#AtHomeWithAPH Resources

We’re all familiar with the effects that social distancing, self-quarantine, and canceled classes are having on our day to day life. That’s why we’ve made it our mission to help ease the stress and boredom by offering fun activities and virtual educational opportunities for learners of all ages. We’ll be posting information about all of our favorite, free and educational activities and lessons, plus some great external resources. We’re working hard to build more resources, and will be adding to our #AtHomeWithAPH resources page on a regular basis (be sure to bookmark it).

Virtual ExCEL Academy

Join virtual classes from home! Together with our friends from the California State University, LA and Paths to Literacy (a joint project of Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and Perkins School for the Blind), we will be offering FREE engaging lessons for students with a variety of abilities. Learn more and register today! Missed one or want to rewatch? We’ve recorded them all here. The last week of the Academy is the week of May 18th.

Virtual ExCEL Camp

We’re excited to announce we’ll be hosting the Inaugural Virtual ExCEL Camp from mid-June through mid-August! Join us for fun, learning, and socializing!

APH Webinars

We’ll be hosting a series of FREE WEBINARS on some of our favorite products! Learn about upcoming innovations, hear from our partners, or get tips on how to get the most out of your favorite classroom tools! We’ll be updating this list regularly, including so keep checking back!!

APH Activities and Resources

We’re putting together a list of APH activities for you to do at home including experiments, lessons, and art!

• Are you an artist? We want you to participate in the 2020 APH InSights Art Competition and Exhibition! Submissions are due May 15. Learn more and get creating
• Check out our playlists on Youtube to learn about BrailleBlaster, Code Jumper, our previous webinars and more! You can find them here
• Using APH products at home? Access our online catalog of manuals to make sure you’re getting the most out of our educational tools
• You can create high-quality braille at home with BrailleBlaster! And make sure you get the most out of BrailleBlaster by checking out our video tutorials
• Get the braille you need- fast! Learn about our free NIMAS-to-braille translation service
• Make fun (and delicious) Braille Cookies with your kids while teaching a variety of skills
• Build a foundation for concepts about people, objects, actions, and places with these fun SAM games!
• Find accessibility tips for working from home (WFH)
• We have a new web app that tests your typing skills. Try out Typer and let us know what you think
• Enjoy some at-home DIY tactile coloring pages!
• Teach your child the importance of proper hygiene with our handwashing activity
• Try this easy and fun ice cube science experiment using items found around the house
• Stay active and get outside with our sock sort relay race
• Dolly Parton is doing live readings of books from her Imagination Library, several of which we have produced in braille and distributed for free through our Braille Tales Program. Grab your copy and read along with Dolly!
• Explore the long journey our food takes through our digestive system with our fun DIY activity!
• We put together a bunch of fun jellybean activities to celebrate National Jellybean Day!
• Extract the DNA from a strawberry with this fun STEM experiment!
• Play an estimation game to brush up on your math skills
• Learn about the anatomy and function of the lungs with this DIY activity
• Have a “same sounds” scavenger hunt! It’s fun and helps build awareness of beginning word sounds
• Play a funny word game to practice listening and awareness of spoken sounds

Free APH Apps & Actions

We have lots of great apps for students of all ages to learn and play. From accessible crossword puzzles to O&M Trivia, the whole family can enjoy:

• Crossword puzzles for everyone to play on mobile or desktop! We even found some fun free puzzles from the New York Times for you to try!
• Flip-Over Faces is a way for kids to explore hundreds of fun facial expressions while learning about emotion and practicing dexterity. Download for Android or iOS Learn more here
• Braille Badges are accessible stickers to use in the messaging app! Featuring white canes, cute guide dogs, and simbraille message bubbles. Perfect for any occasion. Download for iOS
• Visual Brailler is perfect for practicing transcription work with a digital braille writer. Great for on the go NLS certification exercises. Download for iOS
• SlapStack Math is a fully accessible action and memory game that uses math flashcards instead of playing cards. Collect points by winning the most cards! Download for iOS
• Practice2Master Fractions makes learning about fractions fun with an unlimited number of problems to practice. Download for iOS
• Math Flash can be played on your smart speaker or device to practice math equations in a fun and interactive way! Available on Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
• Nemeth and UEB Math Tutorials make learning math fun and easy!
• O&M Trivia on your smart speaker or device is a great way to learn and reinforce orientation and mobility knowledge for people of all ages!
• AnimalWatch VI Suite reinforces middle school math skills!
• Draw2Measure is an app that allows you to use a protractor on your iOS device

Access the APH File Repository

The APH file repository allows users to download APH textbooks and select products in a variety of electronic formats. You can find braille-ready and large-print textbook files, Building on Patterns’ Teacher’s editions in PDF format, along with braille sheet music files. Just start searching the Louis database to find available electronic files, then log-in and download the file directly to your computer. If you don’t have an account, please contact Resource Services staff at Resource@aph.org or 1800-223-1839 x705 and they can email the file to you.

External Apps and Resources

So many organizations, like our own, are working to make sure you have the tools you need in this stressful time. We’ve curated a list of resources and apps:

• Tour the AFB Helen Keller Archives via the Internet
• The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) put together a great resources list 
• A lot of webinars are being hosted on Zoom. Learn about their hotkeys and other accessibility measures
• Get JAWS, ZoomText, and Fusion for free through the month of June from our friends at Freedom Scientific.
• Questions about the accessibility of Zoom? Check out Meet Me Accessibly, A Guide to Zoom Cloud Meetings, by Jonathan Mosen- now free for everyone! Jonathan’s demonstrations use JAWS for Windows, but the concepts apply universally; you don’t need to be a JAWS user to benefit from this book.
• Check out Adam Parker’s social-emotional videos for kids
• Introducing a new free resource from Internet Archive, the National Emergency Library, a collection of millions of titles so that students working from home will have access to content in digital formats
• Starfall teaches reading and math skills to K-5th grade using videos and songs to learn! The pictures in these stories are described for visually impaired learners. Make sure to click on the Enhanced Accessible Index for Children to activate these features
• National Geographic is great for students of all ages to read articles about different countries, animals and current events. Watch science experiment videos, take quizzes, receive homework help, and do mad libs
• Head over to Seussville to learn about Dr. Seuss’s life, watch videos of and listen to his stories read aloud,  find activities, crafts, and print-outs to engage children, and even make their own Seuss-themed snacks
• National Braille Press is offering free downloads of some useful books
• Bookshare has free individual memberships for students, giving them access to tons of books. Learn more about using Bookshare by listening to one of their past webinars
• Aira is offering free services to college students through May 2020. To learn more contact support@aira.io
• National Federation of the Blind (NFB) put together a great list of distance learning resources
• Access these remote learning resources from DCMP for free
• Try out Bump Bump Braille Learn! It puts learning braille at your fingertips.
• Core Knowledge Foundation is offering a variety of free resources for education for all
• Teachers, join one of these coffee talk hours with TSBVI!
• Light House Guild has a Teen Tele-Support group for high school students
• Britannica for Parents houses some great at-home activities you can do with your little ones
• Paths to Literacy put together a great list of online learning opportunities broken down by organization and state
• Paths to Literacy also put together a blog on CVI-friendly videos by Alissa DeSousa
• Paths to Literacy has a great article on activities you and your child with CVI can do 
• The Northwest Association of Blind Athletes launched a 30 day audio-described workout on their YouTube channel. Each day they are uploading new at-home workouts
• You can download all of the Eyes-Free Fitness audio exercise programs from Blind Alive here
• The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) partnered with the Educating All Learners Alliance (EALA) “to help ensure the continuity of special education services during remote instruction and to spotlight best practice approaches for schools and educators.” Learn more
• Check out this toolkit from grieving from the Dougy Center
• Find resources on traumatic grief from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network
• Get information on student support personnel from the Coalition to Support Grieving Students
• Find special education and accessibility resources for remote learning in the Microsoft Educator Center
• Learn about how ObjectiveEd and Microsoft  are helping students practice braille during the pandemic
• Audiojack, an audio-based movie with no words, no music, no video, only sounds, requires your imagination to tell a story! The beauty of Audiojack is that your imagination and memory converge and start to build your own story based on what you hear.
• Veronica Lewis runs a blog called Veronica With Four Eyes about visual impairment and access technology including virtual education. Check out her creative and original content!
• Leader Dogs for the Blind is hosting a Virtual Summer Experience Camp for 14-17 year-olds. Learn more and apply by June 5th

Post about how you use these resources, games, and tools to have fun and learn #AtHomeWithAPH and don’t forget to tag us and use the hashtag!

Have a free and accessible resource you would like us to include? Email us at communications@aph.org to tell us about it!