Company of Week: Learning Resources, Educational Insights and hand2mind Support Educators, Parents a

As schools began to close in March due to concerns around COVID-19, a family of award-winning companies, including Learning Resources, Educational Insights, and hand2mind, launched a range of complimentary, family-friendly online resources and activities to keep kids productive and engaged as they transitioned to distance learning. These tools provided parents the assistance needed as they quickly took on additional responsibilities as in-home teachers, including lesson plans and advice, do-it-yourself projects and videos, along with printable activities and worksheets for kids of all ages. The companies’ combined efforts of creating 8,500 individual assets resulted in more than two million visits to their respective pages, and more than 420,000 content downloads, directly serving consumers seeking these vital resources.

In addition to providing an impressive variety of FREE resources and activities,all three companies believe that every kid should have the chance to learn at home in these challenging times. To ensure more families had access to the hands-on learning tools they needed, the companies partnered with the Kids In Need Foundation to donate $350,000 in educational toys and resources, furthering the organization’s mission in helping underserved children learn during this moment of crisis.

Building on the successes to date of being a go-to resource for families, the companies have continued to refresh and update their websites regularly with new materials, ensuring educational lessons can be learned each and every week without repetition. To further help prepare families and teachers for the upcoming school year, each company is also offering a variety of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and new products that promote safe social distancing to ensure students can focus on what matters most; their education. For more specifics from each company, please see the details below.

To support students, teachers, and parents, hand2mind provides 12 weeks of free daily lessons, videos, and activities developed by educators for grades K-5, as well as resources for preschoolers on the teach@home website. See it here: www.hand2mindathome.com/

Learning Resources offers over 3,000 fun & free Learning@Home essentials such as DIY activities, games, worksheets and product bonus content for kids 2-10. Check it out here: www.learningresources.com/free-at-home-learning-essentials

Educational Insights is sparking curiosity in every child with free at-home activities for kids, starting in Pre-K and all the way through grades 3-4! Enjoy downloadable worksheets, coloring pages, and other ideas from a team of expert parents, teachers and more. www.educationalinsights.com/at-home-activities-for-kids

Learning Resources

Learning@Home

Learning from home? Learning Resources has the essential advice and activities you need to bring the classroom home with you!

As you look for ways to keep your kids occupied throughout the day, the team at Learning Resources is working hard to develop educational resources that make homeschooling and eLearning exciting, challenging, and rewarding for students of all ages. Learning Resources is doing its part to support parents and teachers by providing activities that keep your students learning and growing amidst all the changes they’re encountering. Check out their newly updated look and feel of its Learning@Home page! They’ve made it even easier for families to navigate the free materials by subject and grade.The company is continuing to offer a wide selection of free online activities, from printable worksheets and craft ideas to DIY projects, activity kits, and educational games.

The collection of tools and guides include resources for subjects including math, language, science, social studies and more. Along with an abundance of free materials, they offer an extensive lineup of educational products developed for schools that are also usable at home. Designed to promote learning through play, Learning Resources products help engage childrens’ brains, boost motor skills and develop their creativity. Whether in class, at home, or through another distance learning environment, Learning Resources provides the educational content for parents and teachers to keep kids entertained, engaged, and educated!

With more than 3,400 pieces of content available today, the most popular free content continues to focus on math, such as the All Around the Playground Game, Fun with Money Activity Book and more.

EDUCATIONAL INSIGHTS

At-Home Learning and Play

Educational Insights is made up of a team of parents, teachers, and play experts and together they have compiled their favorite at-home activities that kids can enjoy on their own or with their parents, from puzzles and coloring pages, to math and reading worksheets. The company is now offering over 2,000 free resources to parents and kids for eLearning. The Educational Insights team has compiled our most popular at-home activities by grade for little learners. Find the appropriate grade and let the fun (and learning) begin! As an educational company, it is important to note that proving tools and toys that help all kids learn is the company’s mission, and this is an initiative they will continue to champion regardless of the pandemic.

The features of the campaign include the @Home learning page that houses all of the downloadable resources available here: www.educationalinsights.com/at-home-activities-for-kids.

A popular feature within the campaign has been the Home’s Cool video series, which offers a variety of fun and easy at home activities ranging from science, learning letters, art, and sensory play.

With more than 2.3 million video views to date, the team at Educational Insights is now focused on ‘summer learning activities’ and will continue to add more learning activities as distance learning continues into the 2020/2021 school year.

hand2mind

teach@home

Created and delivered by teachers, hand2mind introduced teach@home, an online resource offering 12 weeks of daily lessons and activities for K-5 students, in both English and Spanish. Each week families can download an easy-to-follow schedule, by grade, featuring daily video lessons for math and literacy as well as daily worksheets. Each week also includes a rotating “special” activity centered around another subject, such as STEM, science, SEL, art, or social studies!

After receiving a great response from teachers and parents to teach@home, the team at hand2mind went to work turning its online content into physical products, such as its new Learning at Home Math & Literacy Kits, which are designed to reinforce core instruction through hands-on activities while learning at home.

The company is also working with educators to help students who have been impacted by the “COVID slide” by offering supplemental curriculum resources -- such as its Daily Math Fluency and Differentiated Literacy Centers kits -- that allow educators to customize solutions for individual students and small groups. One of hand2mind’s most popular products, VersaTiles®, which recently celebrated its 40th birthday, helps students build math and literacy proficiency independently through screen-free practice and a puzzle-like, self-checking answer system, making it fun for students.

CONCLUSION

As schools and childcare centers across the country and around the world continue to be closed, Learning Resources, Educational Insights and hand2mind will consistently build upon their wide range of online resources, tips and more to help families create fun-filled learning experiences. Parents can visit LearningResources.com, EducationalInsights.com and hand2mind.com to learn more.