Manataba Messenger

Page 20 RE: CHILDREN Coronavirus Help: Free educational resources for kids stuck at home during COVID-19 Sunday, March 22, 2020 11:27AM NEW YORK (WABC) -- Looking for ways to keep your kids busy while they're home from school during the COVID-19 outbreak? Check out our list of free educa- tional resources and activities. All Ages National Geographic Kids Science Lab - Science experi- ments, videos and articles National Ocean Service (NOAA) Kids - Science activi- ties and resources for kids and educators Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems! - Kennedy Center Education Artist-in-Residence Mo Willems explore ways of writing and making with kids of all ages Scholastic Learn -At-Home Resources - Learning experi- ences for K-9 Greg Tang Math - Math games and resources for all ages SciShow Kids - Videos explaining scientific concepts for young, curious minds Frontiers for Young Minds - Science articles written by sci- entists and reviewed by kids The Kid Should See This - STEAM, history, and culture- focused videos for kids of all ages Imagineering in a Box - Lessons on theme park design and engineering via Walt Disney Imagineering, Pixar and Khan Academy BBC Bitesize - Lessons cover- ing math, English, science and more for ages 3-16+ BrainPop - Learning tools cov- ering a variety of subjects BreakoutEDU - Immersive learning games for grades K-12 Wonderopolis - Educational articles for grades K-12 XtraMath - Math programs for students, parents and teachers How Stuff Works - Educational videos exploring the world around us Code.org - Computer science lessons for grades K-12 Typing.com - Keyboarding, digital literacy, and coding les- sons for all ages IXL - Lessons in math, lan- guage arts, science, social stud- ies and Spanish for grades PreK-12 Greatminds.org - Math, ELA and science for grades K-12 KCET At-Home Learning - Educational resources from PBS SoCal | KCET, in partner- ship with LAUSD and in col- laboration with California PBS stations for grades PreK-12 California Academy of Sciences - Apps, immersive interactives, and engaging videos covering a variety of sci- ence topics Bill Nye the Science Guy - Educational videos covering life, physical and planetary sci- ences NASA STEM @ Home for Students - STEM articles and activities for grades K-12+ Gizmos - Simulations explor- ing concepts in math and sci- ence for grades 3-12 PhET Interactive Simulations - Interactive simulations for sci- ence and math Khan Academy - Lessons on grammar, science, history and math for grades K-12 Professor Egghead Science Academy - Interactive lessons on science and engineering Quill.org - Writing and gram- mar activities for grades K-12 Quizlet - Flash cards, quizzes and games for languages, arts and humanities, social science, computer skills, science and math Duolingo - Language educa- tion for 35 languages COVID-19 Word Find THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS Just For Kids: A Comic Exploring The New Coronavirus February 28, 2020 Malaka Gharib Kids, this comic is for you. It's based on a radio story that NPR education reporter Cory Turner did. He asked some experts what kids might want to know about the new coronavirus discovered in China. Go to https://www.npr.org/sections/goat- sandsoda/2020/02/28/809580453/just- for-kids-a-comic-exploring-the-new- coronavirus to print off foldable ver- sion. Children are worried about the new coron- avirus. It’s important to ease their fears and empower them with age-appropriate informa- tion. An Interview with Child psychologist Laura Saunders, Psy.D., ABPP. www.scholastic.com What should parents tell young children about the coronavirus? Talk about it from a germ perspective. Use age- appropriate language to explain the very, very basic biology of germs—why we wash our hands, why we don’t put our hands in our mouths or touch our nose. That’s what’s developmentally appropriate. What should parents tell young children to do to stay safe from the coronavirus? The most important thing to do is to wash your hands regularly. This is a virus—that is spread through con- tact, so try to keep your hands away from your face and wash your hands regularly. For parents of younger children, you want things to be fairly simply stated. When should parents have these discussions with children? Should parents bring it up, or should they wait for the child to bring it up? Now is the time because it’s in the news frequently. Parents are talking about it, and that’s also worrisome to me—kids get a lot of misinformation from over- hearing parental conversations. What are the signs to look for to know if children are anxious about germs? While it’s important to wash your hands regularly— meaning before or after particular activities—that doesn’t mean you wash your hands multiple times between those activities. You’re looking for overly repetitive behavior or over-ritualized behavior—[as in] they’re not just washing their hands now but they refuse to touch the doorknob. How can parents help children cope with anxiety they are having? Validate their feelings: “I hear that you’re worried about picking up this virus. There’s been a lot of information about it on the news, but let’s get some good information.” So validate, but then stay fact- based. I don’t think it’s ever good to be dismissive, like, “Oh, that’s silly to worry about that.” Do you have any other advice for parents and teachers about helping children during this time? The most important thing is to become well-informed and provide fact-based information. Be more mindful about the conversations that you’re having in the presence of young children. Physically separate your- self—step 10 feet farther away, use a quieter voice,etc. Just don’t assume that kids are not listening to you, because kids are always listening to you when you’re within earshot. What if children make unkind or biased comments to other children about the coronavirus? I would deal with that like any other sort of mean or unkind behavior by reiterating the rules of kindness. And again, it’s misinformation. “Sally lives here in our town also. Nobody here has any more germs than anybody else.” Address it for the discrimination that it is.