Schooling at Home During Coronavirus

New resources added during the week of August 24-31, 2020. These are listed first below. Note: A date in parentheses means the publication date of that resource, not the date we posted it here. This is to let you see at a glance how current the information is.

Updated as of August 31, 2020

This page of resources is part of CPIR’s Coronavirus Suite of information. This page focuses on resources to help parents and families with schooling at home during school closures and social distancing practice.

Schooling at Home

Parents: Supporting Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic
(2020, August) | Created specifically for parents and updated for the new school year, IRIS Center offers this user-friendly, multi-media learning module. It includes practical tools and easy-to-implement strategies to help children learn at home during COVID-19. Parents can find practical tips to get children ready to learn, strategies for reading and mathematics instruction, support for children’s social and emotional well-being, and considerations for the parents of struggling learners and students with disabilities.

For Children with Deaf-Blindness: Ideas for Activities at Home During COVID-19 Pandemic
(2020, April) The National Center on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB) has created a web page for families called Ideas for Activities at Home During COVID-19 Pandemic. It provides resources to help children who are deaf-blind continue to learn and have fun while schools are closed.

100 Things Students Can Create To Demonstrate What They Know

Learning at home can be as repetitive as learning at school: same-type worksheets on subject after subject. Because variety is the spice of life (and learning), parents can refer to this list of creative ways that children can demonstrate what they know. It’s great food for thought and sparking a child’s motivation to keep learning.

Family Guide to At-Home Learning
(2020, May) | This 2-page guide has practical strategies that work for helping children of all ages who may be struggling with an at-home learning task. Families may find these strategies useful when helping their children complete reading, math, and/or behavioral tasks at home. From the CEEDAR Center.

DIY Ways to Meet a Child’s Sensory Needs at Home | Edutopia
(April 10) | Occupational therapists and trauma-informed teachers weigh in on how to create sensory tools and spaces with what you have at home.

NASA at Home — For Kids and Families
A fantastic collection of science lessons, activities, and virtual tours for kids curated by NASA.

Ken Burns in the Classroom
Ken Burns and his collaborators have been creating historical documentary films for more than 40 years. The full-length film series and short videos in Ken’s online classroom cover the spectrum of school subjects and grade levels, eras, and topics.

Feeding the Children on Reduced or Free Lunch Programs
(April 2, 2020) | This resource-rich article from Child Trends is actually entitled “States can do more to help students access nutritious school meals during pandemic-related school closures.” Nearly 22 million students nationwide rely on free and reduced-price meals at school, but school closures from COVID-19 have put school meal programs at risk. The article discusses state laws, CDC guidance, USDA waivers, and the many ways that schools and others can continue to provide children with this extraordinarily valuable service.

Supporting Families with PBIS at Home
(March 31, 2020) | Behavior at home a challenge? Here are some recommendations for families and caregivers on how to use positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) at home to support their children’s social and emotional growth and minimize behavioral disruptions in the home. Also available in Spanish. A collaborative publication of the Center on PBIS and CPIR.

Videos | How to Help Your Child with…
The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk is creating videos to help parents and guardians use effective practices to teach students at home due to COVID-19. Currently, 4 videos are available at the link above: Helping your kid with… identifying the main IDEA… motivation to work at home… math word problems… practicing reading at home.

A Parent’s Guide to Virtual Learning: 4 Actions to Improve Your Child’s Experience With Online Learning
From the National Center for Learning Disabilities, which strongly believes that students with disabilities can be served effectively in online settings. This 2-pager gives best practices for how parents can support their child’s learning online.

An Educator’s Guide to Virtual Learning: 4 Actions to Support Students With Disabilities and Their Families
Also from NCLD, a package deal, this one for educators.

Extended School Closings | Everything an IEP Parent Needs to Know | FAPE | Online Services
(March 24, 2020) | A Day in Our Shoes takes a good hard look at the reality of school closures, how they affect services to children with disabilities and the provision of FAPE, and pending evaluations and virtual IEP meetings in these times.

COVID-19 Resources: Online Learning Supports
An interesting list of available learning supports for students. Worth checking out.

School closure learning guide during Coronavirus (COVID-19)
If school has closed, these resources will help your child learn from home. Find out how to set up at-home learning and use Great Schools’ grade-based resources to fill in the gaps.

Great Schools free worksheets in English and Spanish for different ages and grades
These actually look like fun for kids while emphasizing certain skills and addressing grade-appropriate information.

Resources for Learning at Home When Schools Close
Links to resources for teaching reading/English language arts, math, writing, science, and social studies.

11 Tips for Parents Starting to Homeschool in a Hurry
A lot of us are in the same boat!

Handpicked recommendations for learning apps, games, and websites for kids
Common Sense Media offers this list of “best for learning.” Topics range from skills essential to life and work in the 21st century, to traditional academic subjects, to recommendations for particular settings or types of kids. Organized by age of child.

Virtual Early Intervention Home Preparation Checklist for Families
A 1-page checklist of how to prepare for a virtual early intervention home visit.