Coronavirus, it has turned our lives upside down quite rapidly.  We are all still figuring out what all of this means.  If you’re like me you are between being sick of talking about it, and needing to talk about it to figure out how to navigate this quick and sudden change.

Those of you in Loudoun County know that our kids had 2 hours notice that there would be no school for 9 days due to the coronavirus, or COVID-19.  That quickly grew to 16 days.  Then, most recently it has grown again to no school for at least 30 school days, but likely more than that.  At present, there is no requirement to continue education at home for our county until 3/27.  Soon, the at home educational requirements will change and we will all be homeschool parents for at minimum one month.  My son has opted to create a school schedule for home during his coronavirus social distancing time and is doing school work during his time off.  He did enjoy the perk of reading outside today since the weather was so beautiful!

We are all trying to keep our kids happy during this uncertain time.  Lucky for us, we have the internet on our side!  Several businesses, some local are offering free resources for us, and for our children while we aim to flatten the coronavirus curve.  I have compiled some for you below!

Resources for Kids

ABCMouse.com
Free for 30 days if you sign up with a credit card. -OR- if your child’s teacher signs up here, it is free with the code they provide.

Kiwi Crate Resource Hub
FREE! At home craft resources for kids (and their grown ups.)

Scholastic Learn at Home Resource
We all know scholastic and I love this resource they have created!  There are several lesson plans for the age you select where the child can watch the book read the book, watch a video and then do a related activity.

Starfall.com 
This is another long time favorite in my house.  I’m certain it is where he learned his ABCs, and to this day at age 9 he still loves their site!

edhelper.com
Free printables (math, reading, writing, etc.) for school aged kids.

Cosmic Kids Yoga
This one is a long time favorite in our house. Jamie creates character and theme based yoga work outs for kids.  It is on youtube. If you have an app based TV, download the youtube app so the kids can see it on the big screen while they work out!

Go Noodle
Also on youtube, this is movement based fun.  Think dance workouts that kids can relate to.

Virtual Field Trips
20 virtual field trips allow you to travel the world from the comfort of your couch!

Panda Cam!
This one is my daughter’s favorite.  Hang out with the pandas at the National Zoo.

Daily Read Aloud with Peter H. Reynolds
Noon-time story break with author Peter Reynolds.

Pete the Cat Instagram
Noon story time with author James Dean on instagram.

Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems
1pm drawing time with artist Mo Willems.

Code.org
This is a wonderful and fun resource to teach your kids coding.  My son started using it in kindergarten and still loves it so much.

Alexa Skills
I often joke that Alexa is a parent in this house.  Some nights it isn’t a joke.  She tells my kids when to wake up, when to go to bed, and provides lots of entertainmentin between.  Check out Alexa skills on your app (download it on any smart phone.)  Here are a few that we use in our house. Say, “Alexa open; freeze dances, animal work out, harry potter quiz, disney stories, kid dancer, or amazon story time.

Resources for Parents

Peloton 
Free 90 day trial.  You don’t have to have a bike to use their work outs!  Try yoga or strength training, or if you have a bike or treadmill at home, you can also pair the rides and runs from the app.

Samskara Yoga
Check their free live stream yoga schedule for guided practices you can do from home for free.

This list is much heavier on kid resources than it is adult resources.  I have 3 goals for myself each day.  The first two are per the advice of a friend of mine in Rome who is on this journey about 1.5 weeks ahead of us.  1) One act of self care, 2) Daily movement, and a third I’ve added for myself…to finish my coffee each day.

We are also trying to spend as much time outside as possible.  The sunshine has been helping me so much personally, and I am so grateful for early spring weather!

I hope you all are mentally and physically well during this time.  Our world is learning a lot about the coronavirus pandemic right now.  It is interesting and challenging navigating this journey as a small business. If you have a session scheduled for the month of March, I have reached out to you so that we can work through this time together.  For those with sessions in April, I am giving it just a little more time to see what, if anything will change with local, state and federal guidelines so that we don’t have to continuously change your reservations.  My effort in this is to ensure that everyone remains healthy and feels safe. If at any time you need to reach out to me about your photos, I am here to work through any questions or concerns you may have.