Resources for Parents and Families

This section highlights “Learning at Home” resources and provides activities for parents and families to support continued learning outcomes with their children at home during the coronavirus pandemic. The resources below are grouped and organized by content, including General Resources, Literacy, Writing and Math Resources and resources for Helping Children and Families Process COVID-19.

General Resources for Families

This collection of resources provides families with practical tips and resources to support ongoing learning needs during school closures.

Parents: Supporting Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic. This online learning module from the IRIS Center offers tips for parents to support your child’s learning at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Equity and Learning During COVID-19. This set of resources from the Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium, which operates the Center for Education Equity (Equity Assistance Center (EAC) Region I), includes online conversations, webinars, weekly newsletters and other curated resources for educators and families.
What Are Some Specific Practices Used To Support English Learner (El) Students And Their Families? This resource from Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Northeast addresses frequently asked questions on some specific practices used to support English Learner (EL) students and their families.
Resources to Support Youth and Families During the Coronavirus COVID-19 Outbreak. The youth.gov website provides a repository of resources from across government on mental health and coping, particularly for those working with children, youth, and families. It highlights resources on topics affecting youth, including education, and how supportive adults can help.
Parent Information and Resources: COVID-19. The Center for Parent Information and Resources (CPIR) has developed a repository of resources to support the learning needs of students with disabilities that includes guidance from the U.S. Department of Education (and Others), COVID-19 information in other languages, telecommuting technology and tips, schooling at home, coping tips, and information for non-profits.
West Philly Promise Neighborhood: Resources for Families During COVID-19. The West Philly Promise Neighborhood put together a resource guide featuring free learning sites for children grouped by grade level to support families with children learning at home during COVID-19.
The West Virginia Family Engagement Center: COVID-19 Response. The West Virginia Family Engagement Center provides a family-focused webinar to explore educational opportunities for students and families in home during school closures.
State Resources Map for Families. This interactive resource from the Center for Education Equity (Equity Assistance Center Region I) compiles state by state resources to help families and educators find available resources and information during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Digital Divide and COVID-19 Webinar: What SEAs, LEAs, and Schools Are Doing. In this webinar, the Western Educational Equity Assistance Center (Equity Assistance Center Region IV) provides resources and strategies to assist students and families who may have limited or no access to technology-based learning environments, materials, and tools. The Center also shares related information and data from the Regional Education Laboratories and the National Center for Education Statistics.
Learning Goes On – A COVID-19 Resource for Education. Parents and caregivers can subscribe to this eNewsletter from IDRA EAC South (Equity Assistance Center Region III) to receive resources for schools and families responding to coronavirus (COVID-19).
5 Essential e-Tools & Family Activities for Summer Enrichment. This virtual roundtable event from the Midwest and Plains Equity Assistance Center (EAC Region III), 5 Essential e-Tools & Family Activities for Summer Enrichment, is an interactive showcase of e-tools and resource websites for parents, caregivers, and families with varying experience and exposure to Internet-based resources. Dr. Rosiline Floyd, Assistant Director of Technical Assistance from the Midwest and Plains EAC, shares 5 online activities to support summer learning and enrichment for families. Join to exchange ideas with other families on engaging their students at home during the summer months and preparing them for successful re-entry into school buildings in the fall.

Reading, Writing and Math Resources

This resource collection provides digital learning resources to support families with math literacy, and writing learning activities at home.

Teaching Math to Young Children for Families and Caregivers. This web-based resource from REL Central, REL Appalachia, and REL Northwest provides quick tips, evidence-based activities and games, and videos that families and caregivers can use at home to support math learning for children ages 2-8. The new resource complements and extends the What Works Clearinghouse practice guide Teaching Math to Young Children by providing resources and activities to help families and caregivers support children as they practice math skills at home. More…
Where Can Teachers, Caregivers, And Parents Find Free Digital Resources To Support Early Math Learning? This resource from REL West addresses frequently asked questions about where teachers, caregivers, and parents can find digital resources to support early math learning. More…
Tips for Families to Develop Effective Elementary Writing Skills for Children at Home. This practical guide from the REL Mid-Atlantic offers families and caregivers three main suggestions for supporting their children’s elementary writing skills at home: 1) Help children use the writing process for a variety of purposes; 2) Help children practice handwriting, spelling, typing, and word processing; 3) Create a supportive environment that encourages children to write daily. More…
Literacy Resource Repository The National Center on Improving Literacy (NCIL) has developed a resource repository of activities for when your child is unable to attend school. More…
Supporting Your Child’s Reading at Home. This series of videos and activities from REL Southeast provide families with children in kindergarten through 3rd grade with information about how to support kindergarteners, first graders, and second graders and third grade children as they practice foundational reading skills at home. More…
Supporting Children’s Reading at Home: Family Resources for Kindergarten through 3rd Grade. This recorded webinar by Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast for families and caregivers feature an overview of the Supporting Your Child’s Reading at Home website and resources for kindergarten through 3^rd grade providing knowledge and the ability to utilize the resources in a home setting.
Interactive Readalouds: Learning from Books Together. These intentionally designed Interactive Readalouds by Regional Educational Laboratory West for teachers, families, and caregivers can provide far more than just a pleasant experience. They can foster literacy development by building language and comprehension skills.
When Teachers and Students Are Separated: Strategies from Research on Social Presence for Teaching at a Distance. This infographic by Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast for teachers and school leaders provide a “social presence” framework for increasing student engagement and connects with strategies that can be applied in face-to-face classrooms or when teachers and students are physically separated in the context of online courses.

Helping Children and Families Process COVID-19

This collection of resources supports families as they help children to process the personal and community impacts of the global pandemic, both mentally and emotionally.

Resources to Support Youth and Families During the Coronavirus COVID-19 Outbreak. The gov webpage provides a repository of resources from across government to support youth and families during the COVID-19 outbreak, including resources on health, mental health, stress and coping.
How can educators and families support students’ mental health and social emotional needs? This brief from the REL Northeast & Islands provides tips for how educators and families can support students’ mental health and social emotional needs, as well as links to additional resources for more information.
COVID-19 Resources for Families: Help Children Understand COVID-19. With disruptions of the family routines and limited physical activities, children may feel overwhelmed, upset, and stressed during this challenging time. This curated set of resources from the STEM Innovation for Inclusion in Early Education (STEMIE) Center helps families with young children with and without disabilities talk about the pandemic and navigate changes to their everyday routines and activities.
Communities of Care Virtual Coffeehouse Series. This project of the Midwest and Plains Equity Assistance Center (EAC Region III) seeks to leverage equity-centered approaches to educational practices and to support learning communities for families and caregivers in the wake of COVID-19. Sessions include:
- Leveraging our Communities of Care: Sharing Barriers and Solutions to Support Students & Families During COVID-19 (May 5, 2020). Participants share challenges and solutions to providing equitable learning opportunities in the face of COVID-19.
- Serving as a Social Justice Change Agent: Connecting Students and Families to Social Service Supports (May 18, 2020). Participants discuss ways schools can support caretakers and families through relief fund applications, accessing health care services, disseminating information, and finding (and navigating) care and service work.
- Towards Communities of Care: Facing Death, Dying, and Loss (June 8, 2020). Participants discuss supporting students and families negotiating death, dying, and loss, as well as how we approach authentically caring for our school communities as an act of teaching and learning.
- Supporting New Teachers in the Wake of COVID-19 (August 17, 2020). Participants discuss communities of practice focused on mentoring and valuing new teachers who were unable to finish their student teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Learning at Home Newsletter. This weekly newsletter from the Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium, which operates the Center for Education Equity (Equity Assistance Center Region I) shares information to help ease the burden that parents and families may be facing during times of uncertainty. The newsletters include a variety of resources, parenting strategies, materials, tips, and activities that may be helpful in fostering a productive home learning environment.
A Conversation with Latinx Families. This discussion with, hosted by the Center for Education Equity (Equity Assistance Center Region I), heard from the Latinx community disproportionately impacted by this crisis. The COVID-19 crisis has forced students, parents, teachers and school administrators to think about education in a different manner. Latinx parents discussed how the global pandemic has affected their students’ educational experience and explored key questions related to access and equity.
A Conversation with Students. This panel discussion centers student perspectives on their learning opportunities during a pandemic. These views reflect nationwide concerns regarding educational equity for all students; particularly for students from special populations (e.g., low-income, special needs, English Learners, students experiencing homelessness, etc.) during this crisis. To address these concerns, Center for Education Equity (Equity Assistance Center Region I) facilitated a dialogue with students from California, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, and Oregon, to hear their perspectives on how the pandemic is impacting their present and future educational experiences.
Families Learning from Families Virtual Roundtable Series. The Midwest and Plains Equity Assistance Center’s Families Learning from Families Virtual Roundtables are dynamic, online learning experiences aimed at providing an opportunity for parents and caregivers with different backgrounds (i.e. families of Color, families with varied religious backgrounds, families with children with disabilities, families from disinvested communities, non-traditional families) to talk with, and ask questions of, an expert in family and community supports, and in home and school partnership. In this series, families from various backgrounds will engage in discussion with each other and a featured expert, who is also a parent/caregiver, with the aim of sharing ideas and resources related to supporting students and families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Session include:
- Balancing Caregiver & “Teacher” Roles at Home (June 6, 2020). Wondering how other parents and caregivers are balancing the roles of “teacher” and “caregiver” during the COVID-19 pandemic? This event, facilitated by scholar-mother Dr. Jada Phelps-Moultrie, Assistant Professor at Michigan State University, provides a great opportunity for parents and caregivers from different backgrounds to share their concerns, offer ideas, and learn about strategies related to balancing family roles with their new roles as educators at home in the age of COVID-19.
- Supporting Emotional Wellness: Coping with Anxiety and Fear During the COVID-19 Pandemic (June 13, 2020). In this event, Midwest and Plains Equity Assistance Center invites families from different backgrounds to come together to discuss their anxieties and fears related to the pandemic and learn self and community care strategies for promoting emotional wellness in the age of COVID-19. This virtual roundtable is facilitated by Tracy Pruitt, M.Ed., a trained school counselor specializing in parent support around trauma, grief and loss, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and behavioral and anger management.
- 5 Essential e-Tools & Family Activities for Summer Enrichment (June 27, 2020). This virtual roundtable event is an interactive showcase of e-tools and resource websites for parents, caregivers, and families with varying experience and exposure to Internet-based resources. During this showcase, Dr. Rosiline Floyd, Assistant Director of Technical Assistance from the Midwest and Plains EAC, shares five online activities to support summer learning and enrichment for families. Participants exchange ideas with other families on engaging their students at home this summer during the COVID-19 pandemic and preparing them for successful re-entry into school buildings in the fall.
Virtual World Cafe: Meeting the Needs of All Students During COVID-19. This community engagement event, hosted by Midwest and Plains Equity Assistance Center (EAC Region III), created an opportunity for education stakeholders in urban, suburban, and rural communities to convene online to discuss equity implications for addressing students’ educational, social, and emotional needs during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. During this Café, participants engaged in dynamic discussion and shared ideas for solutions to identified challenges in historically underserved communities, as school communities prepare for recovery, reentry, and reimaging teaching and learning in a new landscape. Topics include Mental Health/Socio-emotional Wellness, Family/Community Care, Leadership, and Supporting Diverse Students in Distance Learning.
The Family Room Webinar Series. These weekly educational workshops hosted by the Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium, which operates the Center for Education Equity (Equity Assistance Center Region I) and Turning the Page engage with community partners to help families connect with each other and break down feelings of isolation during this exceptionally isolating time. Examples of partners engaged during these sessions include museum educators and educational experts across a variety of disciplines.

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