The coronavirus has made its way on American soil and millions of people across the country now have to adjust in unprecedented ways. While it is most important to ensure your family’s core needs of food, health, and safety are met, making sure children are properly educated during this containment period is also imperative.
But rest assured, you don’t have to be a seasoned educator to properly teach children. What matters most is that you are consistent with your efforts and students receive engaging, high-quality material.
• Related: Working class hit hard amid coronavirus closures
Following are some math and language arts resources that can be used to keep children on or above grade level.
Mathematics
For fun, educational activities that are sure to keep children of all ages engaged, consider some old, but goodie games that you may already have at home. Chess, checkers, Candyland, dominoes and traditional cards are excellent teaching tools that are also lots of fun. Children will learn without realizing they’re being taught!
For more traditional math instruction, check-out the following websites:
Grades K – 12:
https://www.insidemathematics.org/common-core-resources
This site has tons of video lessons, math problems and tasks that are consistent to current Common Core standards.
Grades K-5:
Zearn Math prides itself on “hands-on instruction and immersive digital learning.” The site also offers tons of resources for traditional educators and parents who are affected by recent school closures.
English Language Arts
Parents and students will enjoy the engaging reading exercises at www.readtheory.org and www.commonlit.org. Both of these sites are completely free and were created by educators and professional writers. In addition to reading, students in grades 3-5 can work on their research and writing skills with a research plan at https://tinyurl.com/research2020indy.
However, nothing beats traditional reading methods, so encourage your children to read hardcopies or electronic books. Younger children will also benefit if you read to them. Following are some great books, most of which are written by African-Americans. Also included are guided questions parents can use to engage with children while they read.
Suggested books:
- Kindergarten
- “Bigmama’s” — Donald Crews
- “Jamaica and Brianna” — Juanita Havill
- 1st Grade
- “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” — William Kamkwamba
- “Freedom Song: Story of Henry ‘Box’ Brown” — Sally M. Walker
- 2nd Grade
- “Each Kindness” — Jacqueline Woodson
- “This is the Rope” — Jacqueline Woodson
- 3rd – 5th Grade
- “A Life Like Mine: How Children Live Around the World” — DK Publishing
- “Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America” — Sharon Robinson
- 6th – 8th Grade
- “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” — Alex Haley
- “Animal Farm” — George Orwell
- 9th – 12th Grade
- “Invisible Man” — Ralph Ellison
- “Alone Together” — Sherry Turkle
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Questions to discuss reading with your child |
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Start Discussion |
What is the author trying to say? What is the author’s message? What is the author talking about? |
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Focus on the Message |
What does the author mean with that message? Who do you think the message is for? How does the meaning connect with what the author is telling us with their words? What information has the author added that connects or fits with ______________________? |
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Discuss The Author’s Use of Language |
Does what the author said about ____________make sense? Is what the author is saying clear? If the author did not explain it clearly, why didn’t they? What do we need to figure out what the author is saying? |
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Discuss Character Development |
How do things look for this character now? Given what the author has already told us about the character, what do you think the character is up to? How does the author let you know that something has changed? How does the author settle this for us? |
Source: “Questioning the Author” by I. Beck and M. McKeown
Patrick Jones is a longtime educator who has coached principals, developed instructional systems at various schools and served as the founding principal of Tindley Preparatory Academy. Under Jones’ leadership, Tindley earned four consecutive A grades from the Indiana Department of Education. Jones is currently senior director of School Incubation at The Mind Trust, a local education nonprofit dedicated to ensuring all children receive access to a high-quality education.
