Teachers Share Their Favorite Free Learning Websites And Apps For Kids

Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, kids across the country are home from school. Some kids have schoolwork to complete, but there’s still a large chunk of the day that needs to be filled with activities and scheduling.

Who better to help us parents fill in the space than teachers? So we asked the teachers of the HuffPost Parents Facebook community for their favorite free educational apps and websites for kids to continue learning while they’re out of school.

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USCIS Expands Flexibility for Responding to USCIS Requests, March 30, 2020

In response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it adopted measures to assist applicants and petitioners who are responding to certain Requests for Evidence (RFE) and Notices of Intent to Deny (NOID). This message clarifies that this flexibility also applies to certain Notices of Intent to Revoke (NOIR) and Notices of Intent to Terminate (NOIT) regional investment centers, as well as certain filing date requirements for Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion.

Notice/Request/Decision Issuance Date

This flexibility applies to an RFE, NOID, NOIR, NOIT, or appealable decision within AAO jurisdiction and the issuance date listed on the request, notice or decision is between March 1, 2020 and May 1, 2020, inclusive.

Response Due Date

Any response to an RFE, NOID, NOIR, or NOIT received within 60 calendar days after the response due date set in the request or notice will be considered by USCIS before any action is taken. Any Form I-290B received up to 60 calendar days from the date of the decision will be considered by USCIS before it takes any action.

For More Information

Education and precautions are the strongest tools against infection. Continue to practice good health habits, refrain from handshakes or hugs as greetings, and wash hands and clean surfaces appropriately.

USCIS will provide further updates as the situation develops and will continue to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance. Please visit uscis.gov/coronavirus for the latest facts and other USCIS updates.

With Travel Bans, Adoptions Grind To A Halt

By Mary Jackson of WORLD NEWS

An email sent to Nightlight Christian Adoptions staff members on Tuesday urged everyone to pray for 17 parents and their adopted children in various foreign countries. Amid the rapidly spreading coronavirus pandemic, many are stranded, separated from family members, quarantined, or unable to obtain the necessary paperwork to travel back to the United States with their adopted children.

“We’ve done everything we know to get them home, and we continue trying,” wrote Lisa Whitaker, international program coordinator at Nightlight, which has locations in 10 states.

COVID-19 has virtually halted international adoptions with lockdowns, travel bans, and visa restrictions, leaving dozens of families in dire circumstances.

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Child Abuse Hotline Calls Plunge

Child abuse hotline calls plunge during coronavirus pandemic. Here’s why it’s a concern #coronavirus

Missouri officials warned Wednesday that the safety of the state’s most vulnerable children may be at risk after abuse hotline calls plummeted since the onslaught of the coronavirus.

Calls have dropped by 50 percent since March 11, according to the Missouri Department of Social Services. Thousands of kids are home during this pandemic and not at school, which means they are seeing fewer people who may notice signs of abuse and neglect and report it.

“This drastic drop we’ve had in March, it’s scary,” Sara Smith, deputy director for Missouri’s Children’s Division, told The Star Wednesday. “We need to be there, community members need to be there for kids.”

Kansas has seen a similar drop in calls.

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"Ruby Finds A Worry" by Tom Percival: A Read Aloud Story For Your Family!

A big thank you to our friends @guilfordnonprofitconsortium for sharing this perfect video from @kellinfoundation at just the right time when our kids could use a message like this the most, "Ruby Finds A Worry."

Grab the kids and take a seat together, talk about how your own family is managing the changes and the inevitable worries all of us are experiencing, young and old alike.  We would love to hear your ideas, too!

Talking to Children About COVID-19 (Coronavirus): A Parent Resource

A new type of coronavirus, abbreviated COVID-19, is causing an outbreak of respiratory (lung) disease. It was first detected in China and has now been detected internationally. While the immediate health risk in the United States is low, it is important to plan for any possible outbreaks if the risk level increases in the future.

Concern over this new virus can make children and families anxious. While we don’t know where and to what extent the disease may spread here in the United States, we do know that it is contagious, that the severity of illness can vary from individual to individual, and that there are steps we can take to prevent the spread of infection. Acknowledging some level of concern, without panicking, is appropriate and can result in taking actions that reduce the risk of illness. Helping children cope with anxiety requires providing accurate prevention information and facts without causing undue alarm.

It is very important to remember that children look to adults for guidance on how to react to stressful events. If parents seem overly worried, children’s anxiety may rise. Parents should reassure children that health and school officials are working hard to ensure that people throughout the country stay healthy. However, children also need factual, age appropriate information about the potential seriousness of disease risk and concrete instruction about how to avoid infections and spread of disease. Teaching children positive preventive measures, talking with them about their fears, and giving them a sense of some control over their risk of infection can help reduce anxiety.

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Building Ramps

When we first got into foster care, I remember thinking that it would be such an amazing opportunity to get to help children become who they were meant to be by giving them love and stability. I thought that love would be enough to watch kids develop and change in ways they never had before. That they would be able to become healed and healthy and move forward as new versions of themselves. While in many ways this was a part of our experience, I had to come to terms with the reality that love, in fact, is not enough. That stability provides a basis for health but trauma changes the brain and the way the brain functions. And most importantly that relationships; real, healthy, loving relationships, were the best shot any of our kids had at a healthy life. It was then that I decided to put aside my notions of what I thought the transformations would look like and get into the business of building ramps. Because for those of us fostering and adopting children out of these hard places, we are in the business of ramp building.

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