Recommended by Education Associate Emily McClain:

The Georgia Department of Education has a fantastic collection of Fine Arts resources for all content areas. It’s free and available to teachers and I wanted to share with my teacher-network. We are resilient and creative and endlessly flexible. We will continue to share our love of art and music and theatre and dance with our students in this new medium!

Recommended in a recent email newsletter from the office of Essential’s Congressman, John Lewis:

Educational Tools for Distance Learning: While many schools have temporarily closed their doors, tools are available to assist parents with educating their children from home. However, each school or school district fosters its own program on how to adjust to the current pandemic. I recommend contacting your relevant institution for best practices. Talking to children about Coronavirus may be difficult but the CDC has provided an online resource to help parents and those working with children approach the subject. PBS has also provided tips on how to approach the topic.

Although changes have been made in how our students are learning, civil rights must still be protected. The Department of Education has released a fact sheet and webinar to serve as guidance for protecting the civil rights of students with disabilities for schools using online learning tools during the COVID-19 outbreak. Additional resources for schools and school personnel may be found on the Department of Education’s website.

In addition, there are nationwide resources available for distance learning provided by PBS and the Smithsonian.

For Students:
PBS Kids Livestream Channel
PBS Kids Game App

For Parents:
The PBS Daily Newsletter
PBS Parents Website

For Educators:
PBS Learning Media K-12
PBS Distance Learning Resources
Smithsonian Learning Lab (Resources for Distance Learning)
Smithsonian Resources and Collections
Smithsonian Museum Specific Collections

Looking for some creative, inspiring programming that’s a little more home-grown? Check out the digital offerings from Atlanta’s own Center for Puppetry Arts here!

The work these people have long done to develop frontier-pushingly accessible programming is profound, and their response to our current situation has been swift and inspiring. Icing on the cake? Tried and true Essential audiences will recognize at least one friendly face in their Digital Learning Artist-in-Residence Jeffrey Zwartjes!