General Tips 

Remember that social distancing does not mean social isolation. It’s more important than ever to stay connected and keep in touch!  

Have a twice daily “Walk and Talk” (cell phone of course) with a friend for at least 30 minutes.  

Enjoy your breakfast or morning coffee over a video chat. 

Have a Friday/Saturday night watch party! Netflix Party and other platforms have created the ability to watch a movie together while interacting.  

Daily Facetime (or equivalent) with family members and friends. 

Get creative with celebrating birthdays/anniversaries/etc. One thing we did was have all of our staff take a picture or video of a birthday message, splice them together, and shared it in a group ‘Happy Birthday.’ 

Talk to your kids! Be honest, we know what we know, and there’s a lot that we don’t. Stay calm, and answer their questions to the best of your ability. Don’t let the media be their authority. Click Here for a link that has a good visual to help kids understand the concept of and rationale for Social Distancing.  

Have a daily check in with your partner. How did the day go? What was surprising in a good way? What challenges did they face? How are they doing?  

Choose something you’ve always wanted to learn/do, but have never had the time to dedicate to it, and set aside an hour to work on it. Examples include crochet, guitar, and learning a new language.

Resources 

Schedules: 

• A modifiable and printable daily schedule for kids: https://mommyhood101.com/daily-schedule-for-kids 

• A schedule for families: https://www.prodigygame.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/COVID-19-Daily-Schedule-for-Families.pdf 

Online Meetings: 

• Online AA/NA meetings: aa-dc.org, https://nprecovery.com/809-2/ 

• Online meetings for LGBTQ+ youth: https://smyal.org/virtualprograms/ 
• Grounded App (Quit or moderate your marijuana usage): http://grounded420.com/

Academics:

General

• An offering of courses in subjects like design, writing, illustration, photography, etc. Currently they are running a special where you can get a 2 month premium membership for free: https://www.skillshare.com/
•  Montgomery County Libraries offers free classes through a platform called Lynda: https://www.mymcmedia.org/lynda-com-now-available-free-montgomery-county-libraries/
•  Rivet is an app to help kids practice reading: https://rivet.area120.com/
•  Online tool kit of activities for K – 12: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Sgk9Pq5eCRJFvnjM9PNdei21z5-AQ6l0-bJqFE7n25o/mobilepresent?slide=id.p
• Scholastic offers daily academic activities for kids K-12: https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome.html
• Free online classes/tutorials: https://www.khanacademy.org/utm_content=122094274&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&hss_channel=fbp-120829805413
•  Educational activities in core subjects: https://www.brainpop.com/
• Educational activities in core subjects: https://jr.brainpop.com/

STEM

•  Brilliant is a website with a wide variety of courses in math, science, and computer science: https://brilliant.org/
• Devoted to teaching kids about science and technology, this website that offers daily activities that can be done at home: http://www.clubscikidzmd.com/blog/
• Really great science inquiry and projects you can do at home: https://mysteryscience.com/school-closure-planning
• Resources for offline science activities: https://thesciencepenguin.com/2020/03/8-elementary-science-activities-for-educators-and-families.html?fbclid=IwAR0ez6ShJyZktELLGgvpBRzY3vZ1ZLI1vQtHvK259Gynp9NzGkxGenTDMBU
• Online or in app math learning. Starts at your child’s level and gets harder as they master skills. Free for 90 days if you sign up before April 30th:  https://www.dreambox.com/at-home?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=og&utm_campaign=covid
• Animated videos that explain science concepts for each grade: https://www.makemegenius.com/
• Math lessons and games from pre-algebra through pre-calc: https://www.coolmath.com/

Online Recreational Activities: 

General

• Tales of a Traveling teacher is a help for parents to keep toddlers/preschool-aged children entertained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vzu_kndjx9Y
• PBS Kids offers Educational games and a daily newsletter with ideas for daily activities offline: https://pbskids.org/
• Montgomery County Libraries offers several apps and some of them allow free “borrowing” of journals, articles, and books so long as someone as a library card: https://montgomerycountymd.gov/library/about/connect.html 

Books/Reading

• Seussville offers games and videos of Dr. Seuss stories: https://www.seussville.com/explore/
• Audible is offering free streaming of many audiobooks including titles across six different languages: https://stories.audible.com/start-listen
• Read-alouds for elementary school-aged kids and virtual author activities for middle school-aged and high school-aged kids: https://www.weareteachers.com/virtual-author-activities/?fbclid=IwAR3FmKYZFggyD1FeB52LFTqZM7EE1A6ZHpTzdyLI7c53_aTIFy46ZWR_7Mc#.XnNKHHW8FPE.facebook
• Full list of authors who are reading online, some recorded and some live: https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/1MrM7Ypu3uoEEwbyLQ6sxkx8d-sePrP2J64WQrb6dNfI/preview?fbclid=IwAR0oi4LhuzeAkhRQfBMUzcooglMDwLncb0f8nYoYtMxBWipQZtwK4G4pjKs
• Read-aloud stories: https://www.storylineonline.net/

Arts

•  Mo Willems, the author and illustrator, is having daily online doodle sessions through the Kennedy Center: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmzjCPQv3y8
• Open Culture offers free coloring books from museums and libraries letting you color artwork from their collections: http://www.openculture.com/2017/02/free-coloring-books-from-world-class-libraries-museums.html?fbclid=IwAR35g0k_9zBVnFDC-1BQpSWsBV467JQb4X-6IpHLmHv3TdM_osTzgcwC6zw
• NGAkids Art Zone offers online art activities and also has an app for iPads with additional art activities: https://www.nga.gov/education/kids.html
• Guided drawing activities: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGM_VhNXMmo&feature=youtu.be
• Free coloring page versions of five popular social justice posters by Ricardo Levins Morales: https://www.rlmartstudio.com/product/coloring-pages-5-popular-posters-free-pdf-downloads/?fbclid=IwAR0XrmH2T3YtMpPzbSHxJPcK7NwT6TqgUEq090a-6reKPAZAZyerbpKVIaw3. Museum tours and virtual exhibits, including Frida Kahlo, Van Gogh, and more https://artsandculture.google.com/

Tours

• Virtual Field Trips: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SvIdgTx9djKO6SjyvPDsoGlkgE3iExmi3qh2KRRku_w/previewfbclid=IwAR0kOUzWzxGFkxLmQmWZQtYTJorfdgkAaFL_npe5FNC2qukUxIWPDq0pYQ4&pru=AAABcRLSVbY*8F36bTZQPMx4P8waeqxTcQ
•  Guggenheim: https://artsandculture.google.com/streetview/solomon-r-guggenheim-museum-interior-streetview/jAHfbv3JGM2KaQhl=en&sv_lng=-73.95902634325634&sv_lat=40.78285751667664&sv_h=30.75703204567916&sv_p=0.06928383072430222&sv_pid=MfnUmHRyOSzMtY3vtYU05g&sv_z=0.9645743015259166
• National Gallery of Art: https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/national-gallery-of-art-washington-dc?hl=en

Animals

•  All About Birds sends weekly emails with science/nature activities for each age group. Resources for identifying birds you see in the backyard, lessons on birdwatching, etc: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/how-to-make-these-next-few-weeks-a-little-easier-courtesy-of-birds/?fbclid=IwAR0Yq-Wmjh1-LC24mBeThrHglVf72frGCXPDT_BBQUbq4Iv25aUer2TvprQ
• The Cincinnati Zoo is doing a daily Facebook Live event (at 3PM EST) where they feature an animal. They had their baby hippo, Fiona, for the first episode: http://cincinnatizoo.org/news-releases/cincinnati-zoo-is-bringing-the-zoo-to-you/
•  Live camera footage of animals: https://explore.org/livecams 

For exercise/meditation: 

• The YMCA has free online classes: https://ymca360.org/ 

• Orangetheory is sharing a free 30 minute workout video daily: https://www.orangetheory.com/en-au/member-communication-regarding-coronavirus/ 

• Peloton is offering its app to new users for free. The app has yoga, meditation, strength, stretching, bodyweight cardio and strength training exercises: https://www.onepeloton.com/ 

• Free yoga classes: https://www.doyogawithme.com/ 

• Free guided meditations: https://www.uclahealth.org/marc/body.cfm?id=22&iirf_redirect=1 
• Preschool Inspiration offers yoga videos for kids: https://preschoolinspirations.com/kid-yoga-videos/?fbclid=IwAR02zoqVT2VL8y3-bLDNGlpSlxo5caFf3obEM4zeejB_cUyPj9icLvcNIKA
• Fluency and Fitness offers a 21 day free subscription available Awesome math & literacy activities intermixed with fitness tasks: https://fluencyandfitness.com/
• Yoga with Adriene offers free yoga classes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFKE7WVJfvaHW5q283SxchA

For parents/caregivers: 

• A website for working parents that offers guidance, resources, and workshops: http://tendlab.com/ 

• A template for your action plan as you work from home: https://mcusercontent.com/ce5f549395234febf46aa4ac6/files/4582ca71-b3e7-4ede-815e-e05b31dabdd5/Template_Action_Plan_for_Working_from_Home_When_You_are_Caring_for_Others_1_.01.pdf 

We are here for you! 

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team if we can help you and your family. And if you know someone who is struggling and in need of immediate support, please pass our information along. 

Stay safe, be well, and we will get through this together!