National Science Foundation Has Free STEM Resources To Help With Online Learning
PEEP Family Science is designed for parents and their preschool children. It comes in free, easy-to-use apps, in English and Spanish, that make it fun for families to do science together at home. It’s funded by the National Science Foundation.
Courtesy of WGBH Educational Foundation.
It’s only been a week since Gov. Brian Kemp made the decision to keep all K-12 schools in Georgia closed for the rest of this school year. That has forced parents who may already be struggling with food insecurity and income loss to home-school their kids.
That means that many kids stuck at home during the coronavirus pandemic are now missing a crucial support system and learning resources they may not have at home – like Internet access, one-on-one time with teachers to ask questions, and more hands-on projects. To make the transition easier, the National Science Foundation is reminding educators about its own variety of creative, free resources.
NSF Program Director Sandra Welch said she hopes to offer some sound advice during the fallout of the pandemic.
“As hard as this is, and I’m sure it won’t be without some mistakes being made, I think this is a time of tremendous learning on the part of both parents and teachers,” Welch said.
For years, NSF has provided grants to educational producers to create more “fun” content that helps kids understand and get excited about STEM learning.
“There are all kinds of apps, interactive games, hands-on activities and so on that both parents and teachers can access free of charge,” she said.
She said the goal is to form a bridge between online teaching and what parents, who have the time and resources, could be doing outside of the classroom. And for parents whose first language isn’t English, Welch said a STEM game and video series called “Peep and the Big Wide World” also plays in Spanish.
“Morning Edition” host Lisa Rayam spoke to Welch about the success of these programs so far.
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