Academic resources for afterschool staff, students and parents

With many schools and programs closed, families are looking for ways to continue learning at home. Here are some learning resources recommended by Foundations for a Brighter Future and others for children while they are out of school:

• Learning Heroes has developed free resources for kids and parents at home:
  • The Readiness Check – your child answers short questions (like a game!) and you see how they’re doing with math and reading. At the end, you get videos, activities, and everyday tips to support learning at home.
  • The Learning Hero Roadmap – an interactive guide on the topics parents care most about-from supporting life skills to handling tough conversations with your kids to preparing for college and more. With extra time at home, talk to your child about their strengths, interests, and where they might need more support.

Literacy and Language

• Award-winning children’s literacy website where famous actors read books aloud!
• Author Dan Gutman will be doing a daily read-aloud of his newest My Weird School book Miss Blake is a Flake!
• Free elibrary for everyone – including children’s books in Spanish, Chinese, and more!
• Keep up the foreign language learning while learning remotely with Duolingo!
• Free reading comprehension tools for both parents and teachers.
• Astronauts doing read-alouds from SPACE!

STEAM, Creativity

• Free, complete science lessons for K-5 including at-home activities
• Eureka Math has online resources for grades PreK-8, plus typical high school subjects – Algebra I and II, Geometry, and Pre-Calculus
• Not just for bedtime, Bedtime Math offers daily activities for kids K-5 to think about math in new and fun ways
• An hour of code for pre-readers through high school, with Minecraft, Frozen, Star Wars, and more!
• Daily lunch doodles with beloved author Mo Willems, complete with activity pages!
• Activities to spark creativity – including “Finish This Comic!” and drawing/writing prompts
• Exploratorium: fun science experiments students can do from home.
• Programs can apply to have free access to Girls Who Code lessons, which teach girls to code from home. Click here to apply.
• MangoMath – Free at-home math activities for students
• Work on engineering design problems at home with University of Missouri STEM Cubs. STEM Cubs Resources.

Business and Professional Development

• Entrepreneurship for All initiative: Resources for OFFLINE learning. Request a set of VentureLab Entrepreneurial Mindset Workbook to be shipped to your program at no cost.
• Entrepreneurship Curriculum: Full VentureLab curriculum for OST and in-school programs.
• Career Trek: elementary-age activities for professional development.

History and Social Studies

• Free American history lessons for grades 4-12 on a wide range of topics
• A teacher has compiled 30 virtual field trips for students who are beginning to get stir crazy!
• Explore the Metropolitan Museum of Art from home, with supplementary projects to keep kids engaged.
• Bonus: Follow by reading From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler with OpenLibrary!
• Visit 12 famous museums from around the world!
• The NY Times Learning Network offers free resources for middle and high school students on geography, current events, and more.
• Civics and current events lessons for middle and high school students from PBS News Hour.
• Civics and current events lessons for middle and high school students from PBS News Hour
• Smithsonian Museum: https://www.exploratorium.edu/
• The American Museum of Natural Resources https://www.amnh.org/explore/ology
• National Geographic Kids: https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/

Physical and Mental Health

• Mind and body wellness for at-home learning from health and physical education teachers.
• GoNoodle offers hundreds of activities for getting up and getting active! Looking for some focus and calm? Try GoNoodle’s Good Energy series.
• Kid-grit – Get a FREE copy of The kid-grit Pandemic Crisis Guide! The brand new and free kid-grit educator guide: KNOWLEDGE IS POWER is here! This guide offers social-emotional learning directly corresponding to the COVID-19 crisis. Keeping with our foundational approach to holistic SEL, we created a 5-10 hour activity guide in mindfulness, body awareness, community and connection, and digital and social media awareness.
• BOKS Kids offers free, evidence based resources to download. The BOKS team has compiled our favorite activities that can be used at-home, with just one or a few kids, and minimal equipment. These resources are completely FREE and as a thank you for getting kids moving with BOKS, you will receive an email with a 30% off discount code to shop with our friends at Reebok upon download. https://www.bokskids.org/boks-at-home/?form_processed=true#at_home_resources 

Resources for Multiple Subjects

• Mizzen by Mott: Powering those who empower kids. Mizzen by Mott inspires, engages and sparks learning in young people. With activities from premier organizations like Jazz at Lincoln Center and powerful management tools, this new app can help you strengthen your afterschool program. Supported by the Mott Foundation, Mizzen is available at no cost to afterschool professionals!
• We are Teachers: Provides various resources for teachers, parents and students.
• Free, easily sortable resources for all subjects and grade levels – from warm-ups to full lessons and virtual reality adventures!
• Scholastic Classroom Magazines is offering cross-curricular daily projects for PreK through middle school, each with four thematically related activities.
• PBS Kids is offering a daily newsletter with activities and advice while schools are closed!
• PBS online lesson and video archive: https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/
• Ed Navigator is sharing a few great things every day to help cope with kids at home.
•  Blocks Rock – Home Learning Resource Library. Discover over 100 activities to support learning from home.

• Junior Achievement is providing online resources for free to teachers and parents. Request your program now at www.jastl.org.

• 220 Leadership – 220 stands for Second (2)- to (2)- None (0). 10 things you can do today to start thriving, not surviving.https://www.220leadership.com and  https://www.220leadership.com/blog/10-to-thrive-covid19

Full Schedule

• Khan Academy is providing full daily schedules for PreK-12, including lots of course content and ideas for brain breaks.
• A free schedule builder, plus an assortment of links with ideas to help you fill out the schedule.

Tools to Facilitate Remote Learning

• Fun accessible apps to provide assistive technology during remote learning for students who are blind, visually impaired, deaf, dyslexic, or have other reading difficulties.
• Online platforms for teachers looking for the best way to interact with their students and share content during remote learning.
• Fun/free things to do online

Advice for Caregivers at Home

• Time Magazine: The Secret to Keeping Your Kids Happy, Busy and Learning if Their School Closes Due to Coronavirus
• NPR: Coronavirus and Parenting: What You Need to Know Now
• The Atlantic: How Parents Can Keep Kids Busy (and Learning) in Quarantine
• NY Times: 10 Questions Parents May Have About Coronavirus
• NY Times: What Are the Rules for Play Dates During the Coronavirus Crisis?