Parent & Family Services for Remote Education

5 Steps for a Different Kind of School Year

Here are five steps to help keep your child on track, no matter where learning takes place.

 

7 Guiding Principles for Parents Teaching From Home

Understanding the “why” behind teaching practices can help parents create meaningful and effective at-home learning opportunities during the pandemic.

 

At-Home Learning: A Guide for Parents During School Breaks

Ideas, suggestions and advice for parents on how they can make at-home learning a part of daily life.

 

Back to (Virtual) School: 5 Things Parents Can Do to Support Students in Virtual Courses

Five things parents can do to help their child achieve success in virtual courses.

 

Boredom Busters: 110 Fun At-Home Activities for Families & Kids

Our list of Boredom Busters includes over 100 fun (and mostly free) activities that you and your kids can enjoy at home. This handy list can easily be printed and placed on the refrigerator – a great way to have instant “ideas” when boredom strikes!

 

Computer Science Family Toolkit

The Pennsylvania Computer Science Family Toolkit contains resources for equitable CS education for all students including students of color, historically underrepresented populations, English language learners (ELLs) and students with disabilities.

 

Coronavirus & At-Home Learning: 10 Tips for Parents Navigating the New Realities of Online Education

10 tips for families as they adjust to the new reality of learning at home.

 

COVID-19 Vaccine Specific Information

 

Crisis Management Institute -- Parent Supports

Resources and support for talking to your kids about COVID-19

 

How 'Regular School' Parents Can Homeschool Their Kids

How to make the most of learning at home during COVID-19.

 

K-2: Tips for Supporting Learning at Home

How to help young children get the most out of remote education.

 

Learning at Home with Pennsylvania PBS

Working with the Pennsylvania Department of Education, we have created Learning at Home, your connection to thousands of hours of educational and entertaining videos, activities and games to support you.

Beyond television and the internet, Pennsylvania PBS is piloting a new way to bring the classroom to your living room. We are embarking on a new project to effectively reach students who do not have access to the internet; it is called datacasting, and it’s an exciting way to use an established technology.

 

Lessons Learned from Virtual Learning During COVID-19

Tips for families from families and educators

 

Look Through their Eyes: Information about Identifying, Preventing and Overcoming Trauma

 

Parent Tips and Tricks for Distance Learning

Some nitty-gritty tips to help parents and caregivers keep kids focused, interested, and balanced while learning from a distance.

 

Parents: Supporting Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Offers tips to support your child’s learning at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Promoting Positive Learning Climates Online and at Home

This resource list was developed to support educators' and parents' efforts to maintain a positive learning climate while students are physically separated from their teachers and classmates due to the COVID-19 school closures.

 

Resources for Caregivers and Educators

This website is another Trello board organized by the Resilient Lehigh Valley and the Gender, Race, Inclusion, and Trauma Lab at the Lehigh University’s College of Education to support educators and families. It contains many useful resources in the following categories:

  1. Mental Health Support for Parents/Caregivers
  2. Learning at Home for Parents/Caregivers
  3. Information for Kids about COVID-19
  4. Self-Regulation Strategies for Kids, Caregivers, Parents, and Teachers
  5. Pupil and Student Services

 

SchoolVirtually.org

School Virtually provides information for educators and parents as schools make a quick switch to distance and online learning. Going beyond lists of resources.

School Virtually provides tips on designing online instruction, using technology tools, and supporting students with disabilities and language learners.

 

Social Stories for Coronavirus and Social Distancing

These sites have social stories and communication boards about handwashing, social distancing, and the virus.

14 Ways To Encourage Reading At Home

This booklet provides busy parents with creative suggestions about developing and supporting their child's interest in reading. Booklet presents a list of tips that include creating a home library, setting aside family reading time, reading aloud together, discussing reading material, playing word and board games, and telling stories.

 

30 Days of Family Learning Together

Provides a month’s worth of family literacy activities and practices designed to inspire family memories rooted in imagining, playing, and learning together.

 

Audible Stories by Amazon

For as long as schools are closed, we're open. Right now, kids everywhere can instantly stream an incredible collection of stories, including titles across eight different languages, that will help them continue dreaming, learning, and just being kids.

All stories are free to stream on your desktop, laptop, phone or tablet.

Explore the collection, select a title and start listening.

 

College Board AP Classroom

For students enrolled in AP courses, the teacher for each classroom (grades 9-12) can unlock free practice questions in AP Classroom found in the student's CollegeBoard account.

 

Libby, the Library App

Borrow and read ebooks and audiobooks from your local public library for FREE!

Requires an active public library card.

 

Mensa for Kids TED Connections

Mensa for Kids curated TedEd talks for youth that provide accompanying prompts for writing or conversation.

 

New York Times - The Learning Network

Free reading opportunities and daily written and photo writing prompts.

 

PBS Kids for Parents

Resources across different content areas for ages 2-8.

Standards-aligned lessons created for teachers, but free and available to parents for at-home learning.

 

Teacher-Parent Partnerships and Reading Instruction that aligns with the Science of Reading

There is no denying that parent advocacy is one of the strong forces that is advancing the national conversation about implementing reading instruction that aligns with the science of reading. Creating skilled readers is a fundamental goal that unites parents and educators.

Teachers sometimes feel they have to have everything perfect before they let parents see what they are doing. Parents sometimes feel they aren’t qualified to question what happens in schools. If teachers recognize that parents want the best for their child, and if parents recognize that teachers are also learners who continually update and improve their knowledge and skills, then students will benefit from a true partnership that works on their behalf.

Below are a series of resources that seek to strengthen the teacher-parent partnership by educating, demonstrating, and explaining Reading instruction based on the Science of Reading.

 

 

The Reading League Pennsylvania: The Big Five Unplugged

A compilation of resources created by Erin Eighmy and Pam Kastner to support reading instruction in the areas of oral language, phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

 

 

U.S. Department of Education Resources for Families

The federal government resource list to support parents in assisting with reading, math, and homework.

Hour of Code

A one-hour introduction to computer science. The Hour of Code began as a one-hour coding challenge to give students a fun first introduction to computer science and has become a global learning event, celebration, and awareness event.

HourOfCode.com offers hundreds of one-hour activities in over 48 languages for kindergarten and up. Activities require no experience and can be run on browsers, tablets, and smartphones - some don’t require any computer at all.

 

Mystery Science

Free easy science experiments for students K-grade 5 for educators and parents.

 

STEM and Science Experiments at Home

Looking for easy science experiments, inexpensive science supplies, educational toys, or eye-catching science fair projects? Steve Spangler Science offers hundreds of science experiments and science demos that inspire the imagination and make learning fun.

 

 

The Robot Doctor

An educational video series that extends robotics and mathematics lessons to high school age students during the COVID-19 crisis.

 

Tools to Turn Your Kid into a Math and Science Pro

These digital tools can make math and science come alive for even the most reluctant student. In addition to facts, figures, and formulas, these math and science apps, games, and sites help kids learn how to learn.

 

Virtual Field Trips

4 Tips for Learning with Technology

Today, there's no shortage of apps, websites, and games that claim to be educational. But what's really best for learning? Here are some tips that will help you look beyond the labels to get the most out of digital media.

 

Apps for Students with Special Needs

The coronavirus creates a unique challenge for students with special needs—educators share recommendations for apps to support learning at home.

 

Digital Tools and Instructional Strategies: Supporting Students with Disabilities in the Online Classroom

A resource for teachers and parents.

The UDL Guidelines focuses on providing multiple means of representation, action and expression, and engagement to reduce barriers and
increase access to the curriculum for students with and without disabilities.

This handout highlights how digital tools along with instructional
strategies can support students with disabilities with common challenges in the areas of academics, executive function, and learning
behaviors/engagement in the online environment.

Many tools and strategies listed can be used by teachers and/or parents.

 

Digital Tools for Home-School Communication

Timely feedback between home and school and vice versa is vital. There are various digital tools available to help you provide information, directions, solutions, or even feedback.

 

Khan Academy

Asynchonous instruction available for most topics, subjects, and levels.

 

List of Sites for Families to Use While School is Closed

A free resource for teachers and families that provides online opportunities for engagement in virtual field trips, Reading and Writing, Math, STEAM, screen free activities, and "other stuff".

 

Low Tech and No Tech Approaches to Distance Learning

If you are in a situation where all your learners do not have the same access to devices or internet at home, low-tech and no-tech approaches can help you provide instruction in an equitable way. Many of the things you can do follow the principles related to engaging your learners, providing connection, and designing authentic activities.

 

Parent and Family Digital Learning Guide

Digital tools (such as devices, apps, and platforms) can enable multiple places for your child to learn, help you and your child set clear and easy to understand learning goals, and track progress. These tools can also help facilitate communication between you, as your child’s primary educator, and your child’s other teachers, allowing you to work together toward ensuring success. To take full advantage of the potential of digital tools, your child will need access to a device and the internet (at home and at whatever school option you choose for your child). You are also responsible for guiding your child on how to use technology safely and appropriately. This guide provides resources to help you fulfill that responsibility. While having multiple options for access, devices, internet connectivity, and digital tools is the ideal, it is not the reality for everyone. This guide focuses on empowering you with information and resources to improve your child’s opportunity for successful and safe digital learning.

 

Read and Write Chrome Extension

A Chrome extension that, for the free version, adds screen reading to any site.

 

Read and Write Chrome Extension

A list of technology resources available to students and their families. (Updated and disseminated on 4/16/21 by PaTTAN)

 

The Big Three Accessibility Features Across Platforms

This webinar, provided by PEAL, will provide information about technology features available for students to assist them in virtual learning.

 

The Parent’s Guide to Educational Technology

This guide provides an overview of edtech for parents.

 

The Parents' Guide to Google Classroom

CDC - COVID19 Manage Anxiety & Stress

Guidance, from the Center for Disease Control, on how to best handle this stressful time and understand children's varied response to the pandemic.

 

Creating a PBIS Behavior Teaching Matrix for Remote Instruction

When transitioning education online, it can be helpful to remember that the practices that are used in a physical classroom can work just as well in the virtual classroom. The first step in setting up any classroom is to define expected behaviors, which can be done most effectively through a behavior teaching matrix. This brief will describe how to create a classroom teaching matrix for remote instruction.

 

Helping Children Cope With Changes Resulting From COVID-19

Guidelines from the National Association of School Psychologists about how to talk with children about this appropriate, but scary, topic.

 

How to Deal with Challenging Behaviors While Schooling at Home During the COVID-19 Crisis

Dr. Tina Lawson addresses ways to prevent challenging behaviors in a two part series. Part 1 addresses planning, modeling, and communicating with your child or youth. Part 2 addresses the need to anticipate versus react when schooling from home.

 

How to Keep Kids Excited to Learn During COVID-19 School Closures

As K-12 schools across the country announce temporary closures to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, there are things teachers and parents can do to keep students interested in learning at home.

 

Parent/Caregiver Guide to Helping Families Cope With the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

This resource will help you think about how an infectious disease outbreak might affect your family, both physically and emotionally, and what you can do to help your family cope.

 

Promoting Positive Learning Environments Online and at Home

This resource list was developed to support educators' and parents' efforts to maintain a positive learning climate while students are physically separated from their teachers and classmates due to the COVID-19 school closures.

 

Setting up for Success at Home: Using Ci3T Structures to Facilitate Positive, Productive, Continuous Learning Opportunities During the COVID-19 Crisis

In this practice guide, we offer five suggestions for families as they set up structures to support their children for more time at home.

The graphic organizer puts all five strategies on a one-page easy to use document.

 

Social Emotional Resources for Families

 

Supporting Families with PBIS at Home

Families and caregivers should consider using positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) in their homes on a daily basis. It is especially helpful when events disrupt normal routines – events like worldwide health pandemics. This practice brief provides recommendations for families and caregivers on how to use PBIS to continue to support their students’ social and emotional growth and minimize behavioral disruptions in the home.

 

Teaching the Skills That Matter in a Home Learning Environment

As we all adjust to rapidly changing circumstances in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the biggest challenges is continuing to support students’ education in a new environment. Students might be struggling with skills that will be crucial for succeeding in these new circumstances, such as self regulation, conflict management, self-efficacy, and assertiveness. To support teachers, students, and families in adapting, we are highlighting some helpful resources for supporting students’ intrapersonal and interpersonal skills in a virtual and/or home learning environment.

Apps for Students with Special Needs

The coronavirus creates a unique challenge for students with special needs—educators share recommendations for apps to support learning at home.

 

Digital Tools and Instructional Strategies: Supporting Students with Disabilities in the Online Classroom

A resource for teachers and parents.

The UDL Guidelines focuses on providing multiple means of representation, action and expression, and engagement to reduce barriers and increase access to the curriculum for students with and without disabilities.

This handout highlights how digital tools along with instructional strategies can support students with disabilities with common challenges in the areas of academics, executive function, and learning behaviors/engagement in the online environment.

Many tools and strategies listed can be used by teachers and/or parents.

 

Do2Learn

A site for students with disabilities. It has a social skills activity box with social stories and activities, behavior regulation story strips, songs and games focused on social skills and safety, and some printable PECs style cards.

 

Family Resources for Students with Complex Needs

It is recognized that everyone is doing their best to manage work, self-care, children’s online education, and more during the COVID-19 pandemic. Families and professionals supporting children with disabilities face additional challenges. You are not in this alone. The PA Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN), in collaboration with the Bureau of Special Education, has created this website for families and general educators supporting complex learners in virtual learning.

 

FAQs for Families of Students with Disabilities

Some frequently asked questions (FAQs) regarding the school closures.

 

 

Highlighting Resources for Teachers and Parents to Enhance the Continuity of Learning During COVID-19 for Children with Disabilities

This webinar was the second in the series and focused on the provision of related services through remote and distance methods to address the critical, ongoing needs of children with disabilities during the COVID-19 era. This webinar included representatives from several related service national organizations, OSEP Centers, and university partners. Additional Resources can be found on the OSEP IDEAs That Work Website at: osepideasthatwork.org

 

PEAL’S COVID-19 Resource Page

 

Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) while Learning from Home

While students are learning at home, IEP teams are reviewing the supports and services that are in IEPs designed for learning at school. Some of the SDI may be able to be delivered via distance learning while some IEP teams will need to revise how the student’s needs can be met in different ways. This webinar will provide ideas for “virtual” strategies that may be used to meet student needs for SDI.

Participants will be able to:

  1. Discuss key points about SDI from the annotated IEP
  2. Describe various types of SDI
  3. Explain the difference between accommodations and modifications
  4. List examples of SDI that can be delivered virtually

 

Supporting Students with Disabilities at Home and at School

In this guide, we provide 5 key practices for teachers and families to support all students, including students with disabilities, at school and home. This is not an exhaustive list of “best practices.” Instead, we identified a small number of practices that have a big impact on student learning and social-emotional-behavioral growth.

 

Tips for Families in Supporting Their Children with Disabilities in Virtual Formats

Designing an Instructional Space at Home

For distance and online learning we need to consider how to carve out a space for learning at home, here are four tips for success.

 

Engaging Your Child

When children are engaged in the classroom, they are more likely to connect to what they are learning, pay attention to instruction, and actively participate in their learning. Parents and families members can support their children at home by using various strategies that provide multiple options for engagement.

 

List of Sites for Families to Use While School is Closed

A free resource for teachers and families that provides online opportunities for engagement in virtual field trips, Reading and Writing, Math, STEAM, screen free activities, and "other stuff".

 

Low Tech and No Tech Approaches to Distance Learning

If you are in a situation where all your learners do not have the same access to devices or internet at home, low-tech and no-tech approaches can help you provide instruction in an equitable way. Many of the things you can do follow the principles related to engaging your learners, providing connection, and designing authentic activities.

 

TedEd - Teaching and Learning From Home

To support the millions of students, parents and teachers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, TED-Ed is working with expert educators and TED speakers throughout the world to create and share high-quality, interactive, video-based lessons on a daily basis, for free.

Simply enter your email to have a handful of engaging lesson plans organized by age group that span all subjects delivered to your inbox every day. Each newsletter will also include insights and tips collected from TED-Ed's global community of students, parents and teachers.

Age levels served include:

  • Elementary/Primary
  • Middle School/Lower Secondary
  • High School/Upper Secondary
  • College/University

Subjects Covered include:

  • The Arts
  • Business & Economics
  • Design, Engineering
  • Health
  • Literature & Language
  • Mathematics
  • Philosophy & Religion
  • Psychology
  • Science & Technology
  • Social Studies
  • Thinking and Learning
     
  • TedEd Teaching and Learning From Home

 

The 5 C's: How Families Can Engage

11 Ways Parents Can Support a Positive School Climate

An 8 page digital booklet that emphasizes that the entire school community has a role to play in creating a safe and positive learning environment. Action-oriented tips encourage parents to: support school efforts and rules team up with teachers volunteer foster their child's attachment to school stress the value of education. Also emphasizes the importance of teaching respect and responsibility, and being a good role model.

 

Digital Tools for Home-School Communication

Timely feedback between home and school and vice versa is vital. There are various digital tools available to help you provide information, directions, solutions, or even feedback.

 

Tips for Partnering With Teachers in the New School Year

 

What Does Home to School Communication Look Like When School is Happening at Home?

Career Resources

A list of links with descriptions for youth, parents, and teachers to support building career skills in youth.

 

College Resources

A list of links with descriptions for youth, parents, and teachers to support building college skills in youth.

 

Daily Living Skills Resources

A list of links with descriptions for youth, parents, and teachers to support building daily living skills in youth.

 

Digital Lessons for Remote Learning

We're thrilled to be able to offer you access to 20+ digital courses for students in grades K-12 on critical topics including financial education, mental wellness, compassion, and digital wellness.

 

Employment Resources

A list of links with descriptions for youth, parents, and teachers to support building employment skills in youth.

 

Mobile Apps to Support Transition-Age Youth

Many free and low-cost mobile apps are available to support transition-age youth with disabilities as they embark on their journey towards post-secondary education, job training, employment, and independent living. With so many options, it can be difficult to know where to begin. This list includes apps that have been reviewed by parents and professionals and found to be useful and well-designed.

 

Providing Transition-Focused Activities Online or at Home

 

Tech and No-Tech Resources for Transition

General information to help build supports for teachers, VR staff, providers, and families on options to incorporate secondary transition services and Pre-ETS into scheduled activities.

 

Virtual College Fair

 

Workplace Readiness Skills

This toolkit will assist educators and families with the tools needed to reinforce workplace readiness skills in the home. You can download the toolkit in its entirety or the individual activity sheets.

 

Self-Determination Resources

A list of links with descriptions for youth, parents, and teachers to support building self-determination skills in youth.

 

The Pennsylvania Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) Program Brochure

 

Ticket to Work Program Fact Sheet

 

We Can Work Website

The Department of Human Services launched the We Can Work campaign—an effort to educate the public about employment support and opportunities for people with disabilities and how DHS’ programs can help facilitate job connections and training programs. The campaign also focuses on sharing the stories of people who use DHS services and have enriching employment while still maintaining supports through Medicaid. The campaign features Yasom and Josie who both receive services and supports through DHS programs.

The We Can Work website includes the following:

  • How people with disabilities can see if they qualify for Medicaid
  • Employment supports for people covered by Medicaid
  • Additional resources for people seeking employment
  • Josie and Yasom’s stories
     
  • We Can Work!