Ideas for Joyful Learning During School Closures: Be a Good Neighbor

At-Home Learning: PBS SoCal and KCET, in partnership with LAUSD and in collaboration with California PBS stations, are offering broadcast programming with digital resources that adhere to California’s state curriculum. Download this week’s schedule.

Being asked to stay at home from school away from friends and family may give rise to feelings of isolation or loneliness, but there are plenty of things you can do from home to feel like you are still connecting with the world around you. This week, our theme is inspired by Mr. Rogers — we hope to inspire you with ideas on how to be a good neighbor to your family, friends, and your community. The education team at PBS SoCal and KCET has come up with a few ideas to help you make connections with family at home and loved ones you haven’t had a chance to see in awhile. We even have a few suggestions on how to do something nice for your neighborhood or community.

Here’s this week’s schedule to help add a few ideas to your child’s learning routine at home:

Pre-K - 3rd grade
4th - 8th grade
9th-12th grade

Ideas for Early Learners (Pre-K-3rd grade)

• Even young children have ways of being helpful at home. Make a Coupon Book of Helpful Gifts and use it as an opportunity to talk about the ways we give and receive help at home. Children are encouraged to think about all the ways they help their family — maybe by helping sort the laundry, setting the table, or giving someone a hug. You can help your child write the helpful activities down or have them draw a picture of it. Staple all of the coupons together and let your child keep the coupon book. Encourage them to give at least one coupon to a family member every day this week.

• Is your child missing their best friend, cousin, or grandparent? Plan a virtual lunch, snack time, or storytime over video chat. Check out these 13 Activities to Make the Most Out of Video Chat with Kids for great ideas on how young children can reconnect with loved ones and feel like they are playing together even when they are apart. Making time for video chats can be a great way for children of all ages to spend quality time with their friends and family.
• Grab some sidewalk chalk and head outside to create beautiful or silly pictures on the sidewalk outside your home. With many families heading outside for afternoon or evening strolls, your child can beautify the neighborhood and brighten someone’s day with sidewalk art. Help kids write positive messages or funny jokes alongside their pictures. Or you can draw a game for other neighborhood kids to enjoy. Here’s how to play letter hopscotch. Tip: Don’t have any chalk? Here’s a recipe for making your own chalk at home.

Ideas for Older Children (4th Grade-12th Grade)

• The CDC now advises wearing a face covering in public spaces, to help slow the spread of the virus. Create DIY face-mask with your older children as a creative activity that also helps your whole family be good neighbors to others in your community. Masks can be made from old t-shirts, bandanas or leftover fabric. Here are DIY instructions from the CDC and the LA Times, ranging in difficulty from no-sew to ultra-crafty.
  • For those that want to take the DIY-ing to the next level and are able to make additional masks, some hospitals are accepting donations of home-made masks. You can find a list of U.S. facilities that are accepting donations here.
• Brighten up your neighborhood by hanging messages of support and encouragement in your street-facing windows or outside your home. Seeing a colorful message while on a daily walk can really bring joy to your community! Get some inspiration from PBS SoCal’s Early Learning Specialist, Suzie Hicks, who practiced some “distant socializing” by writing positive messages to her neighbors.

Your kids can still be civically engaged from inside your home!

• Encourage your kids to email their elected representatives with their concerns, the impact this period has had on their lives as students and what they hope to see changed. Find out how to contact your local, state and federal representatives here.
• Have you filled out your census yet? If not, you still can at 2020census.gov! Fill out the census with your kids and explain how being counted helps your community by funding schools, hospitals and transportation. Don’t believe us? Hear why the census is important from some of our favorite Sesame Street neighbors.

More Resources

• Share Above the Noise’s newest Covid-19 video, Everything's Cancelled: Coping Tips Straight From a Psychologist, with your high school-aged children. This week’s episode addresses uncertainties around school closures and the new stresses that come with being confined to your home.
• These are stressful times for people of all ages. Here is an article withSimple Steps for Parent and Child to Manage COVID-19 Stress.
• Tune in to PBS KIDS programming on your local PBS SoCal channel for curated educational content for children in PreK through 3rd grade. Tune in to KLCS for content targeted toward 4rd-8th graders and KCET for content geared for 9th-12th graders.
• Visit PBS LearningMedia for free PBS KIDS standards-aligned videos, lesson plans, and other resources about Math, English Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, and Social-Emotional learning.