School Closure Resources
This page contains many parent resources for families that include resources for productive learning time while schools are closed as well as information from community agencies that can help if a crisis occurs. We hope you will check this page often for new resources.
Google: How To
Here are a few videos that explain some of the Google Tools used for remote instruction:
Solving Google Account Conflicts and Sign-In Problems
Submit Your Work with a Photo Video
Google Classroom Video Tutorial (Overview)
Submitting Work in Google Classroom
Asking Questions About an Assignment- Submitting Work in Google Classroom
Things To Do
Children's Museum https://www.childrensmuseum.org/museum-at-home
Natural History https://naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/virtual-tour
Nasa https://oh.larc.nasa.gov/oh/
Nasa https://www.nasa.gov/glennvirtualtours
Space Center https://spacecenter.org/app/
Cincinnati Zoo http://cincinnatizoo.org/news-releases/cincinnati-zoo-is-bringing-the-zoo-to-you/
PBS Learning Media https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/
Crisis Resources
*****If you or someone you love is hurt or in danger dial 911 now! The following resources are offered to support during difficult times NOT to address immediate emergencies.
Montgomery County Crisis Care http://sbhihelp.org/crisiscare-montgomery/
Preble County Crisis Care http://sbhihelp.org/crisis-services-preble/ Hot Line and Crisis Services 1-866-532-3097 24 hours a day/7 days a week. To talk to someone if you are experience a crisis between 9 am and 5 pm Monday through Friday, call 937-456-1915.
Daybreak 605 S Patterson Blvd, Dayton, OH 45402 937-395-4600 - Daybreak is an emergency shelter for runaway and homeless youth. Today, Daybreak operates the emergency youth shelter and has grown to include outreach, prevention, transitional housing, life-skills education, and other follow-up services for runaway, throwaway, and homeless youth. Daybreak also offers a 24/7 crisis hotline 937-461-1000. The hotline provides trained, caring employees 24 hours a day to talk to you about your situation and help you decide the best course of action. They can also help you get to Daybreak from wherever you are. ****If there is an immediate emergency please dial 911 now.
Self-Care and Mental Health
Visit Very Well Family for tips in teaching coping skills for children.
Free Mindfulness Classes For Kids https://www.mindfulschools.org/free-online-mindfulness-class-for-kids/
https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline
Parenting During Shelter In Place
Tips for Using Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support at Home
https://preventchildabuse.org/coronavirus-resources/
https://qz.com/1823522/how-to-help-pre-teen-kids-in-a-coronavirus-lockdown/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/03/24/talking-kids-coronavirus/
Quaranteenagers: Strategies for Parenting in Close Quarters https://nyti.ms/2Uyaf11
Talking to Teens about Drugs/Alcohol
http://fightflavoredecigs.org/tips-on-talking-to-your-kids/
http://fightflavoredecigs.org/what-parents-need-to-know/
As Coronavirus Anxiety Grows, Public Advised How To De-Escalate Stressful Situations
De-escalation in everyday lives is crucial now as individuals face highly elevated emotions in a variety of situations, according to CPI. These can include interactions in healthcare settings, grocery stores, takeout lines and even in isolation at home as kids and parents navigate challenges of work and school. CPI is sharing tips to help individuals control their own behavior during heightened stress and anxiety.
The five tips everyone can use include:
Understand that Behavior is Communication: Most communication occurs beyond the words we use. Look for signs of anxiety in body language, tone and cadence. Understand that crisis behavior reflects a need and consider what it is the other person might want.
Avoid the Power Struggle: No one can meet every need at every moment. Challenging or exercising authority over a person can escalate negative behaviors. Considering options you can offer allows flexibility to address both parties’ needs and desired outcomes.
Use Limit Setting: Behavior can’t be forced but setting limits can help us influence behaviors. Framing acceptable behaviors or outcomes can encourage the other person to choose the most productive option.
Practice Rational Detachment: Don’t take behaviors personally. Stay calm. Find a positive way to release the negative energy you absorbed during the conflict. Keep in mind, you can only control your own attitude and actions.
Therapeutic Rapport: Learn from the conflict and help the other person learn from the experience. Focus on identifying and preventing the pattern of behavior in the future. Finally, put time and effort into repairing the relationship.
CPI has found that stress, fear and anxiety can impact mental health both short- and long-term. When pressed, these scenarios can cause people’s reactions to escalate and lead to verbal and even physical conflict. This is why CPI instills in its methods the philosophy of Care, Welfare, Safety and SecuritySM for everyone.
Visit www.crisisprevention.com/ReduceConflict where you can find and download additional free tips and information.
Online Resources for Educational Games/Activities
App of the Day: Nature Cat's Great Outdoors
Cat's Great Outdoors is the on-the-go tool set that will inspire your child to explore nature - in the backyard, at a local park or even looking out the window. Every day, Nature Cat has a set of new daily adventures that lets kids use tools to record and share their observations in fun, creative ways!
Preschool: Grow Seedlings in an Egg Carton
No starter pots? No problem. Growing seedlings in an egg carton is a great way to teach your child about plants.
Grades K-2: Make a Miniature Garden
Learn how seeds and plants grow and build observation skills with this hands-on garden activity. First, create your miniature garden and then track plant growth with the Nature Cat plant journal.
Grades 3-5: How do plants "drink" water?
You may know that you have to water plants to keep them alive, but how do plants get water from the soil into the parts they need? Try this experiment to learn how!
Grades 6-8: A Year in the Garden
This video tells the story of a traditional summer garden over the course of a year. Learn how to prepare for a garden starting in January through early spring by composting, starting seeds, and mapping the location of plants. See students in school gardens prepare their gardens for planting in the spring by measuring and creating pathways, and then watch as they tend to their gardens all summer by watering, weeding, and harvesting. Finally, learn how to get a garden ready for winter, and then start all over again!
Grades 9-12: Building a Garden in a Day: Video
Believe it - you can build a garden in a single day. By following these guidelines, you will build a productive and healthy garden from the ground-up in just a few hours. While you are on the site, check out the activity guides and the How-to-Garden video series.
App Spotlight: Photo Stuff with Ruff
Based on PBS KIDS' new short-form animated digital series, The Ruff Ruffman Show, Photo Stuff with Ruff will inspire your child to discover what the "stuff" in his or her world is made of. In this camera-based experience, your child will learn about science by exploring his or her surroundings and taking pictures of different materials to complete silly scenes. Play it together and record and share your observations in fun, creative ways!
Preschool: Arthur's Park Game
Practice taking action to improve your world by playing Arthur's Park, a digital game from the PBS KIDS series ARTHUR. In order to create a new park in an empty lot, Arthur has to make a speech to raise awareness, hold a bake sale to make money, and then equip the park. As children play each round, set in a board game format, they accumulate stars that they use to "buy" what they need for a new park. They also recognize the importance of making a plan to achieve one's goals.
Grades K-2: Voyage of the Butterflier XT
Join Chris and Martin for an exclusive perspective of Monarch butterflies and the different phases of their lifecycle! Viewers learn about the development of Monarch butterflies as they transform from caterpillars to butterflies, the long journey they take to prepare for winter hibernation, and the unique defense that they have against predators just because of the way that they look! The Kratt brothers explain that Monarchs take the longest journey of any insect in North America, traveling over 3000 miles to Mexico for four months of hibernation!
Grades 3-5: Sail Away with the Nature Cat Crew
Join the Nature Cat Crew and catch some wind! Gather items found in nature and make your own breezy sailboat! Using items found in nature (sticks, leaves etc), children will learn how to make their own sailboats!
Grades 6-8: Forces of Gravity and Air Resistance
In this blended lesson supporting literacy skills, students watch videos about gravity and investigate the motion of falling objects on Earth and on the Moon. They examine how the force of gravity acts on falling objects and how air resistance counteracts gravity.
Grades 9-12: Why Is the Universe Flat? | Physics Girl
Cosmic inflation is a theory that was proposed in the 1980s by cosmologist Alan Guth to answer some of the most fundamental questions of the origins of our universe. It also solved the Horizon Problem and the Flatness Problem.
Everyone: LET'S GET MOVING!
We know it can be challenging to get kids off screens and get them moving. ShapeAmerica - the association of Health and Physical Educators, has released a "Daily Big Three" guide with kid-friendly encouragement to move more than their fingers and thumbs. The first Big Three item is an activity to promote emotional wellness, number 2 is a physical activity, followed by number 3 - reflection. Download a printable guide with more information from their website.
