Teleworking + distance learning

by Donica Kaneshiro | Sept. 2, 2020

The typical online school day goes until early afternoon, if you’re lucky. But you still have hours left in your workday. So how do you keep the kids occupied while you finish those WebEx meetings and projects that are due? Here are some free online activities for kids that are heavy on the entertainment, but still manage to incorporate some learning.

• Connect on “The HI Way”: With live shows canceled, Honolulu Theatre for Youth has taken to the net and filmed a series of skits about the pandemic experience in Hawaiʻi that can help your little ones feel less isolated. There are also dozens of drama education videos to occupy keiki with Broadway dreams.
• Learn to code in a galaxy far, far away: Complete “Star Wars”-themed coding tasks for both beginners and advanced students.
• Collect cute critters and math skills: Prodigy teaches grades K-8 math in a Pokemon-like game environment.
• Cast a spell for fun: Delve deeper into the wizarding world with games, crafts and Hogwarts info in Harry Potter at Home.
• Build your mind: Visit the International Space Station, climb Mount Olympus or ride a minecart through the human bloodstream with downloadable Minecraft educational maps.
• Get moving: Need ideas for recess at home? Cosmic Kids Yoga and Go Noodle tempt little learners to get off the couch with fun, fast-paced movement videos, many of which feature familiar characters, such as Sonic the Hedgehog and Disney faves.
• Don’t forget about creative time: Art for Kids Hub has art lessons including drawing, origami, sculpting with videos organized by age range.
• Curated content: Presented by parenting resource Common Sense Media, Wide Open School provides free daily lesson plans of educational videos and project-filled websites for kids in five age groups from preschool to high school.
• One-stop shop: Khan Academy is a free online learning platform that offers practice exercises, instructional videos and a personalized learning dashboard for students to master a broad spectrum of subjects from math and science, to history and economics.
• When life gives you Peanuts: Peanuts Worldwide, the company behind Snoopy and Charlie Brown is offering free educational materials so students in grades K-8 can learn STEM, languages, arts and social studies alongside the beloved Peanuts characters. Lesson plans were created by curriculum specialists at Young Minds Inspired and NASA.

Back in April, we shared a blog about keeping busy while social distancing, in last four months, those websites have only gotten better. Recent additions include a 5 Minute Superhero Kids Workout on the Virtual Y website; children’s book author and artist Mo Willems’ collaboration with cellist Yo-Yo Ma on “The Yo-Yo Mo Show: An Evening of Musical Doodling,” part of the Kennedy Center’s YouTube channel; and the Save With Stories project founded by actors Jennifer Garner and Amy Adams now boasts 306 videos of celebs and everyday folks reading books aloud. While Amazon’s catalog of free audiobooks offered through its Audible service has swelled from dozens to hundreds.

If you find yourself being the go-to person for questions about technology, the state’s ʻOhana Help Desk may be a solution. Public school students having issues with connectivity and technology can call 808–643–3375 on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., on Sundays from 4 to 8 p.m. or get help online at ohanahelpdesk.org.

Also, the state Department of Health has published a short, free ebook to help parents talk to very young kids about COVID-19, including suggestions for activities to help them understand things.

With so much support for parents and students, together we will find new ways to stay productive as we make our way through the pandemic.

Donica Kaneshiro is a communications consultant at Hawaiian Electric Company.