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COVID Toolkit for Parents

Home / COVID – Toolkit To Help Kids During The Coronavirus Shutdown / COVID Toolkit for Parents

Scroll down to find Health, Education, Eviction and other resources to help keep your family safe

HEALTH Resources for Parents

Health Insurance Updates

PCCY’s Helpline is available to help you and your children get access to health insurance. For help in any language, call: 215-563-5848 x17.  All of the materials below are available in multiple languages here.

To find these health resources in other languages, click here

Finding Meals

Philadelphia County

The shutdown of our public schools has shown everyone how much more they do than educate and why they’re vital hubs for every community. In Philadelphia, where 35% of children live in poverty, the shutdown could have meant hungry kids without school-based meal breakfast and lunch programs. Thank goodness for these locations. Click on the map to find the location closest to you.

MORE INFORMATION:

Delaware County

  • Help is around the corner in Delaware County for new moms and their babies and older children, and residents who need food. We’re grateful to these amazing organizations! Delaware County Food Pantries

Montgomery County

  • Many families in Montgomery County who were struggling before the pandemic began are among the hardest hit in the region. Thankfully, these amazing community organizations are quietly serving families, showing us all how to be good neighbors. Montgomery County Food Pantries

Bucks County

Free Meal Sites

Grab-and-go meal distribution at the 49 District school sites will be shifting to one day per week beginning April 23rd.  From 9 am to noon, you can pick up a box of five breakfast meals, five lunch meals and a ½ gallon of milk for each student in your family. Each box weighs six pounds so parents are encouraged to bring a wheeled cart or some other way to easily carry the boxes if you are picking up meals for multiple students in your household. The one-day-per-week schedule is a proactive measure we are taking to further support the City’s shelter-in-place guidance, minimize social interactions and help flatten the coronavirus curve. Social distancing, the use of masks and gloves, and other safety efforts will continue to be practiced to ensure everyone’s safety as meals are distributed. For up-to-date information, visit www.philasd.org. 

Connecting to WIC

Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children

The Philadelphia Health Department has released a new guide that includes updated information on WIC availability, where to get diapers and formula, and how to enroll in Pacify, a free 24/7 on-demand tele-lactation program for Philadelphia families.

  • WIC is open for business for new and established clients in Pennsylvania.
  • Not all offices are open, and some have limited hours. Call your office for the most up to date information. You may need to leave a message with your phone number. It may take longer to get a return call.
  • WIC staff are conducting appointments over the phone. Some offices are loading eWIC cards at their office and some are starting to mail cards to families. For offices that are still loading cards, parents can send someone else to get the cards loaded. Parents just need to call their office and let them know who is coming, and the person needs to bring ID.
  • Breaking news: WIC has temporarily added some new food items to its list due to shortages at stores. Please click here to see the list.
  • Breaking new for Philadelphia WIC: As of Monday, April 6 all Philadelphia offices will be closed to the public until further notice. WIC will now send benefits in the U.S. mail. To find a WIC office, go to http://northwic.org/locations/ or call the central WIC administration office at 215-978-6100. Check the Facebook page for new developments @PhiladelphiaWICProgram.

Delaware County WIC: Breaking news: Effective Tuesday, April 7th, ALL Delaware County WIC Offices will be closed to the public until further notice.  We will begin issuing all benefits via mail.  They are still accepting new participants! Our employees will begin calling participants to collect intake information so that benefits can be mailed. Please call your closest WIC office for more information.

  • Springfield Clinic 484-479-3086
  • Eddystone Clinic 484-480-8800
  • Upper Darby Clinic 610-713-5800
  • Call Center 484-471-3320
  • Nutrition & Breastfeeding Hotline 484-472-7022

Finding Child Care for Essential Workers during COVID-19

Families can find a wealth of information from the state’s one-stop shops for child care called Early Learning Resource Centers (ELRCs). These 19 centers across the state help families find high-quality child care and also help working families apply for child care subsidies.

Free Diapers, Formula, Food and Other Items

Download this PDF for complete details and what is available at each of the sites listed below and their offerings.

EDUCATION Resources for Parents

The Educators Spin On It

Making everyday moments into teachable opportunities is the focus of The Educators’ Spin On It. The site was created by educators, certified educators, and experienced teachers, currently work-at-home moms, who have found blogging and Pinterest as a key social media tools to share resources with parents. We believe that parents are their children’s first and most important teacher. You will find activity ideas on The Educators’ Spin On It about reading, math, science, literacy, cooking, gardening, crafting, writing, and learning a second language for Ages 0 to 8. These are things that we feel all children should have the opportunity to experience.

You can find activities on our website for your child about: Reading, Writing, Math, Science, Cultural Education, Travel, Recipes, Gardening

Arts Education at Home

PCCY’s Picasso Project is working to assure that students have access to arts-based learning while schools are closed in due to COVID-19. Especially during this time, the arts are critical for helping children connect with each other, express themselves and process stress, and stay engaged in creative learning.

This toolkit is designed to help parents and educators facilitate arts learning from home for children and teens. A curated selection of free arts education resources is listed below by artistic discipline: general art/virtual field trips, visual arts, music, dance/movement, and theater/poetry. 

This toolkit is updated regularly, and please follow Picasso Project on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, hashtag #ArtsEdAtHome, for the latest resources. Please reach out if you have any questions or additional resources to share: picassoproject@childrenfirstpa.org.

Funding for this valuable resource was made possible thanks to the generous support of Wells Fargo

CLICK HERE FOR THE ARTS EDUCATION AT HOME TOOL KIT

Read To Me

READ TO ME is a read aloud book video series presented by PCCY’s Picasso Project. The goal of READ TO ME is to provide children with a curated selection of books for all ages read by caring, experienced adults. We are building a free YouTube “library” of read aloud books to share with children in Philadelphia and across the internet. Videos can be found on our YouTube Page.  We are seeking volunteers to create short (~5 minute) videos of themselves reading a favorite children’s book. Books for all ages, in all languages, are welcome. If you would like to participate, send an email to Tim Gibbon at timg@childrenfirstpa.org.

You Can Do Science!

When you are planning your days at home with your children, don’t forget science. You don’t have to be a teacher to make sure your child is learning while they are out of school. Virtual field trips, projects and experiments are a great way to learn and have fun. There are many websites with videos, activities and experiments for you and your children to experience and do at home.

  • Franklin Institute: Does  your kid need a science fix? The Franklin Institute has videos and many exciting resources for parents and kids alike.
  • National Science Foundation NSF has a large collection of lessons and web resources – including videos – for you and your children. Interesting topics, like Astronomy, Biology and Nanoscience are arranged by subject help you quickly find what your child is interested in and suggestions for you to use it for at-home activities.

Other free websites have step-by-step instructions and pictures to help you teach your children science, do projects with them and keep your budding or seasoned scientists growing and learning while school is out.

  • Mommy Poppins: This page has great ideas for experiments you can do with items you already have at home. The website also has a ton of resources for parents including some that are Philadelphia specific.
  • Science Buddies: A great resource that posts science projects for elementary school students and information about science and technology.
  • Science Bob: Browse through easy science experiments you can do at home.
  • Steve Spangler Science: Features cool experiments and great resources for free.

Sites for Young Learners

  • Scarf Play, Book Baskets & Picture Me – Play a game of Peek-a-Boo, snuggle up with your baby and a book, or interact with pictures of the people in your baby’s life.
  • Storyline Online – Streams videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations.
  • Khan Academy Kids – Free Mobile App for your child’s Math, Reading & Social Emotional Learning.
  • Unite – Access more than 400 digital picture books. Audio provides narration by native speakers in more than 40 languages.
  • PBS Learning Media – PBS has lesson plans, videos, etc. that are aligned with state and national standards.

Civics Lessons

Ever wonder about our roles as a citizen. The Rendell Center has created Maggie’s Civics Corner – they will post lessons that you can share with your family and work through together. The lessons are fun and filled with great things to learn!  With more than 20 lessons already posted, you can get started right away!

Online Learning Activities

Your students may be learning online. After their school work is done, you may be looking for other activities and sites that your kids can enjoy from home.  Here are some fun and interesting activities that may pique your kid’s interest – no matter what they are!

Academics:

Is your student in AP classes?

History:

These are a few great resources we’ve found to keep your kid in the know with current events and other information on your child’s level.

Early Learning:

Are you looking for resources to keep your young child entertained?

Science for Elementary School Aged Children:

If your child can’t get enough science, here are some websites designed to keep them creating and exploring.

Science for Middle & High School Aged Children:

If your child can’t get enough science, here are some websites designed to keep them creating and exploring.

Physical Education:

Looking for ways for your kids to burn energy? Check out these three sites that can get your kids moving!

Ideas for Playtime at Home

PLAYWORKS has their own recommendations for engaging, fun, and safe games to play at home! Playworks, a nonprofit organization, serves 3.5M students across 7000 schools in the U.S., “leveraging the power of play to transform children’s social and emotional health.”

The Parent Connection

The Parent Connection series promotes parental competence and aims to improve parent/child relationships. Facilitated by Judith Dumorney-McDaniel, author of “Teenagers In Charge- A Blueprint to Unmasking the Greatness in You”, this virtual workshop, will encourage participants to speak openly about their experiences as parents, share tips and useful information, and challenge one another to raise responsible children and set appropriate boundaries. Topics include the stages of child development, coping with COVID-19 and social distancing, spending quality time with your child, and varied approaches to positive parenting.

ADDITIONAL Resources for Parents

Eviction Resources

We know it’s pretty hard to believe but yes, we’ve had reports that some landlords are telling people that they are facing the possibility of eviction. There are a few steps that you can take if you are being threatened with eviction.

  1. Download and share THIS FLYER with the most up-to-date information and helpful phone numbers.  (Additional translations available below).
  2. There are no legal evictions (and that includes filing) during the covid shutdown while Philadelphia courts are closed through August 31st. See attached handouts in English and Spanish from the Philadelphia Eviction Prevention Project.
  3. No legal evictions include tenants who have a verbal agreement to pay rent but don’t have a lease/written agreement. If you have critical questions, contact Community Legal Services at 215-981-3798. David Wengert is a social worker in the housing unit.
  4. Additional guidance from Community Legal Services is on their website here – https://clsphila.org/housing/housing-utilities-pandemic/
  5. Councilperson Helen Gyms’ office can help and would like to hear from you if you have been told that you are being evicted – 215-686-3420.

PDF Versions: English  /  Arabic  /  Bengali  /  French  /  Indonesian  /  Khmer  /  Mandarin  /  Portuguese  /  Russian  /  Spanish  /  Vietnamese

Prefer Images You Can Post?  Use These Files: English  /  Arabic  /  Bengali  /  French  /  Indonesian  /  Khmer  /  Mandarin  /  Portuguese  /  Russian  /  Spanish  /  Vietnamese

 

Gig Worker Unemployment Assistance

There’s a new unemployment benefit program created in response to COVID-19 for workers who are not eligible for regular Unemployment Compensation. Resources available in the following languages – click to download:  English  /  Arabic  /  Mandarin  /  Portuguese  /  Russian  /  Spanish

Workers Rights

Community Legal Services has developed a few resources related to employment issues during the current COVID-19 public health crisis.  Most of these resources can be found on the CLS’s website here: https://clsphila.org/coronavirus/information-for-philadelphia-workers-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic/

Currently CLS has flyers with basic information related to:

Voter Resources

ALL Pennsylvania voters now have the option to vote by mail for any reason or no reason at all. You can apply for a mail-in ballot or a traditional absentee ballot online, by mail, or in person, until one week before the election. For help or to receive a paper application by mail, please call 1-877-VOTESPA.  For the 2020 primary, your application must be received online or by your county election office by 5 pm Tuesday, May 26. Applying online is easy, quick and secure. If you provide your email address, you will receive notifications about your application and ballot status. Once you receive your ballot in the mail, you have until 8 pm on election day, June 2, to deliver your completed ballot to your county election office. If you are mailing it, do so as early as you can to ensure it arrives on time. To stay up-to-date with the latest and most accurate election information in Pennsylvania, visit votesPA.com.

Staying Connected – Internet Access & Mobile Services

Connectivity is an indispensable utility, especially now. Here’s a guide to help find affordable ways to keep you connected to the information you need and the people you love, courtesy of the City of Philadelphia.

If you are able to support our work, your contribution would be greatly appreciated.

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