Arts:
Craft in America is sharing free content, including video content and playlists, virtual exhibitions and at-home activities.
The Academy of Art University is hosting a free series of online events on art and design speaking through Zoom, movie afternoons and nights
Adobe is offering free access to Creative Cloud tools through May.
Adobe and Time Magazine have teamed up to provide a weekly art lesson online.
Wild, Free & Crafty, an online arts and crafts business, has launched daily online art lessons for students.
Virtual Museum Tours:
1. Pinacoteca di Brera – Milano
2. Galleria degli Uffizi – Firenze
3. Musei Vaticani – Roma
4. Museo Archeologico – Atene
5. Prado – Madrid
6. Louvre – Parigi (this has a pop up, but still works if you close this)
7. British Museum – Londra
8. Metropolitan Museum – New York
9. National Gallery of art – Washington
Social Emotional Skills:
Aperture Education has made a 33-page “Educator Guide to Optimistic Thinking” available as a form of professional development, along with other “take-home” PD activities. The company has also curated a collection of free parent resources to help their kids (and them) develop social and emotional skills.
Boston Children’s Hospital has produced free professional development for educators on social-emotional learning and behavioral health in schools. Each course is self-paced and includes tools and strategies to be used in the classroom and overall school environment (because face-to-face school will be back in session at some point).
The Character Tree Free access will last through Jun. 30, 2020. This program provides videos for first and second graders, with discussions, examples from history and role modeling to teach “character development” and emphasize positive character traits, including kindness, curiosity and integrity. All lessons are standards-aligned and come with printable resources. Parents can also sign up for their own free accounts.
CharacterStrong is offering free K-12 social-emotional learning resources that can be used for remote instruction, including a virtual toolkit, digital student assemblies, a virtual Whole Child Summit(taking place Apr. 13-24, 2020) and a “30 Days of Kindness Journal.” Access to resources requires registration.
Madison Specific:
Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) COVID-19: Schools and Child Care Webpage
Wisconsin Department for Children and Families (DCF) COVID-19 Child Care Resources
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers Executive Orders
Mental Health Resources:
Helping Children Understand Coronavirus
Caring for Preschoolers at Home
How to Keep Kids Learning When They’re Stuck at Home
250+ Creative Ways to Keep Your Family Sane During the COVID-19 Crisis
Promise Venture Studios provides some great self-care activities:
- Laugh! Whether it’s a hilarious twitter thread or a funny show. (Solo | with Kids)
- Mindfulness to reduce anxiety. (Solo | with Kids)
- Workout the stress. (Solo | with Kids)
- Find social connection safely. (Solo | with Kids)
- Practice self-empathy and compassion. (Solo | with Kids or checkout Sesame’s #caringforeachother)
Resilient Wisconsin is a new statewide initiative designed to provide Wisconsinites with the tools to build resiliency. Find healthy ways to cope and stay connected with others in your community.
Healthy Minds Program app: FREE!
Healthy Minds Program on the Apple App Store
Healthy Minds Program on Google Play
The Healthy Minds Program (a research based approach started at the UW Madison) is a free mindfulness app that teaches qualities beyond traditional mindfulness training. Our unique program strengthens the four qualities of a healthy mind – awareness, connection, insight, and purpose.
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Mental Health Resources Available to Help with the COVID-19 Pandemic
Free Meditations for adults from UCLA (UADC Staff Favorite!)
Child Mind Institute has free articles and videos available on their Facebook page, as well as other resources.
Brene Brown, leadership and emotions researcher, recently started a new podcast that deals with COVID-19 issues from a social worker’s perspective. In one episode she mentions the importance of helping children mourn the loss they are feeling during these times. This podcast is called Unlocking Us.
The Invisible String. The Invisible String teaches children about connection, and how to cope even when we cannot see the ones we love.
Preschool/4K:
Common Sense Media has collected a wonderful set of resources from podcasts to activities and live stream events. This organization’s mission is to review content and quality in different media options for children, so they are an essential source for families!
Wide Open School is a free collection of the best online learning experiences for kids curated by the editors at Common Sense.
FREE resources for families during COVID19.
Zero to Three is an organization UADC reaches to when we need behavior modification support for children 2-3 years of age. Here are some resources they’ve assembled.
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) offers their expert advice on home-schooling for parents/guardians.
Second Step is a 4K curriculum in use by UADC to help develop social emotional skills and friendship building skills. Here are some COVID resources from them!
Dough sculpting ideas from Play-Doh!
Smithsonian Kids offers a wide variety of resources for all ages.
Kindergarten-3rd Grade
STEM:
codeSpark Academy has created a path for students to get free access codes from their K-5 teachers to the program, which teaches coding fundamentals and creativity with computer science. The offer lasts until May 31, 2020. https://blog.codespark.com/story/free-resources-for-closed-schools:
LEGO is sharing design simple challenges. Daily play challenges, new play ideas and live build-a-longs are being shared in photos and videos on social media using the hashtag #LetsBuildTogether and at www.lego.com/letsbuildtogether.
Hand2mind has launched a home learning resource for K-5 students. The “Learning at Home” program includes videos on math and literacy content taught by teachers and activities to reinforce the lessons and downloadable worksheets. The company has committed to posting new content daily. https://www.hand2mindathome.com/
I Know It is offering free access to its online math practice lessons for students in grades K-5. The site features over 500 graphical math activities. https://www.iknowit.com/access.html
The American Museum of Natural History is sharing a bunch of online content for teachers and families to use during virus days. That includes the “OLogy” science website with lessons on subjects from anthropology to zoology; online science curriculum collections; virtual visits to the museum through its YouTube channel; and massive open, online museum courses delivered through Coursera. https://www.amnh.org/explore
Amplify has created a series of K-8 remote learning experiences in reading and science that are free and easy to use at home. https://freeresources.amplify.com/
Arizona State University “Ask an Anthropologist” and “Ask a Biologist.” Activities include teacher toolkits with lesson ideas, podcasts with transcripts and videos showing the scientists in action, articles, puzzlers, experiments and the ability for students to ask experts questions. The third is “Virtual Field Trips,” which provides 18 virtual trips with photos, explanations, short videos and maps. While the trips can be viewed on a computer, they really come to life through a virtual reality headset that allows for 360-degree viewing.
The Carnegie Science Center has set up an online educator resources page for students in K-12. The page includes links to lesson plans for simple science experiments that early learners can do, videos of behind-the-scene sessions at the Center’s field station, do-it-yourself videos for maker science projects, an educator guide for engineering-themed lessons and a “STEM for Social Good” toolkit that can be used by middle and high schoolers who want to spark social change. The resources are being expanded weekly. https://carnegiesciencecenter.org/educators/online-educator-resources/
Carolina Biological Supply Company has curated a series of free science learning resources, grouped by grade bands (K-5, 6-8 and 9-12). In each group are grade-specific instructions, links to multimedia and cross-curricular activities that can provide “backyard” science projects using household materials. https://www.carolina.com/xm/service-updates?intid=hp_hero_serviceupdates
NASA STEM for Kids (K-4th grade)
Free Services:
Charter Communications/Spectrum (41 states): Offering free broadband and WiFi access for 60 days to households with K-12 and/or college students. Providing free WiFi hotspots in the service area.
Free flex spending accounts for UADC families – www.tasccaresforkids.com and scroll down to “Qualified Events and Enrollment” and then click, “Learn More”. The video on the main page also speaks to Qualified Events. You can also call Account Advocates and they will be able to answer any questions on a DC-FSA. That number is 833-908-2223.