University of Arkansas Educational Resources for Parents

Mar 24, 2020 | Caring Culture

Faculty in the College of Education and Health Professions understand that in this uncertain time, caregivers may need support with children learning at home due to COVID-19 school closures. So they curated a list of resources to help with teaching at home and to help families enjoy time together. 

The list below has a few more links than our flyer. We update these resources periodically so please check back. You may direct questions to the college’s Clinic for Literacy

Hubs of Projects

U of A Educational Resources poster for the COVID-19 period, updated March 30, 2020

Click image for PDF flyer

  • Arkansas AMI (alternative methods of instruction) broadcasts content for pre-K through 8th-grade students. It’s a project of Arkansas PBS (formerly AETN) and the Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education.
  • Scholastic Learn at Home has set up a free “learn free from home webpage” featuring “day-to-day projects to keep kids reading, thinking and growing.” The staff of the classroom magazine publisher is developing more projects.
  • Virtual School Activities include live webcams, virtual tours and virtual field trips. Its wiki format allow readers to suggest links for children.
  • Schoolhouse Rock — Yes, the cartoon series from decades ago covers math, science, grammar, history, economics and civics. Arkansas-born Bob Dorough (1923-2018) did much of its music.
  • We Are Teachers, an online media brand, offers more than 130 online learning resources.
  • Epubor lists its choice of the 20 Best Free Online Libraries.
    • From one of those free libraries, check out The Diary of Anne Frank. Then talk to your child about journaling. Because we are now “living history,” have them journal about the pandemic we are all navigating as it changes each day. It will be fascinating to look back on in later years.

Handwork, Art

  • Lunch Doodles are video lessons from children’s author and illustrator Mo Willems, the Kennedy Center’s education artist-in-residence.
  • Barry Thomas Art Lessons has captivated us, and it comes from Little Rock. The owner of Barry Thomas Fine Art & Studio has been posting videos of his tutorials on his personal Facebook page, where they are shown live then available later for playback. It’s fun for adults and kids alike. Scroll through his page to find the lessons.
  • Color Our Collections comprises free coloring sheets and books from more than 100 libraries, museums, archives and other cultural institutions around the world, organized by the New York Academy of Medicine.
  • Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art has its entire collection available to view online. The Bentonville landmark is closed temporarily due to the pandemic.
  • Practice cursive handwriting at home with help from a series of videos from The HEV Project (homeschool educational videos). You don’t have to have the lined paper. Draw your own lines — or ask your child to draw the lines.

Compassion, Comfort

  • Steve Hartman: Kindness 101 has been airing daily March 23-26 live at 1 p.m. Central, with the videos archived on the Facebook page of “On the Road” that Hartman hosts for the CBS Evening News.
  • Caring for Each Other is a project of Sesame Street with “content and resources you can use with your family to offer comfort and spark playful learning activities,” a response to the COVID-19 health crisis.
  • Write It Down: “Keep a Record of Life during the Pandemic” is the suggestion of a University of Virginia history professor for students.
  • Goodnight with Dolly are videos of music star Dolly Parton reading bedtime stories “carefully chosen for their appropriate content at this moment in time,” beginning April 2. It is part of her Imagination Library to help children “Dream More, Learn More, Care More and Be More.”

Worldwide

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