HARTFORD, CT – At a time when classrooms have given way to distance learning across the state and nation in response to the Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) virus, Connecticut Public is putting its broadcast and digital platforms to work to support the at-home educational efforts of teachers, parents, caregivers and children in grades pre-K through 12th grade.
In all, Connecticut Public’s TV and digital platforms are delivering up to 75 hours per week of accessible educational programming that is free to students, parents and teachers throughout Connecticut.
Links to all of these resources are available at CTPUBLIC.org/Learn-at-home.
“COVID-19 has reached around the globe to Connecticut, closing schools and prompting students, teachers, and parents to adjust to distance learning,” said Connecticut Public President and CEO Mark G. Contreras.
“Just as Connecticut Public has increased our considerable local newsgathering resources to share stories of how this pandemic has affected Connecticut, we are providing actionable tools and resources across all of our platforms—radio, TV, digital and social—to reach students, parents and teachers when they need these resources most.”
Connecticut Public’s resources are now available for free to all of Connecticut’s 322,000 households with school-age children and more than 30,000 educators. These resources include:
WORLD At-Home Learning: WORLD At-Home Learning offers educational programming curated by educators on science, history and English language arts. This programming is available over the air and via most cable providers, making it accessible to virtually all Connecticut families, including those who do not have internet access or computers at home. World At-Home Learning airs on Connecticut Public Television (CPTV) Create Channel, for grades 6-12, every weekday from noon to 5:00 p.m., and can be found here:
- Over the air: Channel 24.2
- Frontier/FiOs TV (Hartford/New Haven) Channel 65
- Comcast (Hartford, Litchfield) 967 and 1160
- Comcast (Groton/Norwich/Branford/Shoreline) 967 & 1160
- COX (Meriden) Channel 806
- To find CPTV Create/World programming by town, visit cptv.org/findmychannel
PBS LearningMedia: This is a free online service of thousands of pre-K – 12 educational resources, which are aligned to curriculum standards in every state and contextualized for educational use. These resources include grab-and-go activities, lesson plans, interactive lessons and media that illustrate specific topics or themes and support materials across subjects. Resources can be accessed at ctpublic.org/learnathome
CPTV/PBS Kids TV Programming: Connecticut Public also offers positive, nurturing and educational children’s programs each weekday on CPTV, via our free, 24-hour live-stream at cptv.org, on the Connecticut Public App (available at the App store and Google Play) or on a number of other streaming devices such as Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and Chromecast.
CPTV’s children’s programming and accompanying educational games are also available online at cptv.org/kids. These series are meant to engage children and fulfill their natural curiosity, imagination and love of learning through curriculum-based entertainment.
PBS KIDS for Parents: PBS Kids for Parents offers a variety of academic and social-emotional skills to help spark learning in young children ages 2 to 8. This whole-child centered approach offers media and online tools that support key developmental areas—from communication and critical thinking skills to literacy and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) learning—so children can succeed inside and outside the classroom.
These digital, educational experiences for children are available for free, giving parents and caregivers at home easy, trusted games, activities and tips to support early learning around math, literacy and science. Resources can be accessed at ctpublic.org/learnathome
Thinkalong, Current Events for the Curious Classroom: Thinkalong is a public media teaching program targeted to middle school and high school classrooms that uses trusted national and local PBS/NPR content to develop media literacy and critical thinking.
This program was created at Connecticut Public and is offered free as a valuable resource to all Connecticut teachers. Through an interactive, multi-media format students can interact digitally with other students in remote locations. More information is available at thinkalong.org
‘Learn At Home’ Newsletter from Connecticut Public: Connecticut Public will feature each week’s WORLD At-Home Learning lineup—including links to additional curriculum and resources—in a weekly newsletter, which will also list the CPTV Create WORLD Programming schedule. The newsletter will also include recommendations for educational activities for children pre-K through 8.
These resources are also compatible with Google Classroom. Students, parents and teachers can sign up for free at ctpublic.org/newsletter
Extending Educational Opportunities to the Workforce
To help address the widening gap between the skillsets needed in today’s manufacturing, tech and healthcare industries and the number of well-trained people ready and eager to step into these jobs, Connecticut Public explores the stories of up-and-coming young talent in Making the Future and Getting to Work.
In addition, students, parents and teachers can hear from local experts in the original program, Life Lessons: New Collar Jobs. Each of these episodes is available at cptv.org/makingthefuture.
These projects are part of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s “American Graduate: Getting to Work” initiative to help highlight pathways to graduation and opportunities for career growth for America’s young people.
