have flooded the e-world with everything from lesson ideas to extra-curricular activities to help students and families navigate the new learning format we’ve all been thrown into. With that said, here are some ideas and resources for explorative learning in these weird times.

Tasty Math Problems with King Arthur Flour

King Arthur Flour is actually one of oldest food companies around. Started in 1790, they sure know something about adapting to change. Founded in Norwich, Vermont, it’s launched something called the Bake for Goodinitiative which it’s now taken online. Bake for Good teaches kids how to make bread from scratch, which involves math, science and reading all wrapped up in a practical little ball (or should we say roll). When the kids bake, they’re practicing experimenting and when they’re done, the program has an element of sharing within their community by giving the bread to someone in need. There are free instructional videos and recipe booklets for bread and beyond and King Arthur Flour offers traditional and gluten-free flours to accommodate dietary restrictions. It’s a great resource for in-home learning.

Science Discovery with National Geographic

Most of us have heard of National Geographic and while you may know them due to their distinctive yellow magazines or the lion-eating-deer television programs, they also put out a lot of material geared toward young learners. One of the best resources they have for kids is their website. National Geographic Kids has a host of games, films and reading material that’s very entertaining for kids. So entertaining….they’ll forget they’re actually learning. 

Computing with Amazon Future Engineer

Amazon is providing free access to computer science courses, as well as a virtual robotics program for grades 6-12 through their Amazon Future Engineer program. It covers the basics of coding. Younger learners first learn how to do block-based coding and they elaborate for older, more experiences learners with text-based coding. The program has also partnered with Georgia Tech’s EarSketch, to provide a free program that helps students learn code through music. They are providing everything for free until at least fall 2020. 

Virtual Field Trips at Arizona State University 

Arizona State University is offering three different free educational resources for K-12 kids. The first two are Ask a Biologist and Ask an Anthropologist, which include films showing scientists in action, puzzles, podcasts with transcripts from the field, experiments and the ability to “ask an expert” which allows students to have question and answer sessions with an expert. The third offering from Arizona State is Virtual Field Trips, which provides 18 different trips with photos, films and maps. The trips can be viewed on a computer or for an extra real-life experience, they can be viewed through a virtual reality headset that’s set up for 360-degree viewing.  

Body Movement and Stretching with Alo Yoga

With all the scholastic endeavors out there for kids during this coronavirus laden time, let’s not forget that kids need physical breaks, too. They need to be able to stretch, move their bodies and expend some energy, just as they do at recess, during passing periods and during physical education. A great resource to help kids with their body and mind awareness is through yoga. Yoga combines movement, stretching and meditation to help kids constructively focus energy. Alo Yoga offers some very good free yoga classes for kids. The videos show both adults and kids doing yoga, to help capture their attention and identify with what’s going on.  

Lastly, regardless of how your family adapts to the changing world around us, communicating as best as possible with your child is important. And this may not mean communicating everything you know about COVID-19. Guidelines for talking with your child about coronavirus can be found at the Center for Disease Control. We are united in making this time be one of safety and support for all families.