Easing the Burden of COVID-19 at Home

Many families are finding themselves home with children out of school for weeks (or even months in some places) due to the novel coronavirus strain. On top of all the other worries a parent has to face, the last thing they should be worried about is what their kids will be doing at home to maintain their learning.

While your students are at home, here are some educational things you can do outside of the classroom:

1. Cincinnati Zoo Virtual Trips - "Join us for a Home Safari Facebook Live each weekday at 3pm where we will highlight one of our amazing animals and include an activity you can do from home. Join us starting Monday, March 16 at 3pm for our first Home Safari- featuring Fiona!" Thanks to the Cincinnati Zoo, this is a great way to squeeze Science and Writing into your day. https://buff.ly/38SLpOf

2. Journal Writing - Exercise their writing muscles by giving them an opinion writing topic such as: do you think school should open up sooner or later? Giving students a topic that makes them pick an opinion makes students defend their reasoning and is great practice for test-taking later on. It also helps to just have students write about their day or something they're looking forward to.

3. Read Together - Take the time to read aloud with your children. Let them read to you. Instead of telling them words they immediately can't get, try to help them break up the sounds. This is a wonderful way to strengthen phonics and fluency.

4. Art & Play - If your family is the creative type, and you have a kiddo that loves to draw, tack on a mini writing assignment to it. Have your child write about what they made. Then, go back and clean the writing up! Does it have a topic sentence that's interesting at the beginning? How many details can they share about what they made? Can they include some descriptive adjectives about their art? This is just a little way to toss in extra skills while they're home.

5. Practice Typing Skills - This is an easy one, because most kids love to use computers. As they progress into higher grades, typing will become more and more important. A child who can type fast will have a better shot on tests that require online writing. Now would be a good time to fire up the computer and learn the "home row" keys.

While we're sure there's plenty more that can be done at home, these are just a few ideas to help our families out. We will continue to share news and updates about our centers and their hours on our social networks and website. We hope our families stay safe and healthy. Remember to wash your hands and make the best out of a bad situation!