When children and youth are out of school it is important to keep them engaged in learning. Loss of learning typically happens over the summer when children and youth do not retain varying degrees of knowledge from the previous school year. This may be especially so in 2020 because of COVID 19 disruptions (e.g., switching to virtual learning and having less consistency in instruction and practice). Because of these disruptions children and youth may also not learn to the extent they should, core knowledge for their grade level.
There are many resources from black owned brands to promote academic knowledge as well as character development. Character adds to learning achievement in that it motivates children and youth to persist at challenging tasks. In this post, we focus on resources that provide positive black images and narratives in teaching math, coding, English language arts, and life lessons. Having positive and culturally representative narratives and images across several content areas and activities such as math and literacy is important! In their plurality these images can be especially motivating and uplifting; they also serve to offset negative images and narratives. See the company and product links below for details.
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Shop With Leslie Blog Etsy Store offers instant digital downloads that include include Gardening Matters: Helping the Planet Flashcards and an Activity Book on Growing Tomatoes. Kid Life Posters are also available.
AfroKids is a subscription based service offering a blend of education and entertainment. It is available through Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Android TV. Extensive programming is geared towards building self-esteem, providing positive and wholesome images, connecting children to their cultural heritage, teaching life lessons, family values, respect and responsibility.
Resources are also available to support the challenges of parenting. There is a “Book and DVD” section on the platform with parenting and schooling resources such as “Raising Black Girls” and “Changing School Culture for Black Males.”
Subscription options are $5.00 a month, $20.00 for 5 months, and $49.00 a year. Sign up today. AfroKids is a sponsor of Shop With Leslie and we appreciate their support!
Amazon is a popular platform for Black authors. There are many options for addressing the cultural needs and issues of Black children, youth, and families. Check some out below.
Elite Kids focuses on brilliant and kind child characters that help teach academic content and life skills including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), literacy, and self confidence. They offer a selection of child friendly flash cards for preschoolers that focus on math and literacy. They also have a YouTube channel.
Eye See Me (advertisement) is on a mission to be a resource to parents, teachers, and schools in providing the very best children’s books on the market that promote positive stories and images about African American culture. They aim to be a tool for literacy by having African American children and youth see themselves respectfully represented in the literature they read. Vast offerings support academic and social emotional development. These include books about fun and everyday activities (e.g., spending time with grandma, playing basketball and doing artwork). They also have extensive resources that convey academic content clearly and in a culturally representative way. Examples include Mad Axiom science titles that explain science concepts related to diverse topics such as sound and global warming in fun and understandable ways. They also have math and readings skills workbooks by grade level.
It’s a Black Thang (advertisement) offers a selection of Afrocentric crosswords and puzzles that focus on black history and culture. These include word searches, cryptograms, logic puzzles and more.
In reviewing these learning activities, you should many that work for children and youth.
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I was grossly unaware of these available resources, with the exception of a few of the books. I especially love that they address representation and building confidence. Thank you for recommending these programs. I’m excited to do do additional research and explore them with my son.
VERY informative. I haven’t even heard of most of these! Thank you.
Great resources for young Black children. I shared this with my siblings.