Learning at home

Balancing working from home and educating from home.

In support of the OSU community, faculty in the College of Education and Human Sciences have crowd-sourced some of our favorite resources to share. Please check back to this page frequently as we will continue to share resources and ideas for supporting families who are balancing learning from home and working from home during COVID-19.

Balancing working from home and educating from home

Co-create a learning schedule with your kids. Include time for school learning and tasks, physical activities, choice time, independent reading and breaks.
Create a working schedule in tandem with the learning schedule and working hours along with employer expectations. Keep the lines of communication open at work and with your supervisor.
Create designated workspaces for you and your kids. Consider headphones for all if sitting at the same table.
Establish shared norms/expectations/ground rules as needed to ensure respect of learning and working times and spaces.
When possible, build in hourly check-ins for older kids and more frequently for younger kids. If they know when you'll next be available, unplanned interruptions will be less frequent.
Talk with your kids about what they can do if they get stuck. Have a few ideas listed on a notebook or white board (for pre-readers you can draw pictures) available of what they can do in the meantime while they await your help.
Expect to make mistakes. Working from home and supporting learning from home is hard. Acknowledge and embrace the difficulty.

Resources

General Curriculum
- Supporting home learning – Edutopia.org
- Student voice and choice – Edutopia.org
- Smithsonian distance learning resources
- Learning Lab
- Rethinking Schools has many lesson ideas by and for teachers, and most recent issue is on teaching and learning in the pandemic
- Adventures with Mrs. Anderson – curriculum and ed tech ideas
- General Standards/Resources and Collections
Arts and Crafts
- National Gallery of Art curriculum resources by grade level
- Getty Educatory Resources
- OSU Museum of Art virtual programming
- Prairie Arts Center virtual art academy
Books and Literacy
- Inclusive Schools book list resources by grade level
- Critical literacy in tandem with drama activities - edutopia
- Photovoice - method and practice (general resource, can be adapted for elementary - visual literacy + inquiry skills)
- Brooks, Adams, & Green (2014) working paper - has resources and ideas
- List of books featuring immigrant experiences by grade level
Science, Math, Engineering, and Technology (STEM)
- 239 Cool Sites about STEM
- Mathematics
  - https://www.prodigygame.com/main-en/
  - https://www.nctm.org/uploadedFiles/Research_and_Advocacy/NCTM_BacktoSchoolFAM.pdf
- Science
  - SciGirls (PBS Kids) citizen science
  - Smithsonian science curriculum resources
  - NSTA's Daily Do
  - Instant math teacher: How to help your kids at home
  - PBS Science Games
  - Wow in the World: Podcasts for kids and families
  - NASA kids Club
  - EPA Kids Learning and Teaching about the Environment
  - Exploratorium
- Coding
  - Code.org
  - Scratch - Learn to code to create stories, games and animations (Scratch Jr. is APP based and great for younger grades)
- Engineering and Tech
  - Engineering - Go For It!
Socio-emotional
- 50+ mindfulness activities for students
Social Studies/Sciences
- OKCPS Native American Student Services, educator resources
- OK History Center at home
- OK History Center
- Links to many museum educator resources
- Resources and activities from folklorist perspective
Talking About Coronavirus with Kids
- Talking to Children about COVID-19 (Coronavirus): A Parent [and Teacher] Resource National Association of School Psychologists
  *Offers Resources in Several Languages
- PBS Kids Resource for talking with young children re: Coronavirus/COVID-19
Tech Tools and Guides
- OSU Folder of Resources
Additional Articles and Podcasts for Parents