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Creating Community

As with the rest of the world, we are trying to work out how best to support you and be socially isolated. We know that this time of social isolation, distancing, lack of routine and structure, and general anxiety in the air could lead to lack of emotional regulation and trauma triggers for many of our children in care. We are praying for you and your families at this time and encourage you to reach out to us with specific prayer and needs.

Churches – we encourage you to check in with your fostering families. Respite foster care has ceased at the moment and in many cases so has access/contact visits with birth families, this means routines and regular people are not around fostering families and their children. So, now, more than ever, they need the support of their church family.

We are hopeful this is a list of resources and ideas that could be helpful to you at this time. It is far from exhaustive, as there are so many great resources popping up every day! However, we hope it is a helpful start and please be in touch if you know of a great one or anything, we have missed you would find helpful.

Spiritual Support

· Daily Podcasts from Bridgetown Church https://bridgetown.church/

· YouVersion Bible App and Bible App for Kids https://www.youversion.com/the-bible-app/

· Revive our Hearts (for women) https://www.reviveourhearts.com/

· The Briefing (analysis of the news from a Christian worldview) https://albertmohler.com/the-briefing

COVID-19 Support

Overcoming Anxiety in the Era of Coronavirus with Dr Curt Thompson

Talking to your kids about Coronavirus


FosterClub in the US have developed these resources for young people to help understand COVID-19 and how it effects them: https://www.fosterclub.com/c19?fbclid=IwAR1l6JsAVDUzyfW4VX93F2OS_GpRg86kGXpVPdPoIWAIjUemQq5GJwtEQLA

Encouragement for Foster and Kinship Carers

· Christian Alliance for Orphans https://cafo.org/nfci/

· Home for Good UK https://homeforgood.org.uk

· The Forgotten Initiative: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/resources/

· Foster the Family Blog http://www.fosterthefamilyblog.com/

· Rage against the Minivan http://www.rageagainsttheminivan.com/

· Mama C and the Boys https://mamacandtheboys.com/

· Jason Johnson Blog http://jasonjohnsonblog.com/

· Foster2Forever https://foster2forever.com/

· Confessions of an Adoptive Parent https://confessionsofanadoptiveparent.com/

· Ransom for Israel http://www.ransomforisrael.com/

Online communities

Chosen: Parent to Parent Support group with Trauma-Informed Education and Ideas

This online support group is for parents/carers of children from hard places. They are offering live support groups each week with a ten-minute time of trauma-informed education.

Online Lounge for Foster and Kinship Carers in Australia https://www.facebook.com/events/222884912098805/

Educational resources

Maths as a fun part of your daily family routine- http://bedtimemath.org/

Projects to keep kids reading, thinking, and growing- https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/…/learnathome.html

Online history classes for all ages preteen through adults- https://school.bighistoryproject.com/bhplive

35,000 pages of online content on the different cultures and countries of the world- https://www.countryreports.org/

Young Explorers is a magazine designed specifically for young children. Children can listen to the magazine being read to them as they follow along with the highlighted text- https://ngexplorer.cengage.com/ngyoungexplorer/index.html

Type in any city, state, or country to view an archive of historical photographs and other documents. It’s a unique way to help children learn about history- http://www.whatwasthere.com/

All sorts of online classes for kids- https://outschool.com/#abk7vott3k

Short videos and texts that answer various burning questions for children. There are vocabulary challenges and comprehension questions- http://wonderopolis.org/

Maths games galore- https://gridclub.com/

Lots of science experiments that you can do at home- https://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/

Grammar- Work on the 8 parts of speech- https://www.grammaropolis.com/

Google Earth. All sorts of incredible learning here- https://www.google.com/earth/

Tests kids’ geography skills. Using images from Google’s Street View, it puts players down in the middle of the street and asks them to figure out where they are- https://www.geoguessr.com/

Short videos about numbers that help kids explore complex math topics and make math more fun- https://www.numberphile.com/

For budding Marine Biologists- take a deep dive into ocean life. https://ocean.si.edu/

Science podcasts to listen to with your kids- https://medium.com/…/19-great-science-podcasts-you-can-list…

ABC- Educational resources- https://education.abc.net.au/home#!/home

Boost writing confidence with Storybird- http://storybird.com/

This NASA initiative covers a wide range of topics including weather, climate, atmosphere, water, energy, plants, and animals- https://climatekids.nasa.gov/

Lots of science experiments that you can do at home-https://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/ Maths Worksheet for all grades Years 3 – 12 inclusive https://www.ezymathtutoring.com.au/resources/worksheets/ English Worksheet for all grades Years 3 – 12 inclusive https://www.ezymathtutoring.com.au/reso…/english-worksheets/ Twinkl - Home Learning resource packs for students https://www.twinkl.com.au/…/school-closure-home-learning-au… Scolastic Learning – reading all ages - Projects to keep kids reading, thinking, and growing- https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/…/learnathome.html Explore the World of Wonders - Discover the latest Wonders from SCIENCE and more… Short videos and texts that answer various burning questions for children. There are vocabulary challenges and comprehension questions - https://wonderopolis.org/ StudyLadder - https://www.studyladder.com.au/ Australian History Mysteries - Primary & Secondary School Australian Curriculum: HASS/History Resources https://www.australianhistorymysteries.info/

Learning Coding & Typing

· Scratch teaches students all about coding- https://scratch.mit.edu/

· Learn to code- https://www.codecademy.com/

· Coding for 4-10 year olds- https://www.kodable.com/

· FUSE Education for typing developed by the Dept of Education in Victoria (with links to other typing games) https://fuse.education.vic.gov.au/Resource/ByPin?Pin=AB6QXU&SearchScope=All

Fun activities for you and your kids to do from home

· Teddy Bear Hunts are happening around Australia – put a teddy in your front window or front yard

· Sculpture trails are starting up in people’s streets, encourage your kids to build a sculpture from found, recycled/upcycled items at your letterbox and post it to a local community Facebook page

· Paint/draw/create a rainbow with your children and put it in your front window/door to show colour and hope to your community

· Go Geocatching- https://geocaching.com.au

· The Kid Should See This- https://thekidshouldseethis.com

Virtual Excursions

· New York’s Museum of Modern Art and Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum- https://artsandculture.google.com/partner?hl=en The Louvre, based in Paris, is also offering its own virtual tour online for free- https://www.louvre.fr/en/visites-en-ligne

· Explore the surface of Mars on the Curiosity Rover- https://accessmars.withgoogle.com/

· The British Museum- located in the heart of London allows virtual visitors to tour the Great Court and discover the ancient Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies- https://britishmuseum.withgoogle.com/

· Geography with National Geographic- https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/

· Live video of the National Zoo and Smithsonian Learning Lab- https://www.si.edu/kids

· This NASA initiative covers a wide range of topics including weather, climate, atmosphere, water, energy, plants, and animals- https://climatekids.nasa.gov/

· The San Diego Zoo has a live webcam for animals- https://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/live-cams

· Melbourne Zoo also has live webcams https://www.zoo.org.au/animal-house

Arts, Crafts and Cooking

· Crafts and activities- https://www.allkidsnetwork.com/

· Fun games, recipes, crafts, activities- https://www.highlightskids.com/

· Illustrated recipes designed to help kids age 2-12 cook. Recipes encourage culinary skills, literacy, maths and science- https://www.nomsterchef.com/nomster-recipe-library

· Help children learn to appreciate the arts by providing them with the opportunity to play games, conduct investigations, and explore different forms of art- https://artsology.com/

· Think Design explores careers in fashion design, graphic design, interior design, book design, product design, film and theatre, architecture, animation, and environmental design- http://www.kidsthinkdesign.org/

· Mo Willems, the author of ‘Don’t let the Pigeon Stay up Late’ is uploading daily drawing lessons- https://youtu.be/MjaYnyCJDdU

· A wonderful detailed way to get kids engaged in the world of art- https://www.metmuseum.org/art/online-features/metkids/

· Red Tent Art- step by step instructions on art projects including origami, 3D cards, clay pots, etc- https://www.youtube.com/user/redtedart

· Make your own animated videos with Go Animate- http://goanimate.com/

· Prezi (make your presentations zoom) http://prezi.com/

· Create interactive avatars to showcase children’s learning- Voki: http://www.voki.com/

· Carson Ellis' Art Club- Carson Ellis, author and illustrator will be posting art assignments on her Instagram page every weekday morning. If you want to share them, you can use the hashtag #quarantineartclub. She’ll also provide individual hashtags for each exercise so everyone can see each other’s work. https://instagram.com/carsonellis?igshid=1urg2g0rg5r4b

Music

· Lets kids play instruments online. Instruments include the guitar, piano, pan flute, drums, and bongos- https://www.virtualmusicalinstruments.com/

· A large selection of fun songs to help teach preschool students- https://www.songsforteaching.com/preschoolkindergarten.htm

· Saturday Morning Cereal Bowl https://saturdaycerealbowl.podbean.com/

· Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child http://sparetherock.com/wordpress/

Learning Foreign Language

· Learn a language- https://www.duolingo.com/

Audiobooks

· Libraries Tasmania offers great ebooks and stories for kids (and adults) https://www.libraries.tas.gov.au/information/Pages/eLibrary.aspx

· Children’s books read by famous- people https://www.storylineonline.net/

· David Walliams is reading one of his stories everyday: https://www.worldofdavidwalliams.com/elevenses/

· Mo Willems, the author of ‘Don’t let the Pigeon Stay up Late’ is uploading daily drawing lessons- https://youtu.be/MjaYnyCJDdU

· Listen to astronauts read stories from space- https://storytimefromspace.com/library/

· Little Stories Tiny People https://www.littlestoriestinypeople.com/

· Be Calm on Ahway Island https://www.ahwayisland.com/

· Stories Podcast http://storiespodcast.com/

Podcasts for Kids

· The Past and The Curious thepastandthecurious.com/

· Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian http://www.finncaspian.com/

· The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel http://www.marspatel.com/

· Welcome to Nightvale www.welcometonightvale.com/

Daily workouts/Fitness routines for you and your kids

· Yoga and mindfulness for kids- https://youtu.be/0ImHIWzP49M

· Joe Wicks in the UK is hosting daily PE classes on YouTube: https://www.instagram.com/p/B964e68nLbZ/?utm_source=ig_embed

· Movement and mindfulness videos created by child development experts- https://www.gonoodle.com/

· Kid-friendly workouts — choose from Strength for Kids, Agility for Kids, Flexibility and Balance for Kids, Warm-Up for Kids, Cooldown for Kids, Stand Up and Move for Kids, OR create your own custom kid workout- https://app.sworkit.com/collections/kids-workouts

· Live PE lessons at 9am Monday to Friday on this YouTube channel for children of all ages. https://www.youtube.com/playlist…

· Lady Gaga’s former backup dancer, Mark Kanemura, is hosting virtual dance sessions on his Instagram page- https://instagram.com/mkik808?igshid=xp9gywx8gc02

Official information

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