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Home Products Supporting Young Children's Learning and Development at Home: Resources for Early Childhood Educators and Caregivers

Supporting Young Children's Learning and Development at Home: Resources for Early Childhood Educators and Caregivers

Supporting Young Children's Learning and Development at Home: Resources for Early Childhood Educators and Caregivers

This document includes two searchable spreadsheets of resources that educators and caregivers can use to support young children's learning and development at home during the COVID-19 health crisis.

Overview of the spreadsheets

  • Free Resources not Reviewed by the What Works Clearinghouse: This spreadsheet compiles free resources, including both online and offline activities and guidance, which may support children's learning and development at home during the COVID-19 health crisis. Note that these resources, to our knowledge, have not been evaluated through a causal study.2 This sortable spreadsheet includes the following fields: (a) resource name, (b) description, (c) developer/organization, (d) resource type (instructional resource, teacher guidance, caregiver guidance), (e) printables available, (f) caregiver and student targeted, (g) availability in languages other than English (other languages noted), (h) grade levels, (i) student subgroups, (j) content areas, (k) other guidance, and (l) resource link.

  • Resources With Impact Studies Reviewed by the What Works Clearinghouse: This spreadsheet describes online and computer-based resources that are based on existing research that meets the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards and that has potentially positive or positive effects based on WWC reviews of impact studies. Not all of these resources are free. This spreadsheet includes the following fields: (a) resource name, (b) description, (c) developer/publisher, (d) caregiver/home component available, (e) grade levels, (f) grade levels studied, (g) student subgroups, (h) content areas, (i) WWC evidence standards met for reviewed studies, (j) effects of resource on a domain, (k) extent of evidence, (l) cost, (m) link to WWC intervention report, and (n) link to resource website.

How to use the document

The Microsoft Excel document includes four tabs. The first describes the document and how to use it (the same information as provided here). The second and third tabs provide the spreadsheets listed above, and the fourth tab details the identification and selection processes used to generate the spreadsheets as well as additional information on specific fields.

Both spreadsheets are sortable:

  • The Free Resources Not Reviewed by the What Works Clearinghouse spreadsheet can be sorted by most categories, including resource type, grade level, availability in languages other than English, student subgroup, content area, and other guidance.

  • The Resources With Impact Studies Reviewed by the What Works Clearinghouse spreadsheet also can be sorted by most categories, including caregiver/home component available, grade levels, grade levels studied, student subgroups, and content areas.

To sort by subject matter:

  1. In the header of either spreadsheet, find the category you would like to use for the sort (for example, "Kindergarten" under the "Grade Levels" category in the Free Resources tab).

  2. Go to the first category you want to sort by and click on the small upside-down triangle that appears next to the category name.

  3. In the box that appears, click on "Select All" to uncheck that option and then check the box next to the "X" below (this box may already be checked). A few categories provide additional sort items; in these instances, click on "Select All" to uncheck all the items and then check the box(es) next to the item(s) you want to use for the sort.

  4. Repeat steps 1–3 for additional categories, if needed. You can sort on several categories at a time. For example, you could sort by kindergarten under the "Grade Levels" category and by math under the "Content Areas" category to identify math resources intended for educators or caregivers of kindergarten students.

  5. To undo a sort, click on the upside-down triangle (it will now have a funnel icon added to it) in all of the columns you would like to remove from the sort. In each box that appears, click on "Clear Filter." This option will have a funnel with a red X next to it.

Target ages: Prekindergarten/kindergarten (some resources may be appropriate for other ages)

Related research partnership: Southwest Early Childhood Education

Notes:

The What Works Clearinghouse reviews the existing research on different programs, products, practices, and policies in education to provide educators with the information they need to make evidence-based decisions and answer the question “What works in education?” The WWC is an investment of the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education.

The Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Southwest may conduct a review to examine the extent of the research evidence related to particular free resources identified in this spreadsheet based on stakeholder interest and available REL resources.

This resource was funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) at the U.S. Department of Education under contract 91990018C0002, administered by the American Institutes for Research. The content of this document does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of IES or the U.S. Department of Education, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. government.

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