Getting children outside after these long days of screen time during distance learning can be a crucial step to getting them fresh air, exercise, and a chance to build up their Vitamin D stores by spending time in natural sunlight. While our public playgrounds remain closed, there are still plenty of places to play on our beaches and in our state parks.
The Mendo Parks Website is a fabulous resource for discovering several of the state parks and beaches available to your family for outdoor recreation and exercise.
Mendocino Coast Recreation and Parks District
Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens
Mendocino Land Trust Trail Guide
Point Cabrillo Lighthouse Station
Keeping our children engaged and educated during continuing distance learning school models, and knowing how best to go about it, can feel like a daunting task! Below we have a list of online educational resources we love and trust to help make things a little less overwhelming on the home front.
Healthy Mendocino: Responding to Education Inequity in the Age of COVID
AAP (HealthyChildren.org) This resource gives practical advice and strategies for setting up work and study from home routines.
Edutopia (Edutopia is a trusted source shining a spotlight on what works in education. They show people how they can adopt or adapt best practices, and tell stories of innovation and continuous learning in the real world.)
Top 12 Websites for Children With Learning Disabilities (article)
Can Do! Kids! Provides resources for helping students focus on the skills and strengths they possess through guided self-assessments.
Adaptive Worksheets allows parents and teachers to create their own worksheets or print existing worksheets but does have a collection of free resources.
The Special Student Services Blog by Juanita Pritchard provides guidance for supporting students with significant cognitive disabilities who have been classified as moderate/severe/profound.
Cerebral Palsy Guide provides free educational materials, financial options, and support to help those affected by this condition.
Curriculum Associates Free Downloadable Reading Packets Printable at-home activity packs that are designed to provide students with valuable self-directed exercises and practice during extended absences from school. Each pack is designed to reinforce key concepts for a given grade. i-Ready’s engaging online lessons can support at-home learning.
Myon A student-centered, personalized literacy environment that gives students access to more than 6,000 enhanced digital books.
Starfall Reading A free public service to teach children to read. It includes language arts and mathematics for preschool, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, and third grade. Starfall emphasizes phonemic awareness, systematic sequential phonics, and common sight words in conjunction with audiovisual interactivity.
StoryKit is a simple storybook creation app, with a private online sharing tool. It caters to students in grades 1-4 and above, and allows them opportunities to create stories, add pictures, and infuse recordings of their own voices.
Core Knowledge provides open access to an exemplary curriculum for preschool through eighth grade.
Open Culture allows visitors to download hundreds of free audio books, mostly classics, to your MP3 player or computer.
Librivox - Free Public Domain Audiobooks features recordings of books in the public domain read by volunteers from around the world.
CommonLit - Free reading passages in all literacy and nonfiction genres for grades 3-12.
ReadWriteThink Free Mobile Apps helps students engage in literacy learning using tablet devices. No internet connection is required once the apps are downloaded. Offers resources for grade levels K-12.
ReadWorks, driven by cognitive science research, ReadWorks aims to create world-class content, teacher guidance, and integrated tools that improve teacher effectiveness and student achievement. They leverage cognitive-science research to create high-impact instructional materials and tools that are designed for immediate use within the practical realities of current U.S. classrooms.
Khan Academy Award winning, self-paced, interactive content--exercises, videos and articles--for students in every grade and in most major subject areas, 100% free, we wish Khan Academy had been around when we were kids!
Curriculum Associates Free Downloadable Math Packets Printable at-home activity packs designed to provide students with valuable self-directed exercises and practice during extended absences from school. Each pack is designed to reinforce key concepts for a given grade.
PhET Simulations support math and science learning.
Zearn is offering their entire K-5 curriculum - including 400 hours of digital lessons with on-screen teachers and supportive remediation.
Eureka Math offers its curriculum as PDF downloads for free, non-commercial use. The curriculum is accompanied by a selection of instructional materials and support resources for teachers at no additional cost.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics provides access quality standards-based resources for teaching and learning mathematics, including interactive tools for students and instructional support. Lessons and activities on Illuminations align with NCTM's Principles and Standards for School Mathematics and the Common Core State Standards.
National Association for the Education of Young Children encourages mathematics learning at home.
Illustrated Mathematics free educational resources and videos.
PhET Simulations supports math and science learning.
Legends of Learning provides educational games for grades 3–8. These resources have been made available for free due to school closures.
National Science Teaching Association contains resources from NSTA to help you support your child's learning in science at home and at school.
MysteryScience has made their resources free in response to the Coronavirus.
NASA Education Resources (searchable by topic) provides informative educational materials that engage student interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Teach Engineering - This collection aligns with state and/or national science, mathematics and technology educational standards, and uses engineering as the vehicle to integrate science and mathematics concepts for K-12 students.
US Department of Energy Education Resources is a partnership between the US Department of Energy partnered with the National Energy Education Development Project (NEED) to create free energy education resources for classroom and educational use.
The Physics Classroom is a collection of online tutorials, concept builders, and interactive lessons for students.
California Academy of Sciences Educator Resources provides lesson plans, science videos, and distance learning programs.
Bill Nye The Science Guy offers a collection of episode guides and videos as well as directions for home demos that can be found under the “Learn” section and cover topics such as life science, physical science, and planetary science.
Discovery Education is an online K-12 learning platform. It provides multimedia, virtual activities and hands-on labs with model lessons in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.
Switcheroo Zoo helps kids learn about animals by playing games.
The digital Game Center of the Smithsonian Science Education Center offers fun experiences for the young STEM learner.
A Mighty Girl Learning resources highlighting courageous and brilliant women and girls throughout History)
Teaching Tolerance provides free resources to educators—teachers, administrators, counselors and other practitioners—who work with children from kindergarten through high school. Educators use our materials to supplement the curriculum, to inform their practices, and to create civil and inclusive school communities where children are respected, valued and welcome participants.
Smithsonian Education offers a wealth of resources and digital tools support inquiry-based learning and active engagement to spark creativity and curiosity.
The Smithsonian Learning Lab allows you to create personal collections and individualized educational experiences.
Smithsonian's History Explorer offers hundreds of free, innovative resources for learning about American history.
Many museums, cultural sites, and historical sites offer virtual tours and livestreaming. Here are a few, but an internet search will reveal many others:
Boston Children's Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Smithsonian Museum of Natural History
California MissionsLibrary of Congress
Metropolitan Opera
The Zinn Education Project promotes and supports the teaching of people’s history in classrooms across the country. They aim to equip students with the analytical tools to make sense of and improve the world today. Their website offers free, downloadable lessons and articles organized by theme , time period , and grade level. The teaching materials emphasize the role of working people, women, people of color, and organized social movements in shaping history.
Teaching California offers free online instructional materials to support the California History-Social Science Framework, with an emphasis on primary sources.
California History-Social Science Project provides professional learning and free resources such as The History Blueprint and The Source. See links to regional sites for additional information and support.
BBC Bitesize History Bitesize is the BBC's free online study support resource for school-age students in the United Kingdom. It is designed to aid students in both schoolwork and, for older students, exams.
Crash Course History Channel on YouTube Crash Course believes that high quality educational videos should be available to everyone for free. The Crash Course team has produced more than 15 courses to date, and these videos accompany high school and college level classes ranging from the humanities to the sciences.
Oyez is a resource for teaching Supreme Court Cases that includes the case history, relevant precedent, arguments, and the Supreme Court Decision and applicable dissents.
The National Archives features a website that is easy to navigate and includes lots of resources. They feature a daily historical document relating to an event from that day in history. The online catalog can be searched using keywords, and 100 "milestone" documents are identified as significant to American history.
National Archives: Elementary School Distance Learning Programs Free, interactive programs that feature primary sources from the Distance Learning Programs. Each program aligns with National Social Studies Standards and Common Core State Standards. It also provides teacher guides with pre- and post-program lessons.
DocsTeach is full of activities. The documents are organized by different periods in American history. If you're teaching "Civil War and Reconstruction" or "Revolution and the New Nation," just click on the topic to find hundreds of primary source documents. DocsTeach provides audio, video, charts, graphs, maps and more.
USHistory.org Free Online Textbooks provides high school courses for students, teachers, home-schoolers, and history lovers.
PE Central’s Web Sites for Kids provides links to resources to support remote and home instruction for physical education.
The Article Online Physical Education For Homeschoolers provides guidance and resources for teaching P.E. at home.
PBS Learning provides resources for Health and Physical Education.
Tinkergarten - Outdoor Classes, Activities for Kids.
If you know of a child or family who are going without food right now, please reach out to mccf@mcn.org. If you have a student enrolled in school and your family is experiencing food insufficiency, please contact your school's counselor so that they may help you. We recognize that with so many families experiencing the financial impacts of this pandemic that state sponsored food programs such as CalFresh are experiencing a far higher volume of requests than usual and have fallen behind in their processing times. As distance learning resumes and continues indefinitely, meal pick up programs at MUSD and FBUSD are open to all children ages 0-18 through December 21.
Fort Bragg Unified School District Weekly Meal Pick Up Information
Mendocino Unified School District Weekly Meal Pick Up Information
Point Arena Schools Distance Food Service
Manchester Union School Meal Pick Up is Mon-Friday from 11:30 to Noon at their school site.
The Fort Bragg Food Bank is offering food to families and special weekly boxes for kids, regardless of whether or not they are currently enrolled in school. Mendocino Coast Children's Fund has given a grant to FBFB to help make sure no child goes hungry. We are also adding non food items to Kid's boxes weekly.
Fort Bragg Food Bank (follow link for hours of operation and information)
CalFresh Online Delivery Program
Beginning April 28th, CalFresh recipients will be able to purchase food delivery online through Amazon and Walmart. There may be a delivery fee that will not be paid by CalFresh benefits.
Fort Bragg Farmer's Market (accepts EBT)
Mendocino Farmer's Market (accepts EBT)
Albion Farmer's Market (accepts EBT)
Mendo Lake Food Hub (food access)
Need some advice on how to boost you and your child's immunity? Read or download this helpful flyer.
From our youngest to our eldest community members, each of us are more vulnerable during times of great stress and uncertainty. Our emotional and mental well-being are directly tied to our physical health: times of crisis and extreme stress can lower our immune systems, leaving us more susceptible to imbalances and illnesses. Below are resources for getting yourself and your loved ones much deserved support and care, so that we may all weather life's storms better, together.
How To Ease Children's Anxiety About Covid-19 (NAMI)
Stress Relief Playbook For Caretakers and Kids From the Surgeon General Of California
Words to Calm a Child (Free Download From the Institute For Child Psychology)
Child Mind Institute For Help Managing Mental Health Diagnoses
AAP (HealthyChildren.org) on COVID19 – Talking To Kids About Tragedies
How to Help Teens Shelter in Place
California Covid Response Stress Management Tips for Kids & Adults
Project Sanctuary, Inland (707) 463-4357, Coastal (707) 964-4357
Mendocino County Crisis (24/7) (855) 838-0404
National Domestic Violence Hotline (24/7) Call (800) 799-7233
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (24/7) Call (800) 273-8255; Text chatsupport
Crisis TextLine NAMI (24/7) Text 741-741
National Sexual Assault Hotline (24/7) – Call (800) 656-4673
National Parent Helpline (Monday through Friday 10:00 am – 7:00 pm) (855) 427-2736
Free Nicotine Patches or call: 1(800) NO-BUTTS
Alcoholics Anonymous Online Meetings
Narcotics Anonymous Online Meetings
Overeaters Anonymous Online Meetings
Al-Anon Meetings (For Family, Friends, and Partners of Addicts) Online
Mendocino County Behavioral Health Warm Line 707-472-2311
Call to Connect Through Avenues to Wellness Program Howard Foundation
Contact: Suzanne Picetti-Johnson (707) 367-5078 or bluesky@pacific.net
After a brief orientation, Suzanne will match you with a CTC “buddy” who is there to listen to you.
Friendship Line California (For Older Californians) (888) 670-1360
Mental Health Strategies for Coping With Covid-19 (NAMI)
Local Counseling: Redwood Quality Management Company (RCS, Youth Project, Tapestry)
(707) 472-0350
350 E. Gobbi Street, Ukiah
Mendocino County Covid-19 Call Center (707) 234-6052 or callcenter@mendocinocounty.org
Adventist Health Advice Line for Coronavirus (844) 542-8840, M-F 7AM-7PM
Adventist Health Emergency Department Fort Bragg (707) 961-1234
Adventist Health Emergency Department Ukiah (707) 463-7330
Adventist Health Emergency Department Willits (707) 459-6801
Round Valley Indian Health Center
Main Line: (707) 983-6181
Triage Nurse: (707) 983-6181 x 142
The Center for Disease Control's Advice For Keeping Children Healthy During Covid-19
HealthyChildren.Org "Advice For Keeping Children Healthy During Covid-19"
MCCF has a 100% free clothing thrift store located upstairs in the conference center of Motel Six in Fort Bragg for coast children and wildfire refugees. Contact us if you wish to donate or need items.
Additionally we have secured and donated over 100,000 dollars in new clothing for local children. Contact your school counselor if your child needs clothing or shoes.
With Wildfire Season upon us, it is time to get your family's emergency preparedness plan together. Below are links to
disaster resource pages compiled by The Mendo Voice and Mendocino County:
Need To Know Guide To Wildfire And Emergency Info (Mendo Voice)
Mendocino County Disaster Preparedness
A new law went into effect August 31, which is a partial eviction moratorium, the result of a last-minute push by state legislators to prevent struggling renters from being kicked out of their homes, read more about it here:
Tenant Protection Guidelines For California Residents
California has been approved for five weeks of an additional $300/week in Unemployment Benefits for those impacted by Covid-19 related lay offs. Payments were expected to go out some time in mid September but there has been a delay impacting millions of families. If you are eligible, you should still apply.
Apply For Unemployment Benefits (EDD)
Apply for assistance with paying Utility Bills:
CARE and FERA are PG&E discount programs that help eligible low income customers pay their energy bills.
California LIHEAP aids low income households and families that need are unable to pay for the cost of heating and cooling bills. Energy assistance is provided as a one-time financial assistance or as emergency assistance, such as after a household receives a disconnect notice from a utility company. Additionally, the program provides eligible households with free weatherization upgrades in order to lower monthly utility bills moving forward.
The city of Fort Bragg anticipates receiving funding to help offset water and sewer bills. We will update when funds become available.
Legal Services of Northern California serving Mendocino County: toll free 707-877-529-7700. Help with evictions, court orders, custody issues and more. A free legal service to low income community members.
North Coast Opportunities: People to People. This fund is to help people who are not receiving assistance from other federal or state programs. Please go to www.ncoinc.org for more information or call 707-687-9817 and leave a confidential message. Your information will be protected.
