Covid-19 Comprehensive Family Resources
For homeschooling tips and more, Read and Feed has our families covered during this daunting time. This page is the designated point of reference for all links seen on our social media pages and newsletters regarding aid during the Covid-19 outbreak.
First off…
What do we know about the virus that has shaken up our world in the last few weeks? Educate yourself and others with trustworthy information from the Wake County Government’s FAQ sheet.
At Home
From ABCs to ACTs has a collection of 45 free educational websites for kids to keep them engaged.
All Digital School now has over 2500 educational resources in their directory that can be helpful at this time.
Digital Trends is a technology news, lifestyle, and information website that wants to help as we adjust to working and learning from home, so they’ve put together a guide about online learning.
Duke has posted a Covid Community Resources page that does include student information such as free audio books, resources from the Museum of Life and Science, and remote learning resources that have been helpful to educators across the state.
The LA Times offers school resources for parents and guardians for kids under 5 years of age.
Need literacy curriculum help while your child is out of school? All Letterland Apps are free for a limited time on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
Tune into one of Monterey Bay’s Live Cams and view their sea creature friends in real time. It’ll be just like a science field trip.
NASA is even posting at Home STEM projects for students grades K-4. There’s pictures of the day, building, solving, launching, and coloring sheets galore! In addition, they’ve made their entire media library available to the public. You can browse the 140,000 photo gallery, view images or listen to audio.
Take a digital hike with your kiddo and see a list of the National Parks on Google Earth with virtual tours set up. There are interactive photos and descriptions of the beautiful locales.
PBS has a variety of free resources to support families. The PBS Kids Video app, PBS Kids Games app, and the PBS Kids 24/7 channel offer access to educational series. There’s even a segment on “How to Talk to Your Kids About Coronavirus.”
Scholastic is offering 20 days’ worth of active learning projects designed to reinforce and sustain education for students unable to attend school.
Today offers topics and tips ranging from how to set a daily schedule with your child while they’re home, webinars, read-alouds, audio-books, eBooks, activity sheets, physical & creative exercises and more!
Wake County Public Library. While doors may be closed for the time being, there are a slew of online resources for adults and kids alike. Adult and childrens’ eBooks, audio, and readalongs are all there at your fingertips.
We Are Teachers offers the ultimate list of recognizable authors providing Read-Alouds of their own books and books by their favorite authors. Do your kids love the movie ‘Frozen’ or reading? Or do you want them to love reading?! Actor Josh Gad is reading books to kids online every night during the Coronavirus outbreak.
Finally, a comprehensive list of education companies offering FREE subscriptions due to school closings is being regularly updated by Amazing Educational Resources.
Health and Wellness
Many communications companies, such as Charter, are offering deals for internet during this period. Consider Spectrum’s free broadband and Wi-Fi access for 60 days to households with K-12/college students who do not already have a Spectrum subscription. Similarly, AT&T is offering two months of free Access service to households participating in the National School Lunch Program and Head Start. Verizon & Comcast are providing similar services thanks to the FCC’s Keep America Connected Pledge.
Many utility companies are suspending disconnections and waiving late fees for the next 60 days. See a full list here.
If you need to apply for unemployment insurance benefits due to Covid-19, NC Department of Commerce has laid out exactly how to do so and some FAQs associated with the changes in employment status for many during this crisis.
Kids Health, from Nemours Children’s Health System, also poses ways to address the virus with children, which may be a difficult subject to breach for some.
Kid Yoga Videos give teachers and parents a great tool to help students at home manage their stress, build concentration, and continue working on gross motor skills even with school out.
Mental health is as important during this period, as always. The NEA offers advice to teachers and parents alike on how to address the Coronavirus with their students and children depending on their age.
Looking for worker’s relief foundations? Look no further. Triangle Community Foundation has posted a variety of Foundation links that are aiding displaced workers at this time.
The YMCA is launching free online classes for all ages stuck at home. So even without PE, you can keep those kids up and moving.
Lastly…
Write it down. These are interesting and unprecedented days in which we live. Historians advocate writing down your experiences for multiple reasons. You can even make it an activity with your children. As Professor Braun of the University of Virginia History Department mentions in an article advocating for our personal documentation, “Each individual perspective is valuable, and adds to the whole.”
