For Our Kids

These are crazy times we live in now. It seems that there's something new being shut down every hour, and we know how difficult this can be for parents and children alike! It's hard to find things to occupy the whole family day after day, especially while trying to figure out how best to provide your kids with the spiritual education they can no longer get in Sunday. Luckily, there are many excellent resources that available to families now to keep their children entertained and/or spiritually focused in this confusing time.

Below you can find a complete list of some of the resources we've found to help you and your family stay sane throughout all the chaos:) There are a lot of things on the list, so we've done our best to organize them well for you!

At Home Sunday School

If you wanted to continue doing Sunday school with your kids, you can still do so from home! There are a few curriculums that have put free online lessons for you to do with your kids for Sunday school, but you can do them at any time throughout the week! Each comes with the lesson plan and a parent guide. Check them out below:

NCC Kids

• preschool / elementary

C3 Kids

• preschool to grade 5

Mission Live

• preschool to high school

Life Church

• preschool to grade 6
• includes the "Bible Adventures" series, which can also be found on YouTube!

Making the Bible Come Alive

• A new curriculum offered to you by PAOC!
• Follows the story of specific Bible characters
• Highly recommended!

Orange Curriculum

Kids of Integrity

Illustrated Ministry

Entertainment

Mr.Phil TV: From the man who made VeggieTales, you can now check out a whole wealth of Biblical entertainment for free for two weeks! Unforutunately, you cannot access Veggietales on this platform, but you can find many of those videos on YouTube for free.

Adventures in Odyssey: You can get a 4-week free trial for access to a whole bunch of wonderful audio stories!

Games for kids: Many, many indoor games for kids if you find yourself bored in the house!

Bible Adventures: check the "Bible Adventures" videos out on YouTube for free!

You can also find certain episodes of VeggieTales on YouTube, such as this one!

Audio-books! Listen to Narnia, Little House on the Prairie and more!

• • Hoopla app (requires library card)
  • Libby app (requires library card) Find it on the App Store!
  • Audible- you can get it as an app, or go to the website on the link. Free trial for thirty days!

Education

Field trips: if you're struggling to find fun and educational things to do with your kids now that they're out of school, you can check out these virtual field trips! (You'll probably need a gmail account to access them)

Template schedule for at home learning: Click on the link to find a possible schedule for learning at home, which you can edit to suit your kids needs and interests! (kids can also colour in the schedule:)

Open School BC from the BC Government

Tips for learning at home from the BC Government

Info about COVID-19: Schools & Ongoing Learning from the BC Government

Parent Guides & Resources

If you're trying to figure out how best to talk with your kids about the current situation, or struggling with the situation yourself, these guides might be helpful for you! Below is a list of guides tackling topics like anxiety, crisis, the struggles of parenting, etc.

Fear and anxiety:

• Managing Fear and Anxiety During a Health Pandemic
• Anxiety Conversation Guides
• Crisis Conversation Guides
• Helping Kids Navigate Anxiety

Guides + Conversation Starters

• Life Church: Parenting
• 5 Questions Parents Can Ask Their Kids About COVID
• 100 Mealtime Questions
• 100 Heart-to-Heart Questions
• Building Strong Families - video series
• Family Dream Institute resources

Apps

• Parent Cue- an app for parents with encouragement, reminders, and conversation starters! A great all-in-one resource for parents you can check out. 
• Family 5- long & short activities for kids of all ages, plus conversation guides for parents! Click on the link to download:)

Focus on the Family

• Check out the website for devotions, activities, and helpful articles on parenting and marriage!

TIPS:

• This is temporary. We are crisis teaching, not actually homeschooling. 
• DON’T try to do too much
  • You will frustrate yourself and your child(ren)
  • Don’t overdo academic instruction
    •  Elementary age – 2 hours/day
    • Middle age – 3 hours/day
    • High School – 4 hours/day
• DO have fun
  • Play games
  • Learn something fun/useful (sew, knit, set the table, take out trash, new card game)
  • Post the Schedule – your kids can help you keep to it, and they will feel more stability
  • Be calm. Your kids need you relaxed and present more than they need academics
  • Snuggle!